<p>Okay, I have become totally predictable with the stockings:</p>
<p>Chapstick
Socks
Candy
Pens
iTunes gift card
Pez dispenser</p>
<p>Does anyone have any suggestions for something new?</p>
<p>Daughters are 15 & 17…</p>
<p>Bag of yummy carmel corn, picture frame, jingle bells, dollar shop has lots of stuff.</p>
<p>I don’t know what your budget is, but just some ideas off the top of my head:</p>
<p>1) If your girls are into beauty products, maybe something like sample packs from Burt’s Bees or a bar of all-natural goat milk soap from Zum would be nice.</p>
<p>2) If your girls play musical instruments, you could get them new reeds for that clarinet or a new set of strings for that electric guitar.</p>
<p>3) If your girls are into arts and crafts, something like a ball of yarn, a set of knitting needles, and a guide to knitting your own hat or scarf might be fun.</p>
<p>Somewhat “girly” ideas: those mini lotions or body washes from Bath and Body works, a favorite snack, tea candles, hair elastics, nail polish, gum or mints, lip gloss</p>
<p>Cute bookmarks, inexpensive jewelry, small flashlight, small book of Soduko or other puzzles, cute deck of cards, fun shoelaces,</p>
<p>Mine are 17 and 20. I have given paperback books, hair clips, pony holders, rings, bracelets, mittens or gloves, book light, nail polish, gift card to coffee shop, tickets to events, card for magazine subscription, makeup, sharpies, perfume. I will keep thinking!</p>
<p>Can somebody throw in suggestions for the male gender, too? S is 17 and D is 15. Most definitely, D is the easiest for me to buy for. :)</p>
<p>I buy dollar shop gloves, little wooden games from there, and all kinds of knick knacks. My kids love the stockings even though a lot of the stuff is really just cheap junk.</p>
<p>For guys, REI and other outdoor shops have some good stocking stuffers.</p>
<p>I always think a stocking doesn’t look right if it doesn’t have a small stuffed animal peeking out of the top. We like tiny plastic cars that you can pull back and race. Or a top that lights up. Any kind of goofy kid stuff.</p>
<p>The kids like tiny puzzles, and those goofy plastic animal puzzles that come in an egg and which get built into a dinosaur or whatever. </p>
<p>My brother puts a red rose in his daughters and wife’s stocking.</p>
<p>For guys- small tools. for H, there is always a eyeglasses repair kit. </p>
<p>Other ideas- a small booklight, nice pens, a lego set for traditions sake.
post its. clothespins to hold chip bags closed. funky magnets. kitchen stuff. </p>
<p>There should always be a nice, small chocolate santa or snowman and a candy cane.</p>
<p>A tube of instant snow (this is way cool) from Steve Spangler Science. Or a geode to break open, or slime, or cat-a-pults, or buzz magnets, or any number of other things.</p>
<p>Chinese (paper) yo-yo; I get these from Pier 1. Other places sell them – Oriental Trading Company (online), for example, but they aren’t nearly as good. You will want one for everyone in the house, adults included, and you don’t even want to know why I know this! :)</p>
<p>A regular yo-yo. (When was the last time your kid played with one? For that matter, when’s the last time you did? 
)</p>
<p>Socks.</p>
<p>A tin of cocoa; a favorite here is Candy Cane Cocoa from either Pier 1 or (especially) McStevens (online).</p>
<p>Any of a number of things from thinkgeek.com, such as screaming monkey slingshots, astronaut ice cream, or mini gundam robots.</p>
<p>Toys from childhood in mini form: Plah-doh, Etch-a-Sketch (on a keychain), playing cards.</p>
<p>Cool office supplies, like paper clips or push pins or magnets in different colors.</p>
<p>Holographic holiday specs. ([Funny</a> Stocking Stuffers - Holographic Holiday Specs](<a href=“foureyesjokeshop.com”>foureyesjokeshop.com))</p>
<p>Sketch pad and sketching pencils.</p>
<p>And how could I forget? Mentos. And under the tree: diet Coke. If you want to get fancy, get one of these: [Geyser</a> Tube at Steve Spangler Science](<a href=“Page not found - Steve Spangler Science”>Page not found - Steve Spangler Science)</p>
<p>But it can be fun to try to figure out how to make a Mentos delivery device. We spent a very messy Christmas afternoon doing that one year. My H, then my fiance, gave my S a box full of two-liter bottles of diet Coke and lots of Mentos. This present was a huge hit!</p>
<p>Just went to Container store after something else, but found some fun things - shopping bags that fold up tiny for grad student D, purse sized lighted magnifier for Mom, grippy cat hair remover, grippy pad for keeping son’s gps on the dashboard…</p>
<p>My sister’s family has a great tradition for stockings - on the morning of Christmas eve, everyone goes together to the dollar store and buys one item for each other person. They have to sneak around to avoid one another, get the gifts home, wrap them and then be able to explain why the item was chosen. Spatula for the one who is a clueless cook, “Magic Slate” billed as the latest wireless communication device for the techie, etc. It’s great fun and extends the present opening for families that don’t have any little kids.</p>
<p>“cat-a-pult”
Oh yes, Archie McPhee online! The home of the cat-a-pult (rubberband powered gun that flings little plastic cats) and all the variations… including a nun-chuck that yes, flings little nun figures.<br>
It has the most amazing array of silly stuff!</p>
<p>Flip books, fancy soap, perfume/cologne, silly socks, silly underwear, small cooking utensils like wisks, measuring spoons, wine stoppers, post-its, sharpies in weird colors, fancy binder clips, hair doo-dads, velcro things for bundling wires, origami, chocolate oranges, weird flavors of lip gloss…</p>
<p>Scratch and win lottery tickets, small gift certificates (for a book, an ice cream cone), a magazine, puzzles, ipod or cell phone accessories, giant orange-chocolate ball, Toberlone bar, slippers, candles, bubble bath, mitts or gloves, tiny light umbrella, key chain with light, mouse pad, perfect coffee mug</p>
<p>I love some of the suggestions on here. I usually try to find a paperback that I have read that I think the recipient would like. Sometimes it’s a classic, otherwise just a book that I didn’t think they would think of. I also like Fair trade candy bars, teas, hot cocoa packets and school supplies. My kids have always have had a thing about post it notes.</p>
<p>Because they rarely think about it, I always include a new toothbrush.</p>
<p>If you have a seasonal calendar store, they always have lots of fun stuff by the cash register. One year I gave D a frog keychain I found there. He realistically “ribbits” when you open his mouth - she still has him attached to her purse.</p>
<p>You have to be careful. You can run up a lot of money on stockings. My kids love their stockings best of all their gifts. I always try to find cute things in there. The problem is that I got them such big stockings when they were little, and now it’s difficult to fill them inexpensively.</p>
<p>^Ah, so true. That is where the magazine, slippers, mug and umbrella come in handy…:)</p>