All About Christmas Stocking Stuffers

Your stories and traditions about Stocking Stuffers and Christmas

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Two years we had plans for a "family trip" to New Orleans for Christmas. We agreed that our only Christmas gifts would be our stockings (which traveled with us). So we spent the days before Christmas picking out special souvenirs for each other. We got wacky, silly presents and laughed and laughed. One son still has his alligator head hanging from his rear view mirror. It was a Christmas to remember, especially the stockings. If you're traveling at Christmas or have decided to replace gifts with a vacation, take the stockings and fill them with souvenirs. It doesn't have to cost much and it keeps the Christmas spirit alive. - Karen from La Grande, Oregon

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When my sister and I were younger our family moved from Idaho to Alaska. During our move we only took necessities so when Christmas came we realized that we did not have our stockings. My mom told us that we would just have to use some old socks as stockings that year. Socks just aren't nearly the same as a stocking...size wise anyways. We so proudly decided that we would work on 'stretching' our socks so we would get more goodies from Santa. Unknown to us our mom spotted us and decided to teach us a lesson for being so greedy...imagine our shock when we got up Christmas morning to find two baby socks in place of our 'stretched' socks. The memories are wonderful and give us such a laugh every year. - Shannon from Thorne Bay, Alaska

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Everyone is responsible for getting one low-cost stocking stuffer for everyone else in the family. He/she wraps it and puts it in the appropriate stocking. But, no tag indicating the giver. In this way, everyone is surprised by what's in their stocking (including Mom), and everyone gets to feel the anonymous joy of watching other's open the gift they selected. - Andrew from Westford, Massachusetts

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I'm going to give "stuffed" Advent Calendars this year. And, I found your site to be very helpful! It'll be a little crazy getting everything together in time to get them in their hands by November 30th, but, I think it will be neat to have them open 25 gifts from us. Fun, huh?! I'm thinking of purchasing the canvas Advent Calendars from Pottery Barn. Then individually wrap and label the 25 gifts so they fill it. I don't know, it just sounds neat to me. ;) - Jenn from Deale, Maryland

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On the first Sunday of the Christmas season my mom sets up her Nativity scene but covers the baby Jesus with a doily to remind us that we are waiting for a special gift from God on Christmas morning and then we head out to the Provincial forest North of our house to select a Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve my mom, dad, sister and I walk around our block at around 11pm and drop off little goodie bags (homemade sweets) on the neighborhood doorsteps or doorknobs and then come home, get into new Christmas pajamas and read the lead up to the Christmas story. On Christmas morning mom uncovers the baby Jesus and finishes reading the Christmas story with the arrival of the bay Jesus while we all open our stockings. I am 23 and my sister is 25 and we still enjoy these traditions and will continue it when we get married and bring our own families home for Christmas. - Alana from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

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Our family tradition was always to have a wonderful Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. After we ate we retired to the living room where we got to open all of our gifts. The next morning, Christmas morning was always so bittersweet. As soon as we got up we'd race to the living room where Santa had left our stockings as well as our "big" Christmas gift of the year. I absolutely loved and still love getting my stocking every year. All those little gifts to unwrap! My husband now laughs that every gift in our stockings were wrapped but that's the best part of it all. Getting all those little items, gifts and candy, not knowing what they were, it was so magical. I will continue the tradition with my children this way as that's what always made it so special to me. Watching my kids savor it as much as I did, well that brings back all the warm and loving memories that I so cherish! - Tiffany from Gardner, Kansas

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Christmas mornings when the kids were 10 and 12 we started doing treasure hunts for Christmas mornings. They would open the first gift with the clue in it and then they would have 4 more clues to find their gift. Each clue would be a clue to the next one. It would be in poem form and placed in strategic places inside the house and outside. The places where we placed the clues were a large part of the fun. The bottom of the swing, in a drawer, glove box in the car, inside the washer lid, etc. The gifts would be hid under the house, the trunk of the car, in the tree house, or even their own closet. They really enjoyed this and it prolonged the anticipation. Then the rest of the gifts were open and the rest of the day was spent playing with the new gifts, eating the big Christmas dinner, and sitting around watching Christmas movies. - Gale from Texas

