Christmas Stockings

[lucigo]

We recently moved, and for the first time we actually have a fireplace, and I thought it might be fun to do stockings. We have never done this before! My oldest will be home for Thanksgiving, so thought we could do some kind of decorate your own, and then I can fill them for Christmas. So...looking for ideas! What types of things do you fill a stocking with?

 

[Patience]

How old are your kids? Do you want to stockings for you and your husband as well?

My husband and I only do stockings for the kids now, not each other.

I only have daughters so this is what I am planning:

Teenage daughter in college: gift cards to restaurants near her campus because she is sick of dining hall food, Lindt chocolates, Target beauty bag, fingernail polish, mascara, and eyeliner. I think I am also going to add some cozy socks for her to wear in her dorm room.

5 year old daughter: giant penguin pencil, Mickey holiday cup, Cinderella polly pocket type doll, Santa pez dispenser, mini lego kit, mini hex nano bug, Hello Kitty wristlet, Barbie Christmas holiday watercolor paint book, Christmas socks. I think that's all I have, there may be a few more things. I bought everything but the pez dispenser on clearance last year at Target right after Christmas and it's hard to remember what's in the bag!

 

[lucigo]

That probably would have been good info to include

We will have a pretty full house for Christmas, a daughter 24, son 21, his girlfriend 21, daughter 17, and son 9, and my husband and I....and 3 dogs and a kitten LOL

 

[shortbun]

Still trying to wrap my brain around never having stockings because there was no fireplace. My mother cross stiched beautiful stockings for every member of our family. We cherish them and still as above 50yo kids, fill our stockings at our family Christmas celebration.
Stocking stuffers can be simple or expensive, your choice.
I always put a tangerine in the toe. There is always gelt.
Boys get batteries, flashlights, mini tools, candy, fun toys(yoyo,puzzles,decks of cards) All would be great girl object too. Girls get lipsticks, nail polish, eye shadow, nail files, little tissue packs, CD's, gum and more. If you look at every checkout counter starting now, you will find myriad of things appropriate for stockings. I always get something long that will stick out of DS's stocking. My sister always gets us those 4 piece boxes of Godiva. My husband buys things like those multicolored balls of rubber bands, colored paperclips, scotch tape. We all come with a few things for the stockings so there's not pressure on just one person to stuff them all. Lol, My sister always buys herself some expensive jewelry and puts it in her own stocking-last year, I moved it to mine, you should have seen the look on her face, tee hee.

 

[momof3ds]

We have no fireplace and have stockings. Everyone has on with their name on it.

My kids are 10, 8, & 6.

Their stockings will include an apple, orange, new toothbrush. A mini bear with outfit from build a bear (I have coupons, going to get them this week). Gum, chocolate coins, Chapstick & other small items.

Adults also get an apple, orange, toothbrush. Then usually things like scratch off lottery tickets, chocolate covered cherries, etc.

A tradition in our house is that Santa's cousin "jammy claus" delivers a new pair of PJs and an ornament for the tree for everyone on Xmas eve morning.

 

[Pesky]

for the adults:
* fruit -- we usually put clementines and/or apple in the bottom
* socks
* gum/mints
* toothbrush
* candy
* ornament
* scratch-off lottery tickets
* small GCs -- iTunes, Starbucks
* kitchen gadgets -- corn on the cob holders, silicone spatulas, etc.
* jewelry
* flashlight
* nail files, clippers, polish, etc.

the 9YO:
* small game
* milk straws -- turns milk different flavors
* candy
* fruit
* socks
* ornament
* iTunes GC
* flashlight
* toothbrush (Wal-mart had some cool ones that play a song for the length of time you are to brush your teeth)
* small toy (hexbug, nanobug)

 

[tcufrog]

We always put a chocolate orange in everyone's stocking. The adults usually get a mix of practical stuff like travel size toiletries if they have trips coming up and fun stuff like new nail polish, fun pens and post-it notes, interesting spice mixes. My older son always gets some fun band-aids, a Lego minifigure, fun art/craft supplies such as a sunprint kit or secret message pens and other such items. The toddler will get play doh, some animal crackers and maybe a small doll or puppet.

World Market is a great stocking stuffer supply place. They have fun and unusual candy, small kitchen supplies and food, interesting ornaments, cheap and interesting toys, pretty candles, and exotic bath items.

 

[pixiewings71]

We always had stockings, even when we didn't have a fireplace. I had some beautiful hand stitched ones but we lost them in a fire about 7 years ago, we know have some really neat stockings but I miss the handmade ones and every year I think I should make them again.
We all get stuff in our stockings, I usually buy my own stocking stuffers because if I don't I get nothing, DBF never thinks of stocking stuffers even though his stocking is as full as the kids and has been for the past 10 years. LOL Things we put in stockings are~
candy
new toothbrushes
rubber bands (for hair, we 3 girls all have longer hair)
nail art stickers
gift cards (Cold Stone, Fro Yo, iTunes, etc)
small toys (Squinkies for DD12, Lego's for DBF, and I always manage to find something for DD16 as well)
hand sanitizers
Really, just about anything small I find I can get in a stocking. lol I also make a stocking for DD24, DSonIL and DGD3 when they come home for the holiday.
Stockings are fun, I love finding little goodies to put in them and the kids (and DBF) all love seeing what I was able to find.

