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MissDaisyMar,
Stockings are the favorite in our house and I have to be honest, I spend a lot more than most simply because I love them. It’s the first place my kids look to but the last place they really open because they want to saver the special items. I rarely put normal stuff in and often search in little corner stores and specialty stores for things.Here’s some ideas I’ve done before:
The dollar store is your friend.In particular the Dollar Tree which has so much stuff for a dollar you could go crazy.
Things I’ve gotten out of there include:Hair bungees
Hair brushes
nail clippers
nail polish
holiday pens and pencils (a pack of pencils splits up nice amongst all the kids’ stockings)Other things I’ve put into stockings include:Sample sized deoderants
sample sized after shaves and colognes
sample sized toothpaste
sample sized powders
sample sized mouth wash
small homemade soaps purchased at specialty stores for about $1 or so but smell so wonderful
votive candles
votive holders
(both available at Walmart and dollar stores for really cheap)
small mirrors for purses
bon-bon brand cosmetics (usually 88 cents at Walmart)
“old fashioned”, nostalgic candies (candy cigarettes, necco wafers, chic-o-stix, etc.that we used to have as kids)
cd’s I copy/burn from friends or cd’s I have or songs I get from online, especially holiday songs or new albums that friends/family get and I borrow and make copies
paperback books
dental floss
holiday ornaments (sometimes boxes of 6 can be split up and put into a couple stockings…tucked away in a box for when the kids grow up and have their own place)
beef jerky
pickled sausages
gift coupons/cards (put $5 on a McD’s card, etc.)
earrings
mugs/drink containers with a corresponding drink tucked inside (large drink glasses with straws I’ll tuck in Crystal Light packs or individual packs, mugs I put in flavored coffees or cocoas)
specialty chocolates (stopping at a store that offers expensive chocolates that normally wouldn’t be something you’d purchase yourself, you can pick up 1 awesome chocolate for each stocking and wrap it in a special holiday baggie or saran wrap as a special treat)
kitchen utensils for the chef in your life
blank or semi-filled recipe cards and cookbooks (the ones at the check out offered by Campbells, Pillsbury, etc.are nice and so are personalized ones from the dollar store that you put some of your fave recipes in)
- JennyCup
I agree that the dollar store is great for stocking stuffers, but another great place is Big Lots. I find all kinds of things at Big Lots that are great in stockings.
Some past stocking stuffers:
Large sticks of pepperoni
Dollar holiday lotto ticket
Nail decals
Bath Salts/Bubble bath/Bath Fizzies
Summer Sausage
Pot Holders
Candy
Gag Gifts
Samples that I get in the mail
Shaving supplies
Calendars
Lotions
Hats
Scrapbooking items
Unique soda pop or candy (usually off of Ebay or ethics markets…Kit-Kats from Japan are great and come in many flavors like grape, wine, melon, strawberry, etc.!) - flutterbye0419
i typically take my time with finding stocking suffers and never ever spend more than 5 dollars on each stocking. we do 16 stockings, so I try to personalize each gift. so for example, i have bought a plush star wars character for my brother in law for this year.
it will be the only thing i put in his stocking because it costs 4.95. but, that is just my idea of what says he will love his stocking all the more by finding something i know he is reallly into. others do the candy, so i do useful things that i know everyone will enjoy
- wilbe95At my house the stocking is what Santa stuffs. He likes to bring things like combs, toohtbrushes, crayons, coloring books and some special candies and poptarts (only time they get them). Usually there is one special personal item such as a video game, stuffy, watch or something like that.
Santa does the stockings as a favor for mom and dad so that Santa can make sure that every child gets something without spending too much on the boys, since we can afford the other items the can go under the tree.
- catlady
I often do toiletries, that I would normally not spend the money on. and of course a lottery ticket, I have small stockings just for them.
Ruth - rtebaltThis is a great thread! I LOVE doing the stockings too! (When my husband and I got married, my momma made us each a Christmas stocking.
– And the ones she makes are usually 2 or 3 times bigger than a regular stocking! – And last year I filled my husband’s stocking so full that I couldn’t hand it up. I had to sit it on the floor!) Since its just my hubbie & I, we are able to spend a little more.
We have a little tradition that we do. A week or so before Christmas we go to Kmart together. We allow each other about $20.
We split up in the store & shop for each other’s stocking stuffers. We buy candy, toiletries, ornaments, etc. I usually buy him some boxers & he gets me some pjs or socks or something – all things on sale or inexpensive.Its almost like a game because we try to not get caught by the other person. I don’t want him to see what I’m getting & he doesn’t want me to see what he’s getting. Its just something fun we like to do!
