Stocking Stuffers

Here are good ideas for stocking stuffers for all ages, separated into age/gender categories. So be sure to read the general ones that are suitable for either gender, all ages, etc. Some are free or inexpensive, some are a little pricier. Two pieces of Stocking advice: 1) Don't wait until Christmas Eve to sort the stuff and fill the stockings. Do it ahead of time. This year I'm going to fill and hang the stockings a few days ahead and safety-pin them closed with dire warnings not to touch. 2) Either train your family to be sure to put something in *your* stocking, or get yourself some nice stocking stuffers to "find" in your stocking. I always LOVE what I find in my stocking each year, and good things really do come in small packages!

Some gift ideas: Somewhere around the mid-teens, we gave each of our kids a toolbox, and every year they find a new tool in their stockings; The daughters got hope chests and began filling them slowly, and adding items in their stockings, too. Starting when the kids were very small, we always gave them "real" items, rather than their toy counterparts, such as a real flashlight, a real watch, or a real hope chest instead of a plastic toy box, etc. A few things that *have* to be in the stockings each year: chocolate coins, above mentioned tools, nostalgic candy, something silly. Some years we add personal pillowcases made from fabric particularly for that person, such as donuts, sewing baskets, elephants, sea shore, etc.

A few practical gifts we give people that one doesn’t readily think of: a 3-step ladder, battery charger and batteries, electric timers, handheld tape gun, etc. Older kids up to adults can appreciate these items. Until the kids moved away, we would label the gifts with names of people not in our family to cut down on guessing which gifts go to which person. For example, one year the gifts were addressed to kings: King Charlemagne, King Henry IIIV, King Arthur, etc. Everyone got male gender names, again, to keep it deliciously confusing. Other ideas we did were planets; 1940’s movie stars; characters from Star Wars, disciples of Jesus, and so forth. When they finally received their gifts to open, they would say, "Yay! I was hoping I'd be King Solomon!", or "I suspected Josh would be Chewbacca." It added fun to the season, and I hope to carry it on with my grandkids.