Stocking Stuffers + Christmas Ideas
A few days ago I promised you a little round up of inspiration for stocking stuffers, as well as bigger Christmas presents this year. I don’t like to push consumerism to a fault, but if I can inspire you to think about what you’re buying this year, and to look out of the box then I consider myself winning!
Up until I became a mama myself, my own mum did our stocking for us (ummm I mean Santa did…;) that’s a 30 year career of stocking stuffing..! She loved it so much, she still insists on putting a few things for us in our stocking every year (now our partners do them! and we make theirs..) She has always been so good at it, and she’s passed on her love for a GREAT stocking to both my sister and I! I would say in our house the Christmas Stocking was almost the main show, we looked forward to it as much as the ‘bigger’ presents.
Now as a mama to a 2.5 year old this year, my love for Christmas has been reignited, the magic of it truly comes back when you have babies doesn’t it?! Last year when she was 1.5 was the first year we made her a proper stocking, and it was so fun, however, I quickly discovered that toddlers get overwhelmed very easily, and that a little goes a long way. So this year I’ve decided to do less, but also to turn to simpler pleasures and rethink entirely what a present or stuffer could look like for a toddler, or eco-minded adult alike.
Our Christmas rule this year is to buy the bigger presents second-hand or create something homemade. However, we’ve loosened the rule for the stocking stuffers a bit, and are aiming for second-hand, homemade, small business if possible!
My Stocking go-tos are, timeless pieces, no plastic, natural materials, and useful items, with some added fun.. think local DIY shop meets cute Waldorf toy shop. I look a lot in the arty section, but also music, food, and everyday home items… these are some of the things I’m getting for L or have on my list.
Nutcracker - a classic, I’ll add a few walnuts to boot too. (PS: I actually need one, and L will think this is so much fun) I’m also eying up this mushroom one…
Mushroom mini-book - our forest school has a few of these, they make a bird one, a tree one, a foraging one… good ones to start collecting!
Felt Mask — for the little wildlings in your life, you can’t beat a good dress-up mask.
Tangerine at the bottom of the stocking, always!
Candle Snuffler — now this could be niche, but if you have a little one who loves to help blow out candles, this is a fun and less smokey way to go about it!
Grimm’s Figurine — (to go with number 8!) Anything Grimm’s make is so beautiful, I buy them from this amazing small business that has everything you’ll ever need. (Use my link here to get £10 off your £70+ order!)
Yoto Cards — we love the classics, but we’re very into the music cards at the moment, we have a mix of French ones and English ones. I have my eye on this Yoga in Nature series and this Snowman soundtrack one too. I’m absolutely getting this world music series too..!
Grimm’s Celebration Ring — this is a multi-purpose item that I know we’ll use for years to come. It’s a Waldorf tradition, generally for birthdays but also celebrating other things like holidays, seasons changing etc… It’s also beautiful to have on display the rest of the year. I plan on collecting the figurines each year. (Use my link here to get £10 off your £70+ order!)
Little Treats — I’m going to find local little chocolates, as well as some vegan marshmallows because those are her absolute favorite after being introduced to them at Forest School, and we can roast them on the fire together!
Wooden Figures — to paint together, I’ve seen @RudyJude painting hers in chalk paint so her little ones could draw faces! Which is so clever!
Little Treasure box/Chest — I found L a little wooden and stone box secondhand, which she’ll love to hide treasures in and collect things. (you could get one of those and paint it together too!)
Wax Crayons — These are some of our favorites, but also these, and these are so fun too, especially on windows, easy to clean!
Kalimba — She loves this from our music class, but other ideas would be any wooden musical instruments! (this website is awesome for that!)
Single Hole Punch — endless fun with this, making confetti out of leaves in the autumn, and flowers in the spring and summer.. you can find different shapes too. I’m going for the classic circle ha!
Schleich Animals — I actually found two absolutely perfect ones from our local charity shop, a lion and a pig for £1 total. But I’ve bought the rest of our collection new so far, we’re big fans, she plays with her animals every single day. (Vinted & Ebay have lots of second-hand ones too!)
Nail Brush — is another niche item, but I got this one from our local garden center. Go to your local DIY shop too… kids LOVE random items. I’m thinking, paper clips, ropes, locks, little candles… anything small and cute and not dangerous made out of metal or wood is a win I think, a real plus if it’s useful around the house.
Some of these links are affiliates — I just need you to know that, but it makes no difference to you, just gets me a small percentage of the sale if you do end up buying from it. Also, either I couldn’t link the exact item because I’ve found it second-hand or locally, or the opposite, and I’ve linked from Amazon. Don’t hate, buy or not, but I’d obviously always recommend you look for it second hand first, local and small business second and if all else fails, don’t beat yourself up too much.
Ok, now that we’ve made this clear, let’s chat about ‘bigger’ presents.
Here are our guidelines for Christmas this year :
Something You Want
Something You Need
Something to Wear
Something to Read
We did this last year for the first time, and it has been revolutionary, it minimises the amount, it simplifies it for everyone, it also means you get what you actually want (we do share wishlists with each other) and for kids, it just means less overwhelm less stuff… You can choose whatever category that works for you, but for now this works for us (I almost added Something to Eat, but this generally ends up in the Stockings anyway)
I have a running list on my phone of present ideas for everyone (I add to it through the year whenever someone mentions something they life or need) but I also do this for L, whenever I think of something we’d like to add to our toy library, or to our home.
This year, we’re thinking of getting L an indoor trampoline/rebounder, one that folds up flat to store away, and one that adults can also use ;) This will fit into the ‘Want” category, she will be ecstatic. SO will I, as it’s a great energy burner, especially in the winter, if you know what I mean toddler parents.. haha (also I’m not ready for the garden to be taken by a full-on trampoline, as they’re so ugly… and my dream of having an in-ground trampoline is not for just yet..!)
In the ‘Need” category, we are cheating a little, and making her / buying bits and bobs to make her a mud kitchen. I’ve found this sort of kids’ potting table, and I’m thrifting her a few stainless steel pots, pans, spoons, etc.. but she genuinely needs this in the garden for extended play outdoors, for the sensory experience, and so she doesn’t dig into my raised beds…
Something to Wear will most likely be a cozy pair of pyjamas (these I need for myself too! and also these), and Something to Read will be a few books we’ve had on our list for a while.
Other ideas and things we have on our list for the future, are a play couch, a wobble board, a ramp for her climbing arch, wooden train set (I might still get this to go around the Christmas tree, and found a few Ebay sets!) Waldorf doll (adding this to her list for someone else to get her), learning boards (letters and numbers, wooden!) wooden sorting bowls, Grimm’s semi-circles, magnetic tiles, small world play such as more Maileg mice…!
For more inspiration, my storefront page is here, as well as my shop page over here…! But remember to always check Vinted, Ebay and Facebook Marketplace first, as well as your local charity/thrift stores ;)
I hope this was useful and inspires you for this holiday season!