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My parents were college professors (now retired) and we spent numerous holidays traveling both domestic and abroad. Our family Christmas celebrations were rarely ever on the actual date. Among the many life lessons my parents instilled into my two younger brothers and I was to always be thankful and thoughtfully share with others. At Christmas, our stockings always traveled with us and were filled by each other. What we bought for one was also bought for all the others in our family. That meant that we had to think more deeply on the subject and it turned out that our stocking stuffers had significantly more meaning than buying toys, treats and sticky sweets. We always found hard shelled nuts and oranges in our stockings. To this day I use many of the items that were thoughtfully place into my stocking during Christmas' past. (Ideas: bookmarks, earphone buds, brain puzzles/teasers, Dr. Grip ink pens, key chains from the city / country we visited, fancy bottle openers, etc.) - Beth from Florida

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We have this tradition in our home where we have a bowl w/ 48 snacks in it. 1 for each member of the family for the 12 days before Christmas. After dinner each night, we gather in our den and each person takes 1 snack and says what they are grateful for. It makes for a nice after dinner conversation. - Marlene Cooper from Middleburg, FL

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My kids are 28 and 25 but they still love their stockings. These are the traditional gifts : fruit in the toe, a different Pez toy each year, gold coins (chocolate), Bubble gum tape, various candy bars and then practical items. One year my daughter, who was probably 23 at the time and who is very mature, didn't get a Pez toy because I was too busy to hunt them down..and she was very upset ! And then my son had kept all of his and one day, said, "Why am I keeping all of these Pez toys ?" He was 26 and he felt foolish. These traditional things become what we call transitional objects in Psychology, like baby blankets, where the object takes the place of the parent (or other loved one) when the person is not around. So these days, I just walk around stores or get on the internet, and pick up what strikes my fancy like: batteries, pens, cassette tapes (now dvd's), hair items, gift cards, colorful post it notes, small stuffed animals, little sewing kits. - Rose Ferguson from New Orleans

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My grandmother always did actual stockings (hosiery knee highs) filled with shelled nuts and a variety of fresh fruit as well as a few peppermints. We do traditional stockings for our kids, some ideas for kids are panties/socks (since they don't like that as a gift) gum is a must, we all chew gum all year round and having a large pack to start the year is great, also mints are good. Claires is a great store for girls from 2 to teenage years, you can't go wrong. For boys and men, I find Academy sports (or other sporting stores) to be great, along the end-caps and by the registers you will always find great things for the guys. Also, if your purchasing cologne or perfume for anyone on your list, ask for free samples of other scents (new scents) and use those as stocking stuffers. Hope this helps. Merry Christmas - Beth from Luling, LA

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When I was 10 our Mom passed away, so our dad raised us alone. One year, we woke up on Christmas morning and found $5.00 McDonalds coupons inside our stockings. It was the only gift I remember from when I was a young girl. One day my kids, husband and I were watching T.V. when a commercial came on about the McDonalds gift coupons. Our kids laughed and thought it was a lame gift. I told them the story about how my sister and I were so happy to see the coupons. My dad never shopped for us besides we didn't have a lot of money. I think my kids really thought about the meaning of the gift; it was a meal. From the thoughtful heart of their Dad raising his two young girls and his son! This isn't meant to be a sad story but one of warmth, caring and appreciation. - Lori Clark from Mt. Vernon, WA

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My husband and I have 5 children. Every Christmas the children get a new ornament in their stocking. We try to find that special piece of decoration that signifies something they have experienced through the year . An example is a volleyball ornament when our daughter made the High School team. Another was a boy smiling with braces, that was purchased when our oldest son got his braces for the first time. Having our children receive these ornaments also helps them to build their collection for when they have their own tree. - Lynne from Colchester,Ct

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SHARING THE SAME CHRISTMAS GIFT EVERY YEAR (even though they don't fit in a stocking). My grandmother had 2 versions of a family photo - one in black & white and one in color taken 16 years later. When she died, my brother and I both wanted the newer color photo. I won the color photo in a tug of war. The next Christmas, I wrapped it up and gave it to him as a present (but asked for the black & white photo in return). We have been trading off these photos as Christmas presents every year since 1976. Looking forward to this exchange of old family memories is better than any new gifts I ever get! - Carol Caravassi from Fords, New Jersey

