to answer the original question, my solution has been to keep the item for a reasonable amount of time, then get rid of it. If the giver asks, have a person in mind that they don't know (maybe someone from the other side of the family tree?) and say , "Oh, (person) saw that and loved it so much, I gave it to her!" no way for them to check.
I have to say, during the time when "ceramics" were popular (remember them?) I lived in fear that someone would give me one as a gift . I thought they were horrible. My MIL had a few that she made but thank goodness she stopped making them long before she met me.