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SeaStar
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 6:24pm | IP Logged
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Ho, ho. ho-
Yes, it's coming up soon. This thread reminded me to be on the lookout for stocking stuffers. We've had lots of discussion in the past here about stocking stuffers, but this year (as I continue to do a major purge through my entire house) I am ever so much more interested in CONSUMABLE stockings stuffers.
OK- so food, that's a given. What are your very favorite special treats?
I read in an old thread about putting in Little Debbie Snack cakes- something that otherwise rarely makes it into the house.
I like that idea a because, God bless the grandmothers, they had to make beautiful but STRETCHY knit stockings for my family. Those things just keep expanding as I put things in. And no one wants a flappy, floppy looking half filled stocking.  So, lots of space to fill.
My dc will be 7 and 9 at Xmas... past the bubbles and sidewalk chalk phase. I am sad to say they do not need another rosary, holy card, scapular, religious medal or anything along those lines.
Would putting in a special scented votive candle for each one to burn be too weird (or dangerous)?.
Let's share some ideas.... aiming for a clutter-free Christmas!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 6:32pm | IP Logged
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well at my house a new mug would be consumable.. which i picked up at a big yard sale recently all christmas designs.. packs of hot cocoa are big hits.. the ones with mini marshmellows, though i like some of the gourmet type.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Chris V
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 6:53pm | IP Logged
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My parents provided us the same stocking stuffers nearly every year (though they did change a bit, and maybe a gift or two would be different, but generally speaking, it was the same) ::
An orange
A candy-cane
A box of gourmet chocolates (like a Whitman's sampler with 4 pieces of chocolate in the box).
A toothbrush
A scratch-lottery ticket (In all my years I've never won. Not even once. Not even one dollar ... but I sure did love the anticipation of being a big winner  )
A new bottle of fingernail polish (or some other fun little femine item, such as a new pair of earrings, a little pocket mirror for our "purses", etc.).
Sometimes we'd get a new pair of socks
Or maybe a new cassette tape from our favorite music band.
I've been following the same general trend for my little girls. Nothing elaborate, keeping things simple.
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Chris
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 6:59pm | IP Logged
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One of my friends gives her children sugary breakfast cereal for Christmas...it's the only time of year she buys it. Maybe the mini boxes would fit into a stocking?
Other ideas...pretty headbands, fun socks (these are consumables at my house), hair ribbons or colored pony tail elastics (also consumable here in Dance Land!), and, for your son, extra Legos (if you live near a Lego store you can buy just a few Legos in various colors from their "bulk" bins), playing cards/card games like UNO, water pistol, giant Hershey bar, Hot Wheels car.
Both of my children liked receiving money in their stockings...we put quarters and dollar coins in the stockings even today.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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CrunchyMom
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Art supplies (dry erase crayons, glitter glue, model magic, special pens or pencils)
Nuts. My mom always bought a bunch of those mixed nuts still in the shell. They can take up a good bit of bulk, and you don't eat them so fast as a can of shelled nuts. Its more about the experience of cracking them.
We always had oranges in there.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 7:13pm | IP Logged
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oh yes.. socks and undies.. and a pomegranite is a very special fruit to get at our house
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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Chris V
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 7:18pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
We always had oranges in there.
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Us too . There's a story in there somewhere ... I remember my Mom explaining to us why the orange was tradition ... what's the story? ... I can't remember 
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 7:22pm | IP Logged
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I've been stuffing:
- PEZ candies every year (the only time we buy them) and they enjoy the new character,
-a bathroom item of some sort (toothbrush, floss, kid toothpaste, soap...),
-a small wooden toy (car, helicopter, top, last year I bought the saint wooden dolls)
-dvds like Goliath or some old t.v. show/cartoon (we've developed a collection  ),
-sometimes I'll put in camping items and gadgets
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Chris V
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 7:28pm | IP Logged
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As described by the St. Nicholas Center
Quote:
The gold Nicholas threw to provide the dowry money is often shown as gold balls. These are symbolized by oranges or even apples. So the orange in the toe of the stocking is a reminder of Nicholas' gift. |
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That seemed awfully simplified ... then I found part of this story by Patricia L. Cummings
Quote:
| The tradition of hanging stockings on Christmas Eve has its origins in one of the many legends that surround Nicholas, the saintly Bishop of Myra. One evening, the story goes, three marriageable daughters of an impoverished nobleman hung their stockings on the fireplace to dry. Out of compassion for the girls, Nicholas threw little bags of gold coins down the chimney, which happened to land in the stockings. Thus Nicholas provided the girls with a dowry and they were eventually able to marry. |
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Continued ...
Quote:
| In some cultures, the orange has become symbolic of the gold that was placed in the stockings of the three girls, and also signifies that a child has been good. Japanese oranges have special meaning for those who live in the Canadian prairies. Their arrival at such a cold time of year brightens the holiday, and the juicy fruit finds its way into many children's stockings. |
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I love traditions such as this 
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*Lindsey*
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 7:31pm | IP Logged
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The mini-boxes of cereal do fit. We did this last year, my kids were so excited!