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Alternative gift idea: donate to a great cause in a loved one's name then, stuff the stocking with a picture of the charity or a description complete with a drawing or web link so that you can watch the progress of your dream... saving the Polar bears (alerts@polarbearsos.org), building schools in Southern Sudan (www.coalitionofwilling.org), training doctors and nurses in Southern Sudan (www.iow.nhs.uk/juba) are some ideas. The gift will open the eyes and hearts of children to others around the world and engage families in acts of lasting eco-friendly goodwill! - N.L. from San Francisco, CA

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There were 3 of us kids in our family and I was the youngest. My sister who was six years older than me would get me a little something to give my parents. One year I was about 4 years old and my sister got socks for me to give my dad. We decided it would be fun to wrap them in a shoe box so he wouldn't be able to guess what they were. Christmas Eve I'm sitting on his lap challenging him to guess what his gift was. He was guessing all sorts of silly things and he just blurted out "Socks?!" Well, I burst in to tears and was devastated. To this day, I'm 42, every year I get him socks and wrap them in a shoe box, and every year he picks up the box, shakes it and yells, "socks?!" - Karen from Schenectady, NY

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When our children were little we told them Santa only brings three presents - because the three wise men each brought a present to Jesus. They have continued this with their own children. Usually it is one larger present and two smaller ones. Another fun tradition we started when my granddaughter was small (it was her idea) is to draw names and buy a gift starting with that person's initial. We can only spend about $1 on the gift. It has been fun to try to find a clever gift in that price range each year. - Rhonda from Missouri

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Every year I let me children each open one gift on Christmas Eve, which is usually a pair of pajamas so they feel special on Christmas morning and look cute for pictures. This year I am adding the tradition of also opening one stocking stuffer (that we choose for them) which will be an ornament for the tree. Although they always get one, opening on Christmas eve will give us more time to enjoy looking at it on our tree. - Stacy from Chicopee, MA

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When my kids were all old enough to no longer believe, I found it hard to do stocking stuffers and Christmas shopping, plus I was slightly annoyed that no one ever thought to fill my stocking, so we started a new tradition. On the morning after Thanksgiving we pick each other's names from a basket. With each name is a $20.00 bill. Each family member has to fill the stocking of the person they drew the name of secretly, using no more or less than the $20.00. We all meet up on my bed Christmas morning, open our stockings and try to guess who filled it. For a few years we could always tell if my middle child filled the stocking because she always put in soap and deodorant and small colonge bottles. It was so funny. My kids are now 20-24 and we are still doing this. I guess we will until they get married. - Debbie from New Jersey

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Every evening, while doing our Advent devotions, we also share something we have done that day for God. We write our "gifts to Jesus" on slips of paper and put them in a special stocking. On Christmas morning, after reading the Nativity Story, we pull them out and read them together. This really helps us to stop and rearrange our priorities at Christmas by reminding us that it is a season of giving rather than just getting. - Jennifer Harrison from Missouri

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We have 24 small boxes(jewelry size although small stockings or any multiple item would do)arranged from 1 to 24 with 24 on the top. This is our countdown until Christmas. My husband and I sit down at the end of November and study the December calender. We write out an activity for each box on a slip of paper coordinated with the day of the week. We have three children and the kids rotate opening a box. So our oldest opens the first box, the 4th box, the 7th box etc... The second oldest opens the 2nd box, the 5th box, etc... The notes in each box allow us to do a family activity each day prior to Christmas. The box that represents the first Saturday of the month is always - Cut down a Christmas tree. So as a family we go to a home grown lot and everyone uses the saw and we cut down our tree. Other activities have included: Decorating the tree, watching a Christmas movie, baking cookies, visiting the nursing home where Grandma was (is), reading a Christmas story, bui - Sue from Mukwonago, WI

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On Christmas Eve, I have always made homemade hot chocolate and sugar cookies. We have some for ourselves and save some for Santa. Each of the girls get to open one present. Then we all curl up on the sofa and each of the girls read one Christmas story. I finish up the evening with The Nutcracker, and usually they are asleep before I finish. It is a wonderful way to get them to calm down their excitement over Santa's expected visit. - Tiffany from Clarksville, TN

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We can't open any presents until mom finishes her coffee so when she turns her back,we drink some of it so it will be gone quicker. FUNNY! - Zach from Brockton,Massachusetts

