<p>Well I just bought *Sand from Brookstone and the Zipper Earbuds from Grommet… thanks! I would add Essie Nail Polish from Walgreens… expensive for nail polish but a treat for my dd and superfun colors. I also bought them each a roll of wheatie pennies from eBay… just seemed nostaligic to me 
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<p>I love stockings. My mother was really good at stocking stuffers even after I became an adult and I looked forward to her gifts. My kids are all high schoolers now. I always put some fine Swiss Christmas chocolates, like Santas or snowmen, gold chocolate coins and doo dads. My daughter gets lots of hair things and make up. My sons like camping, boating hilking items. REI is a good store for those. This year I’m going to get a few things from ThinkGeek. Earbuds and memory sticks are always appreciated by them.</p>
<p>I just remembered a friend who always got peppermint sticks and an orange among the other things in her stocking because they were the only thing her grandfather would get for Christmas during the Depression. It was a family tradition to remember him.</p>
<p>Former teacher here too! New teachers may actually need stuff for their classrooms…I know my first job had me reaching into my pockets constantly! But, I agree…personal stuff should be the majority :)</p>
<p>@Overtheedge…we do the ornament thing too. I swore I’d stop at 18, but I can’t help myself! One year we were short on time and hadn’t been anywhere neat to collect an ornament from. On the way home from a boring visit family trip, we bought key chains at the airport and hung them as that years ornament. Cheesey, but we still laugh about the Arizona key chains :)</p>
<p>Fandango gift cards have become one of my go-to gifts, and they’re great stocking stuffers.</p>
<p>@1214mom - For a larger stocking, I’ve found tights, fuzzy socks, scarves, cute boxers (D loves these to lounge in), and books to be useful for filling space. You could roll up a cute tee shirt too and tie it with ribbon.</p>
<p>Your local hardware store probably has some neat stuff in the stocking stuffer category.</p>
<p>We do the Ornament thing too. However it’s always 2 ornaments per kid. The ornaments have pictures of them from the year. Sometimes I make the ornaments and sometimes I buy ones that hold pictures. We are now at the point where the whole tree is pictures of the kids. Even though they are boys they really like hanging the ornaments each year and remembering years past.</p>
<p>@MichiganGeorgia Your kids actually help with the tree? My kids are great, love ‘em, but geez louise I cannot get them to decorate without grumbling! A frequent query is "how many ornaments (of their own yearly collections) do we have to put on the tree? Usually my sons grab the closest 5-6 from the top of the box. D usually puts a little more effort into it. Maybe someday my sons’ wives will appreciate all the cute ornaments I lovingly selected for them!</p>
<p>tire gauges, phillips screwdrivers, gum, iTunes cards, gas station cards, rubber balls, stupid windup toys, cheap earbuds, lottery tickets (we had a family member who always gave us those, so we’ve continued after his death), pencils, one antique coin and in the toe, chocolates and an orange. We would give up gifts before we’d give up stockings When we were first married/ had kids, that’s actually all we could afford, so we are very attached. </p>
<p>@shellz - Yes they help with the tree. Each kids ornaments are in separate boxes so they put their own on the tree. DH and I put the ones on that are pictures of the whole family. Plus I have some that I made of DH when he was a kid. I’m not sure what to do this year since DS’s GF will be here when we put up the tree. I guess she can help him put up his ornaments.</p>
<p>You just reminded me that I forgot to buy clearance candy after Halloween. Hershey’s, Reese’s, and the other stuff that they like…and it’s a great deal! (if you can find the kind that doesn’t have Halloween colors on the wrapper).</p>
<p>Large stocking stuffers for us include rolled up tshirts or pajamas, specialty hot chocolate or tea from teavana. And pajama pants rolled up. My husband used to get chessmen cookies from his mom.</p>
<p>I bought Halloween candy at target yesterday for 70% off!! </p>
<p>I’ve gotten those things you can put over the head of the key so you can tell them apart from the hardware store. Another thing I’ve gotten is flower decorated tape measures and screwdrivers that the boys know get put back in my office not the black hole in the basement. Like this: <a href=“http://www.pjtool.com/flower-pattern-tape-measure-25.aspx”>http://www.pjtool.com/flower-pattern-tape-measure-25.aspx</a> or <a href=“http://www.pjtool.com/6in1screwdriverwfloraldesign.aspx”>http://www.pjtool.com/6in1screwdriverwfloraldesign.aspx</a></p>
<p>How cool mathmom! ref the flower tools.</p>
<p>External cell phone batteries, for charging dead batteries on the go.
Gift subscription to Pandora music service. (Got this for my D last year, and months later she said it was one of the best gifts ever.)</p>
<p>@justforthis, thanks for the link to Grommet…$204 later , I got some stocking stuffers for 5 family members and one really cool scarf from Nepal :)</p>
<p>^ lol: you’re welcome :-)</p>
<p>Love The Grommet! Got sushi making kits for the 20 somethings. And one for me :)</p>