Shall we do another little shopping browse?
One of my favorite parts of shopping for Christmas is keeping an eye out for fun stocking stuffers. And I admit that I look out for stocking stuffers for myself, in addition for stocking stuffers for the rest of the family. If I plan ahead, I can stave off my tendency to panic buy a bunch of junk at the last minute.
First up, of course, is the miniature office supplies set I told you about yesterday. This is going to make Carla so happy. I remember having a set of mini office supplies when I was a kid, and I adored them. The teensy stapler most of all. (photo from target.com)
While at Target, I added a trio of rainbow leopard hand masks to my cart. I am picturing me, Carla, and my mother sitting around on Christmas day in ridiculous rainbow leopard print gloves, our hands transforming through the magic of the masks’ deep hydration. It will be silly and fun and I couldn’t resist. (photo from target.com)
I also went into Ulta, which often has good stocking stuffers. I loaded up on 5-for-$5 bath treats for Carla and my niece. (photo from ulta.com)
In Ulta, I lingered over the display of Essie holiday nail polish colors, and resisted buying the Bahama Mama for myself. But there’s no need for YOU to resist. (photo from amazon.com)
The Essie polish was $8.99, and I found an almost identical color (Zip Wine) in the Sally Hanson InstaDri for $5.99, which is only $3 less but that seems like a Big Difference when it comes to nail varnish. (photo from amazon.com)
But THEN, I found this three-pack of mini Essie polishes, which includes Bahama Mama AND Marshmallow, which was another color I was dithering over buying, and a third metallic color called Gadget Free. This will be a perfect stocking stuffer for my mom. (photo from amazon.com)
(Full disclosure: I was also eyeing the Essie Off Tropic while in Ulta… and then bought it later at Target.) (photo from amazon.com)
(And, after writing this, I really really wish I’d gotten the Marshmallow. It’s such a gorgeous creamy near-white, just the way that a melted marshmallow looks. So I may need to ease that into my online shopping cart for my own stocking.) (photo from amazon.com)
Speaking of things that I might sneak into my amazon shopping cart, I am thinking Carla is just the right age to get a big kick out of an old school Slinky. (photo from amazon.com)
These makeup headbands are adorable – and maybe having one would encourage Carla to wash her face more regularly! I could send the others to my sisters-in-law. (photo from amazon.com)
I love this hair and body glitter set for anyone who needs a little shimmer in their lives. (photo from petitenpretty.com)
As usual, the men in my family are more difficult to shop for.
I am pretty sure I’ve considered this magnetic wristband in the past for my dad, but haven’t gone through with it. Maybe this is the year; I do think he’d get a lot of use out of it! (photo from amazon.com)
My dad might also appreciate these molds for filled chocolates, which he makes each year around Christmastime. (photo from amazon.com)
My husband would find many opportunities to use this digital tire gauge. But I can’t tell if it would a Fun Gadget type of gift, or a Super Lame Practical Gift. (photo from amazon.com)
He, as I mentioned, loves fun socks. And these ASDR socks might appeal to his music-production side. (photo from redbubble.com)
I also love these pink synth socks. (photo from redbubble.com)
And these socks, featuring a rainbow of video game controllers. (photo from redbubble.com)
Oh my gosh – or these happy colon socks! (photo from redbubble.com)
Okay, three pairs of socks are now on their way to me!
I think he would enjoy this book of Dad Jokes. Sometimes when Carla and I are in the kitchen and my husband is still upstairs, he will send us dad jokes via our Echo. (photo from amazon.com)
Speaking of which: if you don’t have an Echo, this Echo Dot is only $19.99 right now. That’s on the top edge of stocking stuffer pricing for me. (photo from amazon.com)
Carla specifically requested an electric pencil sharpener for Christmas. Perfect stocking stuffer. So proud that she has inherited my tendency toward practicality! (photo from amazon.com)
The pencil sharpener makes me think of Carla’s desk vacuum, which is an ideal stocking stuffer size and price and which would bring many, many people joy. (photo from amazon.com)
My husband got an extreme dot-to-dot book for Carla’s stocking. It looks VERY STRESSFUL to me, but she shares his logical brain, so perhaps she will love it. (photo from mindware.com)
On the opposite end of the stress spectrum, I just came across these Pop It bracelets! This would be perfect for Carla, who loves Pop Its and jewelry! If you know a child in elementary school, you probably already know what a HUGE fad Pop Its are these days, but this is something I haven’t seen before. (photo from amazon.com)
I am pretty everyone in our family is getting a bag of Bequet Sea Salt Caramels. They are SO soft and buttery and delicious. (photo from bequetconfections.com)
Qwirkle Rummy is another family favorite that’s perfect for stocking stuffing. (photo from amazon.com)
Speaking of family favorites, who wouldn’t love a Wick Habit votive in their stocking? They come in such a wide variety of fun scents, and they all smell SO GOOD. (photo from etsy.com)
It might be fun to find a lovely prism in one’s stocking, like this crystal suncatcher from JkkGifts. Rainbows would be useful in chasing away the winter gloom that sometimes come with a post-holidays crash. (photo from etsy.com)
And, from The Prism Emporium, these mini star prisms – which stick to your window – would appeal to my daughter and my niece. (photo from etsy.com)
You likely already know I have a soft spot in my heart for miniature things, especially when they are useful in the kitchen. These mini spatulas would be perfect stocking stuffers for the cookers on my list. I have some and use them all the time. (photo from amazon.com)
I am also loving these mini serving tools. And such bright, fun colors! (photo from amazon.com)
I want this mini grater quite badly. I suspect it would do a better job grating ginger than my microplane does. (photo from amazon.com)
Thinking of miniature items reminds me of this mini rice cooker, which I bookmarked after Swistle mentioned seeing a pink one at HomeGoods recently. SWOON. Maybe it wouldn’t fit in a stocking – not to mention it’s a teensy bit more than I like to spend on stocking stuffers – but it is SO CUTE. (photo from amazon.com)
Tell me something you’re hoping to see in your stocking, if stockings are a thing you do.