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I started the tradition of having stockings opened on Christmas eve, so that our three sons would not continually nag us to open one of their Christmas gifts. Now that they are married, I still fill stockings for my three sons, their wives and our grandchildren, and my mother. We have an appetizer buffet around the tree, and open the stockings one by one, usually starting with the youngest grandchild. This way we see what each person got and can comment on them. I try to put a whimsical toy from my boy's childhood or a fun hand held game just for laughs. We've outgrown stockings, I now buy gift bags and fill them, with every item wrapped, to add to the festivities. The items add up, but I am not willing as yet, to stop this fun time of family sharing. - dAR from SALEM OR

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I wrap everything in the stocking no matter what it is, and I always use special wrapping paper. The kids enjoy getting their stocking almost as much as their Santa gift. - Julie

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We have started filling the Christmas stockings on New Years Eve (to open New Year's Day) instead of Christmas Eve (for Christmas Day). There are so many gifts on Christmas day, one from Santa, some from mommy and daddy, some from grandparents, some from aunts and uncles, etc. It is just too much, even when we try to keep the numbers down. Opening the stockings on New Year's allows the getting to be spread out and it gives something to look forward to even after Christmas. - Magda from Ontario

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Every year for my daughter, I find small games, crafts and activities to put into 24 pink stockings that I reuse yearly. Each morning in December she races out of bed to get her "Advent" as she calls it from the appropriate stocking. She is so excited and, because they are mainly activities or crafts, she stays busy on those cold days when it's too cold to play outside. It is also a great way for us to celebrate to season because I put cupons in them also for things like "make Christmas cookies with Mom", watch a Christmas video with Mom and Dad, make ornaments for our friends... So we spend lots of time together too, celebrating the season and our love! - Stacy from VA

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This is the first Christmas without my father and, even though I am married with a child of my own, he was the official stocking stuffer every year. We alwaysed saved the stocking for last and it was always the best. He personalized each stocking with items that person like and even bought me make-up and perfume! He included fun, silly gifts, necessity items like chap stick and really special gifts like jewelry. I was always amazed how much thought he put into those stockings and my heart is breaking just thinking about not having a stocking filled with love from Dad this year! Stacy in VA - Stacy from VA

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A new tradition that my best friend I and started last year is to fill stockings for each other. Since we as moms usually do the "filling" we either had to buy things for ourselves (where's the surprise and discovery in that?) or our stockings were rather empty. Instead, we had the fun of selecting items and delivering them via husbands for a wonderful surprise on Christmas morning. - Renee from Lubbock, Tx

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My best friend and I love to go to yard sales and thrift stores. We were always the stocking "stuffers" in the family, and we rarely get anything in our stocking, so we decided to stuff a stocking for each other. We look throughout the year at yard sales and thrift stores, clearance items, etc. The rules we agreed upon are that there is a $20 limit and you cannot pay full price for anything. We usually end up filling a box instead of a stocking, but we end up with tons of gifts for $20! We had so much fun the first year, it's become an annual event. - Brenda in West Central IL from Il

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When our girls were little we would leave Sants's footprints for them to see Christmas morning. To make them, put a layer of baking soda in a bag or box, then moisten the bottom of a pair of men's boots, dip the boots into the baking soda & make "prints" across the floor. The baking soda looks white & sparkly when it dries, and can be easily vacuumed or swept up. Since it's "magic" snow, there doesn't need to be any on the ground outside! Note: I don't know whether this would be safe for pets to lick. - Linda from PA

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Even though we have a beautiful fireplace, our 3 children hang their stockings on their bedposts. In the morning, when they wake up, they get their stockings and come in our room and see what Santa filled them with. That gives Dad and I at least 10-15 minutes to wake up from the busy night before. Then we head downstairs to see what Santa left under the tree! As far as what they find in the stockings, they actually look forward to finding a new toothbrush every year! And of course candy and toys. My oldest daughter now looks forward to nail polish and makeup. Love the tradition of stockings! - Laura from New Middletown, Ohio

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We NEVER hung our stockings until Christmas Eve, and my parents took a picture every year of us doing this. There was always a big, juicy orange in the toe, and the items were always unusual; like from closeout stores such as Tuesday Morning or Big Lots. After all of the presents were opened, it was such a treat to still have the stockings to look forward to and have NO idea what could possibly be in there! - Carrie from Columbus, GA

