Y'all! how is it already time to be talking stockings?!?! So exciting!!!
I think everyone has their own traditions revolving around Christmas stockings - in Dave's family all of his cousins got the exact same things in their stockings at his Grandma's house on Christmas morning. An orange, an apple, a pack of gum, a package of pencils, etc. In my house growing up, our stockings were always waiting at the feet of our beds filled with little toys, stickers. etc. My brother Mark and I had a pretty great system... whoever got up first would grab their own stocking, head to the other ones bedroom and we'd go through each other's stockings until the set time we were allowed to go wake up my parents :) This was pretty GENIUS on my parents part. hahaha
Whenever the designated time rolled around, we would take our stockings to our parents bed and we'd take turns going through each of our stockings (my parents stockings were always at the foot of their bed as well). After we spent some time going through stockings, we'd head downstairs and do the rest of our presents.
With our kids, we do stockings in our bed first thing in the morning - up until this point Santa hasn't left the stockings in the kids rooms - but this year may be the year. :)
The first few years of doing stockings for our kids I feel like we made "rookie mistakes". I hit up the dollar store and felt like I got a lot of bang for my buck, but most of it ended up in the trash within the first few days. Since then, we put a little more "quality" rather than "quantity" and fill it up with some essentials that the kids need along with fun things for them as well.
The boys get several essentials in their stockings, like socks, underwear and usually a pair of pajamas. (click on the pics to view the items)
As far as the toy/fun items go, we keep it pretty simple. Here are some ideas...
Keep in mind my boys stockings will NOT contain all of those :) hahaha
I also typically throw in a package of their favorite fruit snacks or other kind of special lunch treat that we may not get all that often. Luke ALWAYS asks for one of those giant containers of cheese balls from SAMs as well. hahaha I have a feeling that even as an adult Dave and I will be buying him the tub of cheese balls every Christmas :)
Griffin will be getting some new underwear to hopefully motivate her to start potty training (wishful thinking, but maybe if Santa encourages her she will show an interest), as well as a couple of little essentials as well.
She'll get a few fun things as well, here are some ideas...
Dave is without a doubt the hardest person on EARTH to shop for. He is sooooooooo low maintenance and really never asks for anything. Santa usually stuffs his stocking with white t-shirts, Reeses Cups and Almond Joys. This year there may be some sweats and a few shirts as well.
Just in case Santa is reading, here are a few things I wouldn't mind pulling out of my stocking Christmas morning. ;)
If you have an extra awesome Santa, you should ask for this poncho in your stocking. It's 43% off and AWESOME!!! (this is what I'm wearing underneath)
I hope this list helps a little bit! If you're curious, I did a gift guide a couple of weeks ago that you can check out HERE. Also, I've found lots of great stocking stuffers on Zulily lately. Be sure to check them out for deals. Did I miss anything great? Do you have an amazing stocking tradition I should know about ? Fill me in!
http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=586413" title="click to view in an external page.">An InLinkz Link-up
PS - The links in this post were affiliate links. That means that if you clicked on an item and purchased it, I may receive a small commission. Thank you so much for reading and supporting my blog!!! ;)
Great ideas! This year so far I've bought Carter a little camo flashlight and a hat and glove set. I'm totally going to get him that card holder!
ReplyDeleteI do hope our Santas were reading that!!! We both chose the same beanie!! :)
ReplyDeleteOkay...I'm always needing stocking ideas! For some reason, I always blank when it comes to their stockings. Love this!
ReplyDeleteSuch great stocking ideas!! I need to remember the craft supplies this year! So smart!!
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I did the same thing growing up with our stockings and now my children do it as well. My kids, even the grown up ones, all sleep in one bedroom, usually Brooke's, Christmas Eve and then they all wake up Christmas morning and go through their goods in their stockings ! So much fun. And I love that at 23 and 20 my kids still love getting their stockings !!!
ReplyDeleteLand of Nod has fantastic stocking stuffers!!
ReplyDeleteBought my littlest, underwear for Christmas, as well! Praying it kick starts potty training!
ReplyDeleteGenius, pure genius! Happy Monday! :)
ReplyDeleteGirl, how big are your stocking? LOL Great suggestions, but a number of them are kind of bulky and wouldn't fit in my family's stockings. Love your blog, and your adorable family.
ReplyDeleteLove this - I always forget about stockings until the last minute and then up with junk. I have been very purposeful this year to remember and I am doing well!! I spent 20 minutes in the magazine/coloring book section looking for the PERFECT item!!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas!! I scored Magformers on Zulily last week for the nephew. Can't wait to give them to him. Love the donut socks!
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