- rtebalt
Oh, I forgot, I also get samples from Nivea (they send actual small bottles). I put hand cream & stuff in my hubbie’s stocking.
- blndemom23It’s never too early to start getting stuff together so this post comes in handy for me, lol. We always do small knick knacks for the children from santa like other things listed here. This year, my daughter who is 12 will be getting a few of the freebies I’ve received in the mail, or will be receiving,…tubes of lotion, lip gloss, and the intuition razor.
Some of my friends laugh cause I sign up for freebies now, but every little bit helps and especially with the way our economy is watching every penny is important!
- rtebalt
I totally agree! This year my parents are flying to PA to be with us at Christmas. I told my mom to bring their stockings because my husband & I have this tradition where we go to Kmart every year to buy each other’s stocking stuffers.
(We split up and cruise the store for 30min. looking for good stuff & hide it from each other!) I thought my parents could come along & we could all buy each other stuffers. But I am also saving freebies – especially for my mom.I have a schick quattro razor, dove anti-aging lotion, 10 day sample of Bare Minerals Makeup, Aquaphor lotion, etc. My mom is gonna flip when she opens her stocking! I can’t wait!
Now I just have to find some things for my dad & husband!
- blndemom23I wish I was your mom! lmao. how about you make my stocking for me this year lol.
my husband is kinda boring when it comes to that!
10 day sample of Bare Minerals Makeup~ i use their makeup and it is so expensive. Good thing I’m a stay at home mom and don’t put makeup on everyday so it lasts a long time for me!
Does anybody put an orange in the toe of the stocking? I remember growing up, Santa would put one in our stocking every year with an assortment of nuts. We’d get up Cmas morning, reach for our stocking and roll our eyes when we felt the toe of the stocking, knwoing we got another orange, lol.I do it for my kids now, it’s funny to watch them roll their eyes:p
- rtebalt
No, I never got an orange, but my dad does love to buy those orange flavored chocolates – you know, the ones that are shaped like an actual orange! The big thing that my dad did every year for me & my sister was give us each one of those big hershey’s kisses. i miss that!
i understand what you mean about your husband & the stocking. my husband isn’t lazy about it, he’s just not always sure what to get. i make up a huge list of things that are “possibilities.”that way he can choose from the list and still surprise me on christmas day. the 10 day sample of Bare Minerals came from Ulta. They gave away samples about a month ago.
They do samples evey once in a while. Sephora does the same thing, so if you have either one of those stores around you could check them out occasionally & see. 🙂
- JoAnnQuote:does anybody put an orange in the toe of the stocking? i remember growing up, santa would put one in our stocking every year with an assortment of nutswe would have the orange,nuts and hard candy in our stockings. with a little trinket of some kind.
that is one tradition that my mother always did thur the years. and i still have kept this tradition in my family going. i also add special christmas candies to the stockings (suckers,coin choc, choc of different kinds).
sometimes a gift card too.
- brchbellFilling stockings is my favorite thing! I think about it all year. As I travel along through out the year I look for small unusual items that don’t cost much.
Everyone in my family saves their stocking till last and some even take them to their rooms to quietly explore what they got. I even have friends who keep me in mind as they travel the world. I love those dollar stores too to flesh it all out.
Small treasures special to each person. Love filling the stockings!
- brchbellWhen I was a kid, oranges were a special treat. We only got one at Christmas. Now days they are so common.
I make home made chocolates and the kids help and have come up with special recipes all on their own. When I lived in D.C. I made up a small cookie jar and filled it with my hand made chocolates to give a good friend.
She said they were much richer and better than the ones her in-laws bought in NY for $50 a pound. I don’t make a lot of them any more but we do at Christmas but I never put them in Stockings. Rarely put any food in the stockings.
I had a friend pick up some candies while in Europe and Africa and I did put that in their stockings but only special treats. I made home made soaps this year and have special blends for each of my family tucked away for stocking stuffers. - rtebalt
@brchbell 85883 wrote:
I make home made chocolates and the kids help and have come up with special recipes all on their own. When I lived in D.C. I made up a small cookie jar and filled it with my hand made chocolates to give a good friend.
She said they were much richer and better than the ones her in-laws bought in NY for $50 a pound.Would you be willing to post some of your chocolate recipes? I would love to do some homemade chocolates for my family this year.