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When I was a child my mom and dad stretched Christmas for us by filling our stockings on New Year's Eve. The idea was that Mrs. Claus was watching to see if we kept our new toys picked up during the holidays. Then on New Year's Eve she would fill our stockings with oranges, candy,gum, batteries for our new toys, another doll outfit or something else that would go with a gift we had already received. This became a two-fold celebration because this was also how we learned to identify that a New Year had begun when we would open our stockings on New Year's Day. I continued this tradition with my children and added new toothbrushes which they always looked forward to. - Diana from OH

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When I was growing up we always put out our stockings on December 5 which is St. Nicholas Eve. We put our Christmas lists/letters to Santa in the stocking before we went to bed. In the morning, the list would be gone and the "Elves" who came to take the list to Santa would leave fruit, nuts, candy and some unwrapped toys or trinkets in the stockings. There was always an orange in the toe. This is a great help to parents because you have the finished list by December 6 with plenty of time to get shopping done and nothing can be added or changed because Santa already has the list! I have continued the tradition with my children and even though they are 17 and 20 now, they still enjoy celebrating St Nicholas Eve/Day by seeing what the Elves have left. - Sandy from Springfield, MO

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Ever since I was a little girl, our family has always reused our Christmas paper--some of the papers have been used so many times that they have practically become heirlooms. We try to choose paper whose design gives a hint about what is in the package. We also make last year's Christmas cards into tags for this year, again choosing designs which suggest what is in the package. No tag is complete without a riddle, bit of poem or humorous message again which carries the theme of the gift. We spend more time trying to guess what is in our packages than opening the gifts themselves! - jan from massachusetts

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Every year, our family has a "white elephant" exchange with our stockings. Everyone draws a number and if you draw a number higher than one, you can "steal" the stocking of the person behind you. My grandmother always brings the same thing. She has a very ugly ceramic turkey with a lid. This turkey is filled to the brim with change she has collected all year. There is definitely a huge competition to try and "steal" the turkey. However, the winner has to return the turkey for the following year. It usually contains no more than $20.00, but every one wants that turkey! - Carman

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Years ago my Great Grandmother and her sister did alot of needlework; knitting, crocheting, sewing, and so on. When the girls in our family married, apparently the new husbands were not great at putting together stockings. My Great Grandmother (Santa) began putting together Santa boxes for the girls who did not get stockings. These boxes were full of treasures that were hand made by her. They usually held embroidered all cotton dish towels, dish soap aprons, and the like. However, every one, boys and girls, young and old, received a pair of handknit slippers. My mother and her sisters have continued this tradition, and the Santa box is always the last gift opened. My sister and I really make out because Santa brings us stockings, too, but my mom would never drop this. I have tried to duplicate some of my Great Grandmother's patterns. Last year I found a slipper pattern (thank you google!)and knit slippers for every one who would remember getting them years ago. I was more excited a - Linda from Carmel, Indiana

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We were given a lovely fabric advent calendar by my MIL when my boys were about 5 and 3. Unfortunately, the pockets were in correct number order - though they are under a lovely embroidered picture. The older son, Keith, had just started school and was learning to read. So I made up a wee clue for each pocket - wrote it (trying to use writing Keith would be able to cope with) on a piece of paper, and Keith had to read it to his wee brother, Colin. Then they had to work out the solution. It started off very simple, like "look beside Mummy's bed" and ended up with rhyming couplets (how glad I am that they're both done with this now!). The item was something like a sweetie each, or a small carton of juice each, or a "gem stone" (a semi-precious stone - they both loved those) between them, a pencil each, a couple of felt tip pens - and there was always either one toy or one book between them. The new clue was put into the appropriate pocket each evening after boys were in bed, an - Christine Farrell from Scotland

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When I was growing up along with two older brothers with a single Mom, we always be able to open one gift on Christmas Eve---after we had attended Christmas Eve services at our church. Kind of took the edge off, and it was easier to wait until Christmas morning when we opened our other presents. There weren't a lot of them, but I think we appreciated them more than the way too many presents that kids get now, and seem to be bored with before the sun goes down on Christmas day. Merry Christmas! - Grandma Jude from St. Francis, KS

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My best friend lost her mother this past summer and has been struggling with depression ever since. She mentioned that she thought she would be okay to go into Hobby Lobby to get a few things, but when she went down the aisle with stockings, she broke down because the stocking on Christmas morning was her favorite thing from her mom. So I had the idea to fill up a stocking for her (I've slipped questions into our conversations about what sort of things she got), and I plan to leave it annonymously, maybe with a "note from Heaven." - Tiffany from Kansas

