Although you might think that having to come up with stocking stuffing ideas is a recent phenomenon, most of the activities we associate with Christmas have their origins far back in time, and hanging stockings to be stuffed while we sleep is no exception. While people seem to disagree on exactly what inspired American kids to start hanging their stockings when they did, in the early 1800s, everyone tells the same story of the legend behind hanging your stockings on Christmas Eve.
The tradition of stocking stuffing
The legend of how stocking stuffing began has a somewhat Catholic origin, as the first stocking stuffer ideas can be credited to St. Nicholas. This third century saint was known far and wide for his generosity, and is the saint on which the legend of Santa Claus is based.
The fairy-tale-like story goes this way: There was a father who had three wonderful daughters. Although they were good people, the father was very poor and could not provide the type of dowries that would get his daughters the kind of husbands they deserved.
St. Nicholas of Myra visited the village and heard about the unfortunate plight of this man and his daughters. He knew that the father would never just accept money from him so St. Nicholas went to the family’s house at night and dropped three bags full of gold coins down the chimney. Because the daughters had done the laundry that evening, each pile of gold coins landed in each one of the three stockings they had hung on the fireplace to dry.
When they awoke in the morning, the daughters discovered the gold coins. With this gift of money, they had the dowries they had envisioned and all were happily married. Once word had spread of this miracle gift, people began to hang up stockings on their chimneys and fireplaces, hope the same thing would happen to them.
No one knows for sure how the idea of hanging stockings on the mantel on Christmas Eve came about in the U.S. It is known, however, that the famous poem that begins “T’was the night before Christmas…also has this line, “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.” This Christmas poem was written in the early 1800s.
How to choose stocking stuffer items
Before you start brainstorming for stocking stuffer ideas, you need to decide what size items you will really need to stuff the stocking. Not every stocking is the same size. Plus, you don’t want to end up with just a couple of items that fill the whole stocking. There should be many items in a stocking because that makes it more fun to go through, especially if several people are sorting through their Christmas stockings together. Aim for a minimum of a dozen items and a dozen and a half if you can come up with good stocking stuffer ideas. You should pick out seven or eight small items, three to four medium-sized items, and just one or two very large items that would look great sitting on the top of stocking or hanging out of the stocking.
So, now you are psyched to buy stocking stuffers. How do you come up with a variety of stocking stuffer ideas, especially if you have been doing it for your kids for ten years or so? Or maybe you are a husband or wife who exchange gift-filled stockings every year, and coming up with new and interesting gifts is getting harder and harder.
The key to coming up with the best stocking stuffer ideas is to personalize each stocking. Look at a variety of gift categories and see what new items they have for the age group for which you are buying. Food is always a popular item for Christmas stockings. You can give appropriate sugar-free candy to diabetics or gluten-free food to those with allergies.
All kinds of candies make good stocking stuffer ideas, whether it be a delicious chocolate bar for a treat or a protein shake mix for a bodybuilder. Candy canes are popular at Christmas time as are all kinds of chocolates. They make tiny boxes with as few as six chocolates that are just right for stocking stuffers.
Everyone has seen those little sausages and cheeses that suddenly appear during the holidays, and don’t forget those tiny packets of flavored coffees and teas. These are all great food stocking stuffer ideas. And, for those who would rather have people choose their own foods, you can get gift certificates to just about any eatery or food store. (continued...)