Inexpensive
Stocking Stuffer
Ideas
MSNN Contributor, Jessica Eastman, has compiiled some great ideas for inexpensive stocking stuffers for kids, school or church parties, or on-hand "emergency" gifts:
Filling a stocking can sometimes become a pricey and stressful task. Here are a few ideas to do it for less cash this year:
* Check your local thrift store for small bags of Hotwheels cars, Thomas the Train, or G.I.Joes. Don’t forget to look for My Little Pony, Barbie, Transformers, and Fisher-Price’s Little People, or anything else your child enjoys.
* Think creatively! What can you turn into a Play-Doh tool? A garlic press for a dollar at Goodwill is lots of fun when you squeeze new Play-Doh through it. The same goes for plastic cookie cutters and old stamps. This also makes a wonderful fine motor activity.
* I don’t know about you, but my kids are crazy about office supplies. Tape, rulers, stickers, markers, and odds and ends from the thrift store’s paper goods section is a dream come true for them.
* Get gross: make up your own recipe of “gak” (cornstarch and water) and store it in a festive plastic jar. If you have a gluten sensitive kiddo, now is the perfect time to try your hand at making your own play doh to add to their stocking.
* BOOKS! Little books, big books, books with textures to be touched, are all great stocking stuffers and can be found for relatively little at used book stores or thrift shops.
* In the bottom of the stocking, try stuffing with apples and oranges. This is a wonderfully healthy snack and it also adds heft and shape to your stocking. Don’t forget little bags of your child’s favorite cookie or craker.
Remember, it’s not how much the gift costs that counts, it is how much love you put into the season.