- brchbell
Making chocolates is quite a bit of work and a lot of details for those who don’t know many things. i can tell you that while my mom made candy it was more the type everyone makes. I later ran across a book that got me started. It’s “The Holiday Candy Book” by Virginia Pasley. I just punched it in at Abe Books and they had 11 copies starting around $4. I started with her Cream Caramels and they were to die for! We might not make chocolates one year but we always make the Cream caramels. She covers tempering the chocolate and getting the right temperature,ect and will give you a very good start on making your own chocolates. We make fondant to dip cherries and then dip them in chocolate– takes over a month for the fondant to dissolve so you should be making those about now for Christmas time! We use the fondant to make mints and other fillings. I never cut corners. I buy 10 lbs of good chocolate at a time from a commercial candy factory and I use real cream and real butter. After you try some of her recipes and get a feel for what you are doing then you will be able to experiment and come up with some of your own recipes . some will work and some won’t. My kids tried Raspberry creams and orange creams last time. the raspberry creams came out pretty good but the orange creams will take a few more tries to figure out. this caramel is soft enough to use for turtles. Putting caramel onto of nuts and then dipping. Your own home made marshmallow is great for dipping also. there was a thread last week on making your own marshmallow. Hope this helps!
- rtebaltThanks so much! I’ll have to check into getting that book! Hubbie will be more than willing to buy it for me if it means he get homemade chocolates!!! 😉
- janetaba
My dad said that he always got fruit in his stocking apples and oranges 1 or 2 of each and sometimes some nuts – walnuts, peanuts, that sort of thing. I put Little Debbie cakes and cookies in the stockings, and sometimes a piece of fruit, along with more personal items. One year, I had put a package of Bic lighters in dear hubby’s stocking, which was hanging over the fireplace. Well, everything was fine until dear hubby decided that we’d just burn the paper, and shoved the whole mess into the fireplace all at once. In doing so, he closed the flue, and a ball of flame came out of the fireplace and caught his stocking on fire – just his. We managed to beat the flames out and the stocking while ruined, was kept from exploding with the lighters. We never put lighters in his stocking again – and he learned not to put all the paper in at once.
- lcove2000
I do my own stocking or else I would end up with nothing or very little. I can’t have the little one’s thinking Santa doesn’t love Mommy. It’s kind of fun and I always seem to get just what I wanted. Go Figure!
- brchbellI use to fill my stocking too until everyone got old enough to know about the Santa thing and then I stopped. It took about 3 years for my family to catch on and now they all get something to put in Mom’s stocking! The 1st year I didn’t fill my stocking I made myself up a gift basket with bath things, chocolates and a book; I have kept up my little tradition even after they started filling my stocking. Now while they all hit the stores for the after Christmas sales, I stay home alone and pamper myself!
- lcove2000
Great idea…good for you:) Lisa
- JoAnn
What a wonderful tradition to have (a little me time),
everyone needs that. And pre planning it too,w/something
so simple. I believe I will try this one. - trekgloI love filling stockings. I think it’s just the “justification for my shopping addiction. Actually, a few years I went with those SUPER LARGE, BIG ENOUGH TO PUT YOUR WHOLE LEG IN stockings I found at the Dollar Store and have continued to do those for hubby, 2 sons, and daughter-in-law. I will soon do one that size for my Granddaughter, but as she’ll only be 1 this Christmas, I’ll wait a while, until she can fully appreciate it. I also do a regular sized stocking for daughter-in-law’s sister, the “adopt a child” I take, and for one niece who is the same age as my oldest son–36. However, I started doing her a stocking, because she lamented how much she missed getting one, and she still did one for her 2 kids and hubby. The first year, I simply gave it, stocking and all to her hubby and said, DON’T TELL HER WHERE IT CAME FROM. Well, about half way through unwrapping her stuff, she looked at him and said, “Aunt Gloria did this.” The following year, she said to him, “I wish Aunt Gloria would do me a stocking again.” Not asking me to, just expressing how much she liked it. So, I took on that responsibility. Apparently, I am recognizable in gifts. Besides that, I also do both her and her Mom, my sister-in-law a little goodie bag with basically the same sort of stuff. And, I have 6 grand-nieces & nephews whom I fill a bag with little bits and maybe one larger present. Besides I also buy prizes for our Familyl Christmas Dinner. Often well have 40 people in attendance, from infants to 80 plus.