I ordered the mini office supply kit for Elizabeth because she will love that. She just got a desk in her room this August and she does most of her homework there. I also put the desk vacuum in the cart for her and I am considering it but now that she’s a teen, everything she wants is expensive and we’ve already spent so much on her and does she need more? Maybe. But maybe not.
I already have those same slinkies in my closet and I am definitely going to Ulta for the 5 for $5 because of this.
Don’t get your husband the tire guage, get him the little machine my husband has that plugs into the car and puts air in your tires and stops when it gets to the right amount. I use it all the time when my tires get low and I haven’t had to get air at a gas station in years.
Digital Air Compressor for Car Auto Pump Portable Tire Inflator with LED Light DC 12V https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YC12FW1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_GA9822Z1FXYE91P3RER2
This isn’t our exact one but it’s close enough and there are dozens of options out there.
YES.
I was thinking about you the other day because ever since you mentioned Mini Brands (I think that’s what they are called) I have been seeing them everywhere!
These are all very good stocking stuffers! I usually get a bottle of wine in my stocking because my husband is not good at stocking stuffers. The kids generally get a lot of chocolate. I also buy a box of Fruit by the Foot, and put the individual pieces in their stockings and they lose their minds, as it’s something I never buy otherwise.
I LOVE stockings. My family didn’t have much extra in terms of finances growing up but our stockings would be BULGING. We got mostly practical things – new socks, underwear – but I just loved having an excess of items to open even if they weren’t exciting. My Mom would wrap everyone up a bar of soap, a toothbrush, and a tube of toothpaste. Within 10 minutes of unwrapping these things, we would all take a little pile to the bathroom and put all these shared supplies back under the sink in the stockpile. But I loved it!
We have…a bit more than my parents…and stockings are still a huge hit. My husband does most of the gifts for me, and doesn’t really buy stocking gifts, so I usually have the least in mine (he just puts everything under the tree). Other years I’ve bought things for my stocking but honestly…I’d rather just buy the things and skip wrapping them and then putting them all away at once. So I’m skipping this step and am 100% fine with watching other people dive into their stockings. We do special treats, socks, little toys; I love getting stocking stuffers and we actually ONLY do stockings before we eat our Christmas breakfast because we linger so long opening each gift slowly – even if it is just a new toothbrush.
The thing I’m most excited to give this year – some California Reaper peppers (my husband LOVES spicy things and this is the only famous one he hasn’t tried) and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans for my daughter who is a HUGE Harry Potter fan.
It’s mostly candy around here with the occasional small gift (often socks or tea), or sometimes a big ticket item that happens to be physically small, for the surprise factor.
We don’t do stockings here, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting face masks and a makeup hairband and most of what you put on this list. Our house has a great spot for the Christmas tree and we have a great doorway for hanging cards from ribbon, but we just don’t have a good place to hang stockings.
We do stocking stuffers here – and I find myself throwing in some lame but useful stuff all the time. Toothbrush replacement heads come to mind – I fear that Man-Child would never change his if I didn’t make sure he had replacements. Candy and gum and other fun little items make it in there too. The Husband never thought about doing a stocking for me until a couple of years ago. I must say his picks are often a little…odd.
Lol – now I need to know what “odd” means!
I put that desk vacuum immediately into my Amazon cart for Kate. She needs it for her desk in her room, so thank you for that idea! I often have a hard time with stockings, but typically do the usuals, candy, maybe socks, usually their favorite pens or pencils, sometimes booklights or airpods cases, that type of thing. In my husband’s stocking must always be a Sweet Tarts roll and a Spree roll, although he’s trying to be health conscious this year so I’m unsure if he still wants those.