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Once we got a little older, my parents started a tradition I'm planning to start next year. The Friday after Thanksgiving, we always decorated for Christmas. Then as we ate leftovers at dinner, we put all 5 of our names in a bowl. We each had to pick a name...and of course it couldn't be our own. Well...that itself was a lot of laughter over the many, many times of repicking...but eventually, no one got their own name. You were now responsible for that person's stocking. It was a secret and you could fill it anytime you wanted. Then on Christmas Eve we opened just our stockings and had to guess who had our name. We always knew who's stocking my dad had because it was always filled ON Christmas Eve! It was great and fun and sneaky! Next year my youngest will be 13 and we will start the tradition here but I have many fun memories. - Debbie from Rochester, NY

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I always make sure to put something very personal and meaningful in each one of my family member's stockings. For example, this Christmas I am giving my mother a personalized calendar full of new and old pictures of our family. Our family always opens our stockings first so I feel like it is a good start to Christmas morning watching my family open presents that came from my heart. - Amanda from Alton, IL

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When I was a child my parents together delighted in filling my stocking and along with wonderful small suprises, equally wrapped and unwrapped, was always an orange and some walnuts in the toe, just as they had as children. Even as a small child, I cherished the idea of a continuing tradition. I always fill all the stockings for every person in our family, including grandparents. To make the idea of Santa real, I had to fill one for the grownups, myself included, when my son was little. I also wouldn't feel 'guilty' through the year, if I found some little extra thing I wanted or an extra bottle of just the right shade of nail polish or favorite CD. Now my son is grown and wants to have the job of 'Santa' for my stocking. I still fill one for him. He always says he doesn't want or need anything for Christmas.... except his stocking. We find really creative, practical and fun things, even for the senior citizens in our life. We always do stockings for our guests and inclu - Christmas Carol from Ohio

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In 1990 my boyfriend, now husband, proposed to me on Christmas Eve night. While we were toasting our engagement with the family we were joking that my husband finally gets a stocking hung for Christmas now that he will be part of the family. Since it was Christmas Eve and it was too late to get a stocking my brother took one of his green rubber boots and screwed it to the wall. The problem was solved! - Ann Thompson from Rockaway, NJ

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Those Sunny Oranges...
"As a child "santa" always put an orange in the bottom of our stockings and they always had a bagful of chocolate coins and a lifesaver storybook. As an adult I carry on the tradition with my own family and my oldest brother, who I do a stocking for every year." - Deb from Maine

Santa Gets Resourceful
"When my sister & I were growing up, we would find odd gifts in our stockings. Apparently our Mom would often forget about stocking stuffers until late Christmas Eve. She would improvise with whatever she could find. The next morning we would find oranges, potatoes even carrots in our stockings!" - Kelli

Stocking Stuffers: Not Just for Kids!
"Opening our stockings early Christmas morning has always been a great holiday tradition of our large family. Now that we are older, we take turns stuffing each others stockings at our mothers home right around midnight, while our own little ones dream about Santa and the wonders of Christmas. We still get up early, and coo and exclaim over each little treasure before starting the coffee, and bring a cup to Ma, to enjoy peacefully, before the inevitable chaos reigns." - Tina

Savoring Stockings
"At our house we wrap each and every item in the stocking! we even wrap up fingernail clippers, chapstick, and gum! It makes christmas last a little longer and creates some great laughs." – Kyle from Vermont

Found and Homemade Stuffers are Special
"Mom and dad always said it was Santa Claus that filled the stockings on Xmas eve. My dad grew up in Ark. and said his stocking always had an orange and lots of walnuts, Santa was poor then, and the walnuts just fell from the trees and were free if Santa wanted to pick them up. Mom always said it was not xmas unless the gifts were homemade, so I started making my parents gifts and my son loves to do the same, for everyone, even though he is 12 yrs old." – Sharon

All I Want for Christmas is My New PJs
"Every year on Christmas Eve my parents give my 4 siblings and I one gift, and my parents exchange one gift themselves. It is always new pajamas. We put them on and sit in front of the fire drinking hot chocolate and eating homemade cookies. We talk about Christmas until we are tired, then we go to bed and in the morning when we take our Christmas pictures we are all wearing nice new pajamas." – Janelle from New York