We also did chapstick, new toothbrushes, candy, coloring books....and I'm drawing a blank on the rest.
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Lindsey
Mama to DS (11), DD(9), twin dds(7), DD (5), DS (4), DS (3), and 5 angels in heaven.
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ekbell
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 7:41pm | IP Logged
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The only non-consumable that regularly arrives in my children's stockings are classic children's books (a tradition from my husband's family).
Otherwise they get oranges, chocolate and cookies (Dutch cookies!) plus art supplies of some sort or another.
My girls loved the watercolor year a couple of Christmases ago (each girl received a slightly different 'kit' so there were watercolors in cake, crayon and pencil forms with waterbrushes and sponges(to clean the waterbrushes. I even bought some cheap paints and waterbrushes for my preschool son which he loved.
Last christmas I loaded up on Strathmore artist trading cards, and a number of cute Royal Langnickel art kits.
In lower budget years carefully rolled up tissue paper and pipecleaner have gone over well (it's amazing what you can make with tissue paper and pipecleaners). Small sketch books and pencil crayons, markers, brads, beads and buttons, interesting paper punches, foam sheets, modeling clay, even ivory soap with clay modeling tools and soap carving instructions ...... the possibilities are endless.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 8:13pm | IP Logged
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teach them crocheting.. yarn can take up a lot of room 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Sept 22 2011 at 8:21pm | IP Logged
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Has anyone ever bought a chocolate orange? I don't think I've ever even seen one. They always seem to pop up in stories, though.
I like the mini-cereal box idea, too. We loved those growing up as kids. Can you still buy them at the grocery store? We don't eat much cereal anymore, so I've never looked for them. Also love the nuts idea- my kids LOVE cracking nuts open.
This is the first year I've been able to put any food in dd's stocking, so it is a huge relief not to come up with non-food stuffers.
What else- packs of gum? (and why doesn't Costco carry any bubble-gum flavored gum, ever?  ) Could packs of gum be prettied up on the outside with seasonal scrapbooking paper as "wrapping"?
TJ Maxx and Marshalls always have those tubes of neat bubble bath shaped like gingerbread men or snowflakes that dissolve in bath water. I
don't want to give anybody a rash, though
I WISH I lived close to a lego store  I would love to browse the bins, and it would be perfect for my ds.
I might get dh to make some interesting block shapes on his lathe to add to our block collection. The kids love to build with blocks.... not consumable, though fun.
Hmm....
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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JodieLyn
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oh yes the chocolate oranges are good.. I like milk chocolate orange flavored or better still is the dark chocolate and raspberry flavor 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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SeaStar
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JodieLyn wrote:
| teach them crocheting.. yarn can take up a lot of room |
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I am laughing. Last year I stuffed the bulk of dh's stocking with 4 cans of Vernor's soda. Now those took up some room
yarn is another excellent idea.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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SeaStar
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JodieLyn wrote:
| oh yes the chocolate oranges are good.. I like milk chocolate orange flavored or better still is the dark chocolate and raspberry flavor |
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Where do you buy them? I just looked on Amazon, and whew! some were really pricey!
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guitarnan
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Melinda, I live near a Lego store. Let me know if you need anything.
(Hey, excuse to meet up!) 
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JodieLyn
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I can get them here in town.. the variety store and the drugstore (rite aid) and maybe safeway grocery store. I watch until they go on sale and then get a couple.. they're usually for mine and dh's stockings
and remember items with corners can wedge into a stocking giving you a "shelf" to stack on top of instead of everything falling to the toe.
I didn't think i'd gone overboard on stocking size.. but they could be a bit smaller.. and I only have myself to blame and they're felt.. so not even that stretchy.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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SeaStar
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JodieLyn wrote:
I can get them here in town.. the variety store and the drugstore (rite aid) and maybe safeway grocery store. I watch until they go on sale and then get a couple.. they're usually for mine and dh's stockings
and remember items with corners can wedge into a stocking giving you a "shelf" to stack on top of instead of everything falling to the toe.
I didn't think i'd gone overboard on stocking size.. but they could be a bit smaller.. and I only have myself to blame and they're felt.. so not even that stretchy. |
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I would say: avoid stretchy knit stockings at all costs. it is not even funny how much they expand Thanks for the tips about the oranges... I can definitely see those appearing ins stockings here this year (at least mine, anyway.... )
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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SeaStar
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guitarnan wrote:
Melinda, I live near a Lego store. Let me know if you need anything.
(Hey, excuse to meet up!) |
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Very tempting, Nancy. If I could get to a lego store, it would most likely have to be with kids in tow, and then how could I secretly buy anything?
I am doing a lego store check ( ahem... put dh on that) but I think the closest is probably at least a couple of hours away.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Topic: Consumable stocking stuffers