I shop Day After Christmas to Christmas Eve, always on the look-out for items. So, I find them at yard sales/flea market, sales, and mark down tables. I confess candy is a big filler for some members, specialty foods, personal care items/toiletries/make-up/perfume, candles, even fun little toys, home office supplies, knick knacks, garden items, fancy/theme calendars, kitchen gadgets, packs of batteries, lottery scratch offs, always a flash light, gag items, note pads, tools, gift certificates, note cards, interesting pens, name/personalized items, books, Christmas decorations, general home needs, and many other one off type of things. Let me just say, the females are generally easier. However, guys are usually more satisfied with guy things. But, I’d say, the yard sales/flea market are greatest sources, often for brand new items, still wrapped in original packaging or decorative items for the house that wouldn’t even be wrapped if bought new. And, the price is surely right, often a quarter, fifty cents, a dollar, or a couple of bucks for some larger items. Beyond that, I’d say after holiday and clearance sales, and I am always looking, so, sometimes I find things 75 or up to 90 % off, but I may have to buy it in January, February, etc and hold it till the next Christmas.
Since the stockings are so big for my immediate family members, I can fit some bigger items—cookware, unusual dishes, or other things. I buy so much over the year and just put everything in boxes marked for specific people or a general box. About now, I begin to go through and organize, determine how much more I might still need to fill and what items I still need to get. There are some years, I’m really over for some people, so I simply hold items for the next Christmas.
Gloria - brchbell
Oh my goodness! Such big stockings and so very many of them! I was able to get fabric for 25 cents a yard for a few years–one of my Amish neighbors ended up with three barns full of fabric he got for very little at an auction for a factory going out of business. I had gotten 40 yards of red corduroy so I made me up a big red bag and put a thick gold cord in it and keep it in my walk in closet. Everyone knows that it’s Mom “Santa’s” Bag so during the year I can throw things I pick up as stocking stuffer’s in it. Special things for specific persons might get wrapped with their name on it. I love filling the stockings but don’t think I’d want to get to carried away with it! I started our family calendar and discovered I’m now the most popular family member for even long lost cousins! Wondering as I approach 200 calendars if I can afford to continue this project!
- JoAnn
Hello brchbell,
I’m not sure what a family calendar is. Could you explain and also how to make one?
(200) in all oh my.I like your idea about Santa’s Bag
- brchbell
I created a regular calendar but put it on white card stock. I list holidays and everyone’s birthdays and family events. On the top page Where there is usually a picture I put family photos, current and past. A recipe and tips and sayings. we have a bindery machine that uses those plastic combs that I use to bind them with. I put the December of the current year so they can post it right away and i also put my annual Christmas letter at the start of it. At the end of it I list everyone who’s listed in the calendar by what family they belong to. I’ve really enjoyed doing it and it’s really brought the whole family together after parents/grandparents have passed on. I use a calendar program for the actual calendar and I use a Word processor for the picture page part. Hope this helps!
- QueenSissiI sometimes also add “cakes in a jar” and try to make each stocking with a theme. My SIL also got one for my brother whose theme was relax and had movies, foot cream, hot cocoa and items that make you want to stay in the sofa :).
- brchbell
theme’s– I never thought of doing that before! what a neat idea to ponder for the future!
Thanks!
- montiqueI too grew up with nuts, oranges, and candy in my stocking, I do that for my kids too! Another tradition is a book of lifesavers! I got those so my kids get them too. They have generic ones now that are cheaper.
I have been saving freebies for months! I have a big bag full.
I use some of the freebies for teacher gifts, like free coffee mugs.
I also shop garage sales and thrift stores and they sell big bags of assorted/mixed ornaments and other Christmas stuff real cheap
Monika - rtebalt
This year my parents are coming for Christmas. I’m so excited because my hubbie & I have never hosted them for Christmas! I’m having a little difficulty finding things to put in my Dad’s stocking. Candy is not a problem. I know exactly what he likes, but I don’t want his stocking to just be candy. Last night I found these tiny bottles of Tabasco for 28 cents a piece. I got 3 for my Dad! He puts hot sauce on EVERYTHING & now he can carry some in his pocket! Yeah! 🙂
- Jada
This is my first Christmas with my grandchildren, so since they are 6 and 9, boy and girl respectively, they should be pretty easy to buy stuffers for. Most of my ideas came from all of you. Woo Hoo! Thanks to all!
MissDaisy
JennyCup
flutterbye0419
wilbe95
catlady
rtebalt
blndemom23
JoAnn
brchbell
janetaba
lcove2000
trekglo
QueenSissi
montique
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