Fun Christmas Eve Games
"every xmas eve we have a nice beautiful dinner and gathering. after dinner we all sit down and enjoy a nice punch, coco, coffee, [or] eggnog depending on what i am in the mood to make (i try to change it up each season, [a] habit from being in the bar business in my younger years). anyway while we are enjoying that my mother and her 2 sisters get a collection of unique and unusuall items. they will then pass them around and have the rest of the family try to guess what they are used for. they are just a bunch of "around the house tools" that you [don't] see everyday but come in very handy... ...once that is done and everyone takes what they would find useful we play 2 different games. each year my aunt goes out and finds a unique xmas tree ordiment that we have to find on the tree. winner gets the dvd of the year." - Brian

A Few More Minutes of Quiet for Mom and Dad
"I grew up in England. Traditionally Father Christmas fills the stocking on the end of the bed for the children to find in the morning. I can still remember the thrill of waking up to the weight of the stocking on my feet! The stocking always contained the usual small gifts, but nestled in the toe were always a few unshelled nuts, some shiney coins and a tangerine. The smell of tangerines reminds me of Christmas to this day. Another big advantage of leaving the stocking this way is that the children wake up early, as usual, on Christmas day, but then open their stockings in bed before waking up their parents!! I did not realize the benefit of this until I had my own children, who would share their stockings with each other before coming into my bedroom. This way also helps explain how some children get much bigger gifts than others - Father Christmas fills the stockings, but people buy the bigger gifts." - Susan

Stowing Stuffers
"I keep a large zip loc bag (the right size to fill our stockings) for each of my children stashed away, and add the stocking stuffers to it as I find them. Visually, I can see thru and tell how much I still need to get for them, or if one is ahead of the other. They make a great stash place." - Susan

Savoring Christmas Day
"Since my daughter was able to rip paper, we have had the tradition of having her open her stocking while joining us in bed. It was a fun family time with lots of laughing. Beginning with breakfast and throughout the day, she would open a present or two; the last one opened just before she said goodnight. We did the same thing (though far fewer in number), saving that one special opening until after she was well tucked in. It was ceremonious in nature a we would have a glass of wine and our last of our Christmas music playing. Those were indeed, very special times." - Barb

Memorable Maple Candy
"My mother is from up north, and when I was growing up, it just was not Christmas unless we had maple sugar candy in our stocking on Christmas morning. Many years ago, when my parents retired and moved out of the city, they were unable to find any maple sugar candy locally... so we searched online and were able to find some to ship to them. The tradition continues today; we always send maple sugar candy to my parents at Christmas." - Jill from Texas

Silly Gift Guessing
"My father started a family tradition of labeling our christmas gift with a hint about the gift. This hint may or may not be a help in guessing the gift. It was something that would give us all a laugh. My father is gone now but my brother and I have continued the tradition with our own children and grandchildren." - Merrie from Texas

Everlasting Candy Canes
"Memories come flooding back when I see the large candy canes sticking out of the top of a christmas stocking. My grandparents use to give each of us kids one every year and we never got tired of them. Most of the time it took a month or more to eat them. I finally found them at WalGreens last year after several years of not seeing them. My Grandparents passed away many years ago and I am now renewing the large candy cane in the stocking for my own kids." – Lacinda
* note from Plumpstocking.com: We have large candy cane sticks that are 7-1/4" long - perfect for sticking out of a stocking! Find them here: Large Candy Sticks

The Missing Sock
"When I gave my daughter her stocking last Christmas, she promptly emptied it out, and then declared 'Where is my other one?', so I told her that she only gets one. I laughed all day long after she responded 'I must have been bad this year. I have two feet but Santa only brought me one sock.'" – Sara from Ohio

Nothing Better Than a Stocking
"When I was a child, I had a stretchy knit Christmas stocking that started out regular size and got bigger and longer as it was filled. My mother hunted for stocking stuffers all year to put in that thing - I'd bet there were 30 or more items! I don't know how she found the time to gift wrap, with ribbons and bows, every single item. Anyway, on Christmas morning I would creep downstairs at the crack of dawn to retrieve my stocking. Back in my room, I'd lay out my loot on my bed and savor each little item. Some things were funny, some were cute, and there were always candy and treats. The stocking was so neat and fun that I hardly cared about the rest of the gifts under the tree (which was a boon for a family that was always on a budget)!" - Kathleen from California

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