I love giving Ugly Ornaments to my sister. The tradition began many years ago as a joke. She had a “designer” tree, one that looked like it ought to be in a magazine. I found a really hideous fur-covered brown ball and hung it on the tree for her to find. A few days later at our family Christmas gathering I received an anonymous gift, and it was the ugliest ornament I’ve ever seen – a horribly tacky woman with glittery octopus legs. Also in the box was a note: “You realize that THIS MEANS WAR!” Each year we search high and low for the ugliest, tackiest Christmas ornament we can find, and exchange them on Christmas Eve.