10 Christmas stocking stuffer ideas
Now that Santa has all the big-ticket items covered, there’s only one thing left on your list…other than the food, the gift-wrapping, the card-sending, the cleaning and the entertaining…OK, breathe. Now where was I? Oh yes, the stockings! If you need some stuffer ideas, have no fear. We’re just brimming with them! Here are 10 great ideas for stuffing stockings, plus more ideas that are theme-specific.
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1. Buck up!
Dollar stores and the dollar bins at chain stores are great root-around places to find silly gadgets, small toys and snacks. And did we mention everything is a dollar?
2. Sock it to me
Festive socks with little nonskid feet are useful for cold winter mornings. Other articles of clothing like mittens, hats and scarves make for fine filler.
3. Swap and shop
Have family members stuff each other’s stockings. Agree on a dollar amount (and stick to it!), and let the family go crazy coming up with fun things to add. The grocery store is a great place to find inexpensive treats.
4. Read ’em and weep (for joy)
Activity books, novels and magazines will get a lot of perusing during a holiday vacation. There’s something very relaxing about playing word games or reading unplugged.
5. Get game
Card games are perfect stocking-stuffers because they’re small, usually simple to play and are extremely portable. If you have any after-Christmas traveling to do, it’s a win-win.
6. Go small
Personal grooming items like hair gel, lip balms, lotions that smell like peppermint—all great ideas for a teen or tween. Get travel sizes of items they already love or have wanted to try.
7. Deck it out
A Christmas ornament of a hobby or a favorite photo can be a nice addition to a stocking. They can immediately display it on the tree this year, and look forward to seeing it again next year.
8. Juice up
Navel oranges, tangerines and apples of all kinds are yummy and healthy alternatives to a sockful of sweets. And small bottles of juice make a nice travel-size treat.
9. Get crafty
Craft kits like beginner cross-stitch, a small booklet on beginning crochet, a hook and a ball of yarn, or friendship bracelet thread all make fun, portable activities to keep boredom at bay when traveling or on snowbound days.
10. Go nuts!
As long as there are no peanut or nut allergies in your family, stuff those stockings full of unshelled nuts—like Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts and pecans—and don’t forget to slip in a nutcracker. Shelling nuts makes a great (if slightly messy) activity that, best of all, has a snack at the end.
Jeanne Field enjoys quilting, killer sudoku and washi-tape hoarding in her free time—which she has more of now that her 2 kids are in college. She hopes to live 1,000 or so more years so she can make ALL the quilts.
