Getting Personal

                Stuck for Stocking Filler Ideas?
            
                Stocking fillers should be the easiest thing of all to organise for Christmas shouldn't they? After all, we're simply talking about a selection of small and original little gifts to pop into an oversized sock in the small hours of Christmas morning.... compared to decorating the house, cooking an entire roast dinner and preventing the family from generally descending into wine and sugar-fuelled anarchy over the remote control!
However, it's the 'small' nature of stocking fillers that does make them so tricky - plus the fact that they aren't just reserved for small children anymore - even grownups want stockings, even after they've long stopped believing in Father Christmas! 

Stocking fillers really require quite a lot of thought and planning - they need to be personal to the recipient, and reflect their personality and hobbies. In these belt-tightening times too, we want to make sure that the gifts we give are really hitting the mark, so that stocking fillers don't simply end up being unused and 're-gifted' to someone else the following year! So, take the stress off yourself and don't even try to organise all your gifts on a Saturday afternoon in December on the high street - have a look at the huge array of unusual gifts and stocking fillers available online. You'll be amazed at all the things on there for all ages and interests - often things you never even thought existed, or which you've not seen since your own childhood! And of course the real beauty of shopping online is that you can simply fill up your virtual basket, pay on the secure server, specify delivery details - and sit back and let the postman do the rest. You won't even have to worry about beady eyes going through your shopping bags either, as the resulting delivered boxes can simply be swept away upstairs and kept under lock and key until the big holiday season!

So don't despair, pour yourself a nice cup or tea or a glass of wine, put your feet up and let your fingers do the walking - as you peruse your Christmas stocking fillers and presents online!

For the 'grown ups'

A relative term at Christmas, when we all revert back to being excited children in some way! For example, there are plants and unusual 'grow it' kits for gardeners - including options for growing garden herbs and spices quickly and easily in pots. This is ideal for making sure you never run out of essential cooking ingredients again - and if you want to be a little more adventurous, you could even try growing your own tea or coffee plants! Who knows if and how you'll ever get a brew out of them, but you'll have plenty of fun in the process, and it will always be a talking point for visitors!
Similarly, if a stocking has room for perhaps a bottle or two of wine, then why not try personalised stocking fillers, such as the personalised champagne, which comes with a message and name on the label and is a superior blend of premier cuvee. It also comes presented in a gift box, so it can be hidden away for a special occasion! And of course the grownups of the house know how important it is to take photos of the festive holidays to enjoy in later years - after all, it's one of the few times that the whole family is under the same roof together! So why not pop a festive photo album in their stocking -there's a great one with a Christmas pudding on it, bound in red leatherette and with plenty of room for all those memorable snaps!
This will be a lovely gift to look back on in later years....

Stocking Fillers For The Kids!
 
There's certainly no shortage of festive stocking fillers for children - and that's before you even consider their usual array of sweets and chocs to bulk out those oversized festive socks left out so hopefully for Father Christmas! The range of stocking fillers now has something for all childrens' interests - puzzling games like the money maze for bright kids who love a fiendish conundrum - this plastic box has a crafty tenner or gift voucher or cheque inside, and the lucky recipient has to move the steel ball through the maze to reach their prize! This is a great way to gift a monetary gift from a distant relative - and will force the recipient to actually work for it for a change! Or why not try toys like the flying monkey, Dennis the Menace Catapult or 'erupting' volcano - fun for all - or get kids to create their own gift cards with some themed card kits?

Related article: Festive Stocking Fillers for Fellas (Stocking Fillers)