 

[Deffenm]

For DH:
Gift Cards to Starbucks, Panera, Chipotle, Subway
Some type of bathroom reader book
Tooth brush
Favorite Candy/Beef Jerkey
Razor
Chap Stick

DS's:
DVD or Wii Games
Tooth Brush
Chap Stick
iTunes Gift Card
Candy Treat
Lego Minifigures or small lego set

DD:
DVD
Tooth Brush
Chap Stick
Hair brush
Cany treat
Mad Libs

Furbaby Dog:
Treats
Toys

 

[pigletto]

Eardbuds!!
I swear they got lost, wrecked by the cat, or put through the wash on a regular basis around here. I found some on clearance that were Sony and snapped up the last 3 pairs.

Make up
Scratch tickets
Fun Pens/Pencils
Favorite Candy
Sometimes hygiene items like razors/ body wash
Socks
Magazines
Lego Minifigures
Travel games (like Scrabble)
Batteries

Just some ideas. Our stockings are usually overflowing and the kids love to go through them when they wake up

 

[diznee25]

We do stockings for everyone; me, DH and the dogs.

The plan this year is:

DH: Starbucks gift card, DVDs, a new wallet, *Christmas coffee mug

ME: DVDs, makeup, and (hoping for a Barnes and Noble gift card), *Christmas coffee mug

Dogs: Toys, pouch of wet food, and treats

* We don't have Christmas themed mugs, and thought that might be a cute stuffer idea! We're big coffee/tea drinkers, and that would be really fun to drink out of them on Christmas Eve! Plus I can add packets of hot cocoa, coffee and tea. Time to start shopping!




diznee25

 

[lucigo]

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions, I will be printing this out when I shop! Don't get me wrong, we have lots of holiday traditions, just haven't done stockings. I do remember growing my my grandmother telling me that they always got an orange in their stocking at Christmas and it was such a treat because it was the depression and they didn't have things like that normally.

 

[luvmy3]

I do stockings for everyone, but nobody does a stocking for me

For dd14
Itunes card
purse size perfume
eyeshadow set
mascara
eyelash curler
sleep mask
earbuds
bacon band-aids

For ds12
Itunes card
bike wrench
lego minifigure
earbuds
gloves
head lamp

For ds9
Itunes card
Japenese beyblade
lego minifig
mini football helmet
gloves
head lamp
battery operated toothbrush

For dh
beef jerky
ski socks
hand and foot warmers
ski gloves

 

[wannabee]

I do stockings for everyone, but nobody does a stocking for me



I do a stocking for everyone- including me.

 

[angeleigh]

I do stockings for everyone. Some years my dh will slip a few small surprises in my stocking. Everyone gets a new tooth brush, their favorite candy or snack, gift cards, homemade coupons, and any other cute things I run across whole shopping.

 

[pixiewings71]

I do stockings for everyone, but nobody does a stocking for me



I do a stocking for everyone- including me.

LOL me too.

 

[lucigo]

I do stockings for everyone, but nobody does a stocking for me



I do a stocking for everyone- including me.

This is a good point and something I have been thinking about. My kids are old enough that I have been thinking about actually giving each kid an extra bit of money and tell them to each buy a stocking stuffer for each person in the house. It can be something small but it adds to the "giving" and means I get a surprise also LOL

 

[Debbie]

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions, I will be printing this out when I shop! Don't get me wrong, we have lots of holiday traditions, just haven't done stockings. I do remember growing my my grandmother telling me that they always got an orange in their stocking at Christmas and it was such a treat because it was the depression and they didn't have things like that normally.

We never had a fireplace when I was growing up. We have movies of us putting them on the sofa. We always got a tangerine in the toe of the stocking, and that was a real treat-the only time I got that fruit. Nowadays, of course, we can get fresh fruit out of season from around the world, but I continued the tradition with the chocolate orange in the toe of the stocking.

You've gotten a lot of good suggestions for stocking stuffers, so I won't add to it. Suggestion though. When I grew up, my mom wrapped every stocking stuffer gift.....so I did. With 5 kids, DH, and now SO's, they don't want me to stop that tradition. 12-18 little things in each stocking.....it takes me forever! Don't start that!

 

[Jkpark]

Our girls are younger (7&5), so stockings look something like: toothbrush, chapstick, fruit, candy, small stuffed animal, some type of arts/crafts, pez dispenser, and random items from dollar store/dollar bins.

DH gets gift cards, tooth brush, candy, scratch tickets, a movie or book, page a day calendar.

He fills my stocking and I typically get candy, replacement razor blades, magazines, gift cards, chapstick, and a movie.

To the PP, we have Christmas coffee mugs and there is something I love about drinking out of them in the morning while we open our stockings - usually my favorite part of the day.

 

[MariDisney]

We have stockings even though we don't have a fireplace. We have a tradition that all stockings get something in them. Through the years we've gotten various stockings as gifts. So, although we have our main matching set we each also have other stockings with our favorite sports teams, ones people knitted for us, etc. All told, between the three of us, we probably have 15-20 stockings we decorate with. Each one gets at least one thing in it. Because there are so many sometimes that one thing is a toothbrush or handful of Hershey's kisses. It's a little competition now to see which of us can accumulate new stockings every year. The rule is they must be given to us, you can't just buy one for yourself.