Spin-off: Share your best stocking stuffer ideas!

[Frozen Canuck]

The Holiday 2017 Shopping post got me thinking about stocking stuffers. Like Grumpy's Gal, I could be happy if we did nothing but stockings! I love looking for the smaller things that can be silly or personal or edible or useful! I got a head-tickler once, which I LOVE! I am also always excited to see a new game like Sushi Go! or Love Letter in my stocking. I have hunted down a bottle of the America's Test Kitchen best hot sauce recommendation for my son (Heartbreaking Dawn's 1498 Cauterizer Trinidad Scorpion), and picked up kitchen gadgets for my daughter.

So tell me...what are the best stocking stuffers you have received or given? Let's try and keep them somewhat "reasonable"...around $10-$12 each or less. I see so many lists online that are titled something like "The Top 50 Stocking Stuffer ideas for $50 or Less!" A $50 idea at our home equals major gift, not stocking stuffer. I am in need of some creative suggestions for this year and appreciate any input I can get.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I like fun stocking stuffers, things that people will laugh at:

poo pourri
funny underwear
super hero socks
go to Amazon and search for hand sanitizer for teenage boys, not sure the name is board appropriate

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

For our college aged DD, we always buy the $1-2 Wendy's keyring tab that lets you get a free frosty with any purchase. We get her two so she can take a friend. It's been a huge hit two years in a row.

For college students: Christmas is a good time to restock them with new highlighters, batteries, small calendar, index cards, postage stamps etc. small toiletries, new toothbrushes, funny underwear. Small silly toys. Scratch off Lottery tickets ( bonus points if they are winners) giftcards, socks. If they are going on spring break, small sunscreens. Candy. Make up, nail files and polish.

 

[Domo]

Terry's Chocolate Orange!

 

[bigbabyblues]

MIL does stockings for all her kids, their spouses and the grandkids. That is 11 stockings, and I think the most fun thing that we all get is a can of silly string. Fun while the war lasts, anyway!

 

[Domo]

MIL does stockings for all her kids, their spouses and the grandkids. That is 11 stockings, and I think the most fun thing that we all get is a can of silly string. Fun while the war lasts, anyway!

That is a damn good idea!

 

[dzorn]

For DD last year I know I did some fast Food gift cards. I also did oil blotting wipes and some makeup. Nail care kit. Get out of chores coupons. This year I think I will get all of them the fake soft snowballs for an indoor snow ball fight.

 

[Mizzoufan]

Loving this post!!!

 

[melanielll]

Lottery tickets

 

[dotfurio]

puzzle books
magazines

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Last year I put slipper socks in my boys' stockings because they were always stealing mine! They also got candy, McDonald's gift cards and a little cash.

 

[NHdisneylover]

If you have card/board game players, the game Iota is a good one and the whole thing is in a little bitty tin that easily goes in a stocking.

A couple of other ideas I haven't seen mentioned:
reusbale chopsticks in colors or desings that appeal to the person
yoyos or silly putty (brings out the kids in anyone)
comic books
zipper pulls
bike reflectors in cute shapes

 

[Felicis]

My FIL gets all of us (him, MIL, me, DH and DD) socks every year in our stockings! It is the family joke, but also so good!

 

[melanielll]

I also get small perfumes (sephora generally has a sampler pack), ear buds (people always need more), fun nail files, candy that comes in tins (Godiva pearls for example), portable phone chargers (some are sooo cute), some kind of hair accessory (spiral bun maker clips, tiny bobby pins that one of my kids always runs out of), fun colored sharpies, tickets (I know you said cheap - so movies and not concerts), ... I could go on and on...but Harvey is knocking at my door and I need to move more things upstairs.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

These are all such good ideas! I thought of a few more that I have kept up my sleeve in the past...

Food items:

• pasta in fun shapes (great for kids to get them interested in cooking because they can help you prepare them...even if it is just a character Kraft Mac and Cheese box that they aren't usually allowed to buy, but there are "designer" pasta shapes in bags that would appeal to all ages)
• cinnamon sugar grinder (I found one at Trader Joe's and bought it for my college daughter who loves cinnamon toast...it is rock sugar and cinnamon sticks in a "pepper grinder" type of thing)
• Rachel Ray Fancy Boy Grinders (great reviews on some of them...find one that suits your recipient)
• ice cream toppings like sprinkles or sauce
• specialty hot chocolate mix

Practical:

• Wisps (pre-pasted toothbrushes to carry in your purse/pocket)
• “fancy” band-aids (at least that is what my kids call them...look for unique character designs or even bacon, mustache, or macaroni and cheese ones)
• duct tape
• suet blocks
• garden seeds
• stuff sacks or packing cubes
• list pads or Post-It notes
• luggage tags
• key caps (those decorative little rubber toppers for keys that come in designs ranging from cupcakes to super heroes...home supply stores sell a limited variety, but I have seen them lots of places)
• bookmarks
• eyeglass cleaner, lens wipes, eyeglass repair kit

