"It was the worst flight of my life." 5 women share their biggest ever Christmas stuff-ups.

Iconic Christmas movies always paint that time of year as a magical adventure, but we all know the reality of the holidays is a little less sparkly.

It’s stressful. Even the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong.

Thoughtfully purchased gifts can end up causing a stir.

And – this is the worst – you run out of booze during a pivotal point in the holidays.

In the past, you’d just have to deal with it. Now you don’t – there’s services like Tipple, which delivers drinks (and therefore Christmas cheer) to you when needed, and fast.

If you’ve blanked on a gift last minute, or the house has run dry, just Tipple it and you’ll be OK.

Now, shall we hear from five women who’ve had colossal Christmas stuff-ups? We hope these make you feel a little less alone this festive season.

Laura: The Christmas ham smuggler.

A few years ago I was working for a company that gifted me an enormous Christmas ham as a holiday gift.

The only issue was that I was flying home the next day to see my family and had no idea what to do with the huge thing.

I knew it would be great for our family Christmas meal, so I decided to just bring it home on the plane with me as a gift for Mum to serve. But I could not find a cooler bag big enough to hold the ham, so I got creative and wrapped it in frozen tea towels and plastic bags and nestled it in my carry-on bag.

When I went through security at the airport, the security guard scanned my bag and raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked at me in disbelief and said: “Do you…do you have a whole ham in this bag?”

After unpacking the whole thing and getting it passed through security I was allowed to take it on the plane with me. However, some of the frozen implements I had used to keep it cool began to leak as I boarded the flight so I had to cradle the cold, wet, mass of ham the whole way home on the plane.

It was the worst flight of my life but my mum was delighted with my Christmas ham gift.

I went on to work for that company for another two years, and each year I flew that enormous ham home with me.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….for everybody who doesn’t have to travel with ham. This bad boy is coming on the plane with me tomorrow night. It’s looking unlikely that it will fit in my carry on, I might have to cave and book it its own seat #hamdrama #pigonaplane #herewegoagain

A post shared by Laura Brodnik (@laura_brodnik) on Dec 15, 2014 at 7:46pm PST

Maria: The ‘fun aunty’.

I live overseas so I don’t usually get to spend Christmas with my family here in Australia. So last year I was so excited to fly home to Brisbane and spend the holidays with my sister, her husband and their three little kids. I was determined to be the ‘fun aunty’ who handed out the best Christmas presents, so I made them all a huge gift box packed with toys, an outfit, and I also scattered tiny chocolates all the way through the boxes as an extra treat.

The problem was that I had forgotten how bloody hot it gets in Queensland and I should have stored the boxes somewhere cool. When the kids opened them on Christmas morning, the chocolate had melted all through the boxes and it looked disgusting. My littlest nephew even started crying because he hated “the mud”.

Complete Christmas fail.

Sarah: Deck the toilet halls.

My aunt once had Christmas at her house, with the whole family over. She had decorations all over the place including Christmas-themed toilet paper.

When my Nanna went to the bathroom she thought she was bleeding down there (she’s 78) and we were all pretty frightened. Emergency services were even called.

Before they reached the house we figured out it was actually the coloured die that had just ran from the toilet paper… Nanna was just fine.

Rachel: Let’s go camping…

My entire family – my two aunties, my uncle and five kids – decided to go on a camping trip over Christmas. While we were driving to the campgrounds my cousin felt sick, so we had to pull over on the side of the highway so she could vomit into the bushes.

While we were stopped on the side of the road, my uncle’s car battery died and wouldn’t re-start. Then we had to wait for a tow truck to take the car to the nearest mechanic to get a brand new battery.

While we were all waiting for the new battery, we were eating lunch and my aunty started feeling a bit faint. Less than 10 minutes later, she was admitted to hospital and she had to stay overnight while the rest of us (now in the fixed car) kept going on towards the campgrounds to celebrate Christmas.

Isobel: The gift that didn’t… give.

I got one of those hoverboard things as a Christmas present a few years ago when they were all the rage.

The first thing I did on Christmas morning was give it a go in the front driveway of our house while still wearing my pyjamas.

Of course, I fell off on my first attempt to use it and had to go to the hospital for an X-ray, so it was a present that kind of ruined Christmas. I never ever tried it again!

Look, stuff happens over Christmas. If you’re lucky, it’s just a small drama like finding yourself without drinks – and if so, just remember  Tipple is there for you.

Now, tell us, what’s been your biggest Christmas fail? No shame, we’re all in this together.