Recently on The Today Show, Myka Meier, author of Modern Etiquette Made Easy: A Five-Step Method to Mastering Etiquette, outlined and explained some dos and don’ts of holiday gift giving.
Amongst the don'ts she recommends not to give clothing since you will be guessing about style, color and size so you may get it wrong.
Home decor such as paintings or mirrors are another item to avoid gifting as it may not fit in with the receivers current furnishings. Lastly, avoid kitchen decor or appliances since you may unknowingly cause offense (nobody wants a vacuum cleaner).