stocking stuffers, etc.

I love stockings! I am usually the first one up every Christmas. Even to this day I wake up before my kids and can't wait for them to wake up. When I was younger I would always wake up another one of my sisters and we would proceed to sneak out into the living room, take out everything in our stocking, then try to put it all back ever so carefully so there was no sign of mischief. My mom was a good stocking stuffer too. She put such special and fun things in them and I have always looked forward to opening my stocking as much as I did any present. So, I have tried to follow in her tradition of putting similar things in my kids stockings. Hopefully they will like the ones I make for them as much as I always liked mine.

Image and stocking can be found here.

These, to me, are some things that a good stocking might entail:

I love me a good new toothbrush. Mints. Gum. CANDY (must include one candy cane for traditions sake). An orange- it's tradition! For me the holy grail of oranges is a nice satsuma orange. Books (personalized ones are especially fun for Christmas so you can tell your kids Santa made it especially for them). Dvds. Jewelry. Socks. Hair Stuff. Fun art supplies. Magazines. And Gift Cards.

You could tailor the stuff on the above list for any gender and for any age. The important thing with stocking stuffers is to have fun and keep the person you are buying for in mind. I generally like to leave buying stocking stuffers for last as kind of a last minute shopping detail to look forward to, but some things are fun to buy in advance, especially if you need to special order it.

Here are a couple more ideas:

Marta has some stocking stuffers great ideas.

And I absolutely loved the stocking stuffer ideas from Restoration Hardware this year!!

What do you like in your stockings?

Also, does your family pile up in the car to see Christmas lights every year like mine does? How about sprucing that tradition up a little? A friend emailed me this week with this adorable idea from this blog. I am going to have to do something like that this year to jazz up our annual "Christmas Lights Drive." Will be purchasing these for next year!