Just for Fun:

• a magnifying glass (This was a hit. I bought the Learning Resources one and it has proved resilient with the preschoolers, plus it has a stand so you can prop it up on a table) or an inexpensive jeweler's loupe for older kids who love to examine things like bug wings or flower stamens up close
• Micro Cubebot or Ninjabot (another hit with the kids...poseable, but also a puzzle in trying to get it back into a cube)
• Crayola Tub Tints (for colouring the bath water...yet another hit with the littler ones)
• Folkmanis finger puppets
• Thinking Putty
• Rory's Story Cubes (so many versions available now) or magnetic poetry kits for some creative fun
• Plus Plus Mini Maker Tubes
• Pocketdoodles books for kids (Pocket Doodles for Kids, Camping Doodles, Animal Doodles for Kids...and others) or What to Doodle for the younger crowd (For those who are interested, there is also a Canada Doodles book which we really like!)
• Pocket Posh puzzle books (the Word Round-Up books are my favourite puzzles, but they have numerous titles for logic, crossword, Sudoku, etc.)
• Smash Book embellishments, stickers, washi tape, Gelly Roll pens or other craft items

Keep the ideas coming!

 

[cabanafrau]

I am putting a couple flash drives into each of my daughters' stockings. Both are in college so they always come in handy.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We bought 3' tall stockings, when DS was a baby. This will be our 25th year using them. Obviously, I need to buy some larger stuff for fillers. We use stockings for necessities, so gifts are all fun. I buy things like:

underwear
ties
t-shirts (white & dark)
regular & fun socks
belts
UNC, Tampa Rays, Miami Dolphins or Miami Heat pens, caps, sunglasses, coffee mugs, tooth brushes, etc.
deodorant
cologne
razors & refillable blades
shaving cream
card games
candy & unusual snacks
nuts
gum
mints
brush &/or comb
men's hair gel, shampoo & hairspray

Last years we were at MILs on Christmas day, so I bought her stocking stuffers too. This years we plan to do the same. For her stocking I bought:

Burt's Bees chapstick (that she loves)
Tide stain sticks
lotion
fuzzy socks
scarf
gloves
my favorite hairspray
edible items listed above

I'm sure there was more in all their stockings, but that's all I can think of at the moment. MIL wasn't used to having stockings. This is something I carried over from my parents. She was amazed we buy & wrap so much to put in a stocking & couldn't believe DH does the same for me. She didn't appear to be crazy about unwrapping all the small items like chap stick & lipstick,with my overabundance of tape though.

One Christmas we decided to open our gifts & stockings early, before heading to NC to be with family for Christmas. DH literally bought my stocking stuffers on the way home from work on the night we were opening gifts. One of my stocking stuffers was a Diet Pepsi that was still cold, from the convenience store across the road. DS was young at the time & somehow remembered the story as him buying both of us a cold drink. Naturally, we didn't want to burst his bubble & never corrected him. He's now 25 & still gets a cold drink "from Dad" in his stocking every Christmas. We have a walk down memory lane every time he opens it. Best stocking stuffer ever!

 

[karensi]

Frozen Canuck, thanks so much for your suggestions. I had never heard of Wisps but looked them up on Amazon when I saw them on your list. I have ordered some for my 23 year old DGD Christmas stocking. Thanks again!

 

[PigletsPal2]

Lots of good ideas here! Family members are disappointed if their stockings don't have: lottery tickets, AA and AAA batteries and small Kleenex (purse sized) tissues. DH always gets a Chunky bar (he's diabetic, so it's a special once-a-year treat and I monitor him closely!), DD#1 always gets a package of her favorite BIC pens, DD#2 always gets a card of industrial strength barrettes (she has more hair than anyone has a right to have!), and I always get a Chapstick for every room in the house and one for my purse. We're weird.

Queen Colleen

 

[Imzadi]

t-shirts (white & dark)

Tide stain sticks

You just reminded me about Clorox bleach GEL pens. If one buys 100% cotton T-shirts, so the dyes bleed, the family can make bleach designs on the T-shirts with the bleach gel pens after they all come out of the stockings. Maybe make them after Christmas brunch and all have a Christmas theme.

Here's a link for directions: http://www.thisheartofmineblog.com/2011/08/31/bleach-pen-t-shirt-design/

Here's one for using the bleach gel pens with stencils, if someone really can't doodle designs. http://sometimes-homemade.com/bleach-pen-t-shirts/

Make sure you get cardboard for inserts if you do this.