Stocking Stuffers: Little Things Come in Good Packages

I love the idea of the stocking stuffers. There are so many clever, fun things you can fit into a stocking. The stockings themselves are such fun. Some years we had Disney stockings. That was when the grand girls came along. My daughter law was into Disney. That's passed, now we have an assorted varitey. We have two dogs so , of course we have paw stockings and for the cats one with Good kitty embroidered on the cuff and fish dangling from that. Hubby has a huge stocking. I have a prissy one. The best part is watching them get fuller and fuller and adding or squeezing more nifty things into them.

Every year everyone gets a new ornament, that gets put into the stockings. I get the Christmas photo of the girls and I always make that into an ornament by putting it into one of those clear globes, adding fake snow and gluing French ribbon around it. Each girl gets an ornament with her name or hobby in it. One was always called Nickle pickle (her name is Nicole). She always gets a pickle blown glass ornament. tucked into her stocking. If you're watching your budget shop for your ornaments at the after Christmas sales. Target goes to 90% off.

It's nice to try and figure out what a person likes and shop the stuffers that way. If someone is partial to a certain scent you can usually find that scent in tiny bottles. Hubby likes Vodka I get one of those airplane sized bottles of Vodka for him, Grand Marnier for my daughter in law and Rum for my son.

Ties roll up well and can fit into a stocking. CD's as well. Nothing like finding an IPOD in the toe, or a new tiny cell phone. I make reindeer poop out of malted balls. I tuck a little paper in with it that says "You've been bad so here's the scoop,all you get is reindeer poop". This is fun to do if you're having Christmas dinner. You can put one bag at each plate.You can also make bags of Snowman Soup to put in the stockings or at the dinner plate. You just need a pack of Instant Hot choclate mix, 3 Hershey's kisses, 10-15 mini marshmellows and 1 candy cane. Your note will say "Here's a little Snowman soup, complete with sitrring stick, Add hot water, sip it slow , Its sure to do the trick."

Socks fit well, a pair of Christmas socks, mens, womens, and kids can be cute. It keeps things festive.

For the cook, pretty recipe cards , a few slim attractive kitchen tools and a subscription to Bon Appetit or Gourmet all fit in the sock and are nice and useful. You can roll up an apron tightly and make that fit as well or box it separately with a note saying check your stocking for the rest of the gift. I like to try and keep a theme going. Nail polish, emery boards, hand cream, nail decals and a gift certificate for a manicure,pedicure are great for a tween, a teen or a young Mom. For Mom a day spa gift certificate would be even better. On that line you can give gift certificates for massages , that works for men and women old or young. For my daughter or daughter in law this comes with a card good for my baby sitting services.

If you're budget is tight go to Curves and ask for an introductory week. They'll happily give you one. For the budget conscious you can save samples of thigns that come in the mail. Many thrift stores have brand new items as do garage sales. Drug stores carry travel size items that are inexpensive and work well in a stocking. Cards that are "Good Fors..." are always appreciated and cost you nothing but time. Like the baby sitting, you can give a massage, a manicure, a pedicure, a free ride somewhere, iron something, sew/repair something if that's your expertise. You can offer to cook a meal or bake some cookies. Any of those make very caring, sharing gifts. There are sites online for freebies and you can pick up some cute stocking stuffers that way.

Take a candy cane, twizzle a brown pipe cleaner around the arch of the cane for horns, add two plastic eyes and you have a reindeer candy cane.This is cute sticking out of the stocking.

The dogs and cats, pets in general can always get a new toy, catnip, dog biscuits or a collar. The Dollar Store is great for scrunchies which make really cute Holiday collars for smaller dogs and cats. You can take the gloves that are stretchy and sew a string to each finger. Glue gun a feather, a pom pom, or a bell to each of the strings and you have a very inexpensive cat toy to stuff into the cats stocking. At Petco they always have dog treats at the check out , you can gather a few and put them in a bag for your dog. Free.If you have a garden you can grow your own catnip and dry it for your kitties. You can also dry herbs and give them as gifts. Put them in a pretty jar with boiled white vinegar and they make a nice gift. You can also add lemon peel to this and you can have lemon basil vinegar for instance. This will fit in a stocking and it's a gift made by you with love..

You can make caramel popcorn balls, wrap them and put them in everyone's stocking. Photos put in a simple frame are nice. You can also embellish the frame with charms, dog biscuits for a dog's picture, plastic fish (dollar store again) for Kitty's picture. People love to get pictures of their pets.

You can have a really good time doing the stocking stuffer gifts, it doesn't require a lot of money. It's inexpensive if you need it to be depending on how close your Dollar Store is and what your particular talents are. Anyone can glue.

No matter what your budget there are clever ways to fill a stocking.