Looking For Non-Toy Stocking Ideas

gift certificates...from bookstores to grocery stores! my kids are grown and single!

Every year for the past fifty years the family stockings have included- brushes and hair ribbons, scrunchies..whatever was in style for the girls.
Toothbrushes for boys and girls.
A paperback.
A deck of cards...we play a lot of whist.

I don't know what your $$ limit is but this year Target has the most amazing gift cards! One is a remote control that operates a tiny Christmas mouse that comes with it. One becomes a game, one plays music and you can record a message, and more. I only saw them online and you don't pay extra except for $2.99 for each address you send them to. I bought four and it only cost $2.99 to ship all to me. I can't believe they are not advertising these, they are great. jane12734@aol.com

Office supplies (cool colors/shapes of post-it notes, phone message pads, tiny binder clips, etc.), toothbrushes, dental floss, Blistex tubes, lottery tickets, homemade scrubbies (nylon net) for doing dishes, framed school photos of the kids.

When we were kids our parents had us pick one christmas theme. I picked snowmen and my sister picked angels. We got an ornament or figure each year from our theme in our stocking. Now that i am moving out of the house i have my own decorations.

My son and husband usually get small flashlights... they are always losing them when we camp... maybe I should do head lamps this year!

Lots of great ideas here! One thing I like to get our boys is personalized pencils. They love having ownership of their own writing tools! :)

Since I have boys, too, they love to receive anything mechanical such as a Master Lock with keys, tape measure, or small AM/FM radio at the dollar store. Other things: pair of knit gloves and matching hat, socks, markers, drawing pad, marbles, Jacks, air dry compound, watercolor set, colored pencils, large eraser, pencil sharpener, and a cool Star Wars night light.

I got my gd one of those small washcloths that is real small and you put it in water and it grows larger. Like a little square at first. It has Dora on it and I found it at the Dollar Tree.

We always do (and my mom and dad did for us as well)new socks, hair accessories, craft stuff, toothbrushes, toothpaste, stickers, colouring sheets (rolled up) little things that can occupy some time over the holidays ... they love searching through and putting it all back in for several days.

Post-it notes! My kids love having their own and we adults find them pretty darn handy too!

i got a cool staple-less stapler for my husband at the container store and some colorful "flag" post it notes from paper source. both stores had terrific stocking stuffing sections set up.

I think nuts are always fun. My grandchildren like bags of peanuts.
I also have framed small photos of them or them with their families.

Rolled up PJ pants have become a tradition in our home!

I buy my kids cartoony bandaids that they can use for whatever they want- it keeps them busy for hours!

Ithink this is a fabulous idea.. I am so doing this!

My parents put mini-puzzles in our stockings once. All present-opening was thoroughly trashed for a few minutes while we adult siblings madly raced to see who could finish our puzzle first, LOL.

Homemade gift certificates for things like "read a story together" "build legos together" "ice cream trip with Dad by yourself"

hehe... well my husband's deployed this year, so he's getting boot laces, Starbucks VIA instant coffee {which apparently tastes even better than the real thing!}, and hydration tablets :) also, I'm giving my dad chem lights {essentially Army glow sticks}, dad uses them to mark his tent ties when camping, but apparently they're big hits with kids too {the lady at the checkout said she always gives them to her kids!}

How about marbles or games or a cookbook for kids?

Toothbrushes! Santa cares a lot about dental hygiene! Toothbrushes end up in the Easter baskets too.

chapstick, hand cream, travel sizes of stuff, toothbrush, socks, lottery tickets, emery boards, nailpolish, ornaments

We always got a new toothbrush and toothpaste, and when we got older deodorant. socks even. Now when my sister got married she did the same thing and her husband was offended and thought that she meant he didn't have good hygiene :) I do the same thing for my kids and they love getting a new toothbrush. it helps to fill it up and so do socks (fun socks)

I am stuffing my kids stockings with toothbrushes, hot choco mix, hair accessories for my little girl and a train pencil sharpener for my little boy!

I always added some practical stuff to the stockings as well as the fun goodies. A new toothbrush, some chapstick, sock or underwear, new pens or highlighters, batteries for electronic gizmos...the sky's the limit (well, I suppose the size of the stocking is a limit, too!!). When my kids were very small, I read the Little House series for the first time, so I began putting a penny and an orange in as well. Although it was a little silly as they got older, they would have felt cheated without those two items.