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Holiday Home Entertaining Tip – Stocking Stuffers!
A fun update for an ancient holiday tradition.
I think one of the most fun and endearing holiday traditions is Christmas stockings. When I was a kid, it was a way to get a lot of candy. By the time I was a teen, the presents I had found in my stocking got a little more sophisticated. One year, I got my first really nice watch. That was a really happy memory.
As far as the history of the stocking stuffer goes, apparently that’s how everyone got their gifts, from the earliest time when the holidays started until about the 1940s. One of the stories I read goes all the way back to the 4th Century when the European legend of the guy we know as Santa Claus first emerged. St. Nicholas, as he is also known, heard about a poor man who didn’t have enough money to take care of his children. St. Nick, being a rather clever man, tossed bags of gold directly into stockings that were hung by the fireplace to dry. BAM. There’s where legend and a centuries-old tradition merge.
While the stocking stuffer became more a thing you did with kids, I think the tradition has gotten a bit more trendy among adults. A friend of mine owns an agency in Santa Monica. He and his wife sew up small stockings for each employee. Then he stuffs the stocking with some candy and the annual Christmas bonus. Nice stuffer! A dance group in New York uses the stocking stuffer as a rather unorthodox way to announce the next year’s list of principal dancers. Now, that could be either a stocking you want or maybe not!
You can use the stocking stuffer for just about anything – as part of your regular holiday celebration or your annual Christmas office party. Whatever you do, think about the people who will receive the stocking.
Don’t just automatically add candy and snacks – especially among adults. Unless that’s what the receiver would normally eat. Maybe a theme for the stuffers would be a nice twist to the tradition.
For instance, what if you stick with individual hobbies and interests? If someone you know loves to cook – then think about small and handy gadgets that they would like. Or maybe one of those gourmet cooking sauces. I find plenty of ideas at Crate and Barrel and Williams-Sonoma.
If you’re giving to someone who loves to travel, how about small travel conveniences like personalized luggage tags, organizer bags for cosmetics, little travel bottles that can go through security. I go to the Container Store for those ideas.
Maybe you’re a do-it-yourselfer. In that case, perhaps a gift that comes from you – like something you’ve made. Back to the friend who sews stockings for his employees. He got the idea from his wife when she used to dance in the Nutcracker for a regional ballet troupe. She sewed elves for each of her fellow dancers. About 100 of them. Now that’s commitment.
Unless you have a knack for sewing (or knitting), you’ll probably have to buy the stockings. I’ll make it easy. Try these from Amazon. They have all kinds of styles, colors to choose from – some are funny, some are traditional, and some are knitted socks!
I think stocking stuffers can be a fun alternative to the typical wrapped present. It keeps the whole activity of gift-giving simple and fun for everyone.
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