Fun, Practical and Retro Stocking Stuffers!
Stocking Stuffers suffer a bad rap for being the afterthought of holiday gifts—useless trinkets that are quickly unwrapped and then forgotten in almost the same moment. But we’ve curated a list of whimsical pint-sized gifts—all under $20—that are sure to be well liked and well-used! In fact some of these handy gadgets will make Christmas shopping for friends and loved ones a winter breeze!
In her popular blog post Practical Stocking Stuffers, Modern Mrs. Darcy strives for the perfect combination of practicality and quality in her gifts. She’s assembled 100 little prezzies that range pocket lights and manicure kits, to gifts for foodies, book lovers and more. We’ve upped the ante to make our list of stocking stuffers downright delightful.
Stocking Stuffers for Book Lovers
Book lovers of all ages are accustomed to using whatever they have on hand as a bookmark—a piece of junk mail, a pencil, a paperclip. But when they reach in their stocking and discover one of these upcycled hand-stamped spoons ($12.49) embossed with a clever quote, they are sure to always have this bookmark on hand!
This blue-light-blocking amber clip-on reading light for $15 by Hooga from Amazon is sleep and travel-friendly with two brightness settings. With a rechargeable lithium ion battery, it clips onto a book and the flexible gooseneck enables you to twist and turn it away from anyone sitting or sleeping nearby.
Handwritten notecards are still one of the most thoughtful ways to communicate—even more so when the notecard is hand-colored by the sender! These coloring book notecards ($10.37) are part craft, part beautifully practical form of communication. An email will never be this special!
And adults will love the array of desirable stocking stuffers featured at Twenty Two Words. From a pocket microscope, calligraphy workbook and monkey hooks that hang anything anywhere, to ingenious towel hooks and eco-friendly produce bags, you really will find practical ideas for every adult in your life, right here.
Stocking Stuffers for Kids
You simply can’t beat playsilks ($15.95) for imaginative play! Kids of all ages will take these vivid multi-colored scarves, soft as silk (because they are!), and turn them into capes, head scarves, skirts, playhouses, boat sails, costumes of all kinds, rivers, mountains, and more. And they conveniently fit into stockings of all sizes!
The legend of St. Nicholas includes a story about how stockings came to be the receptacle of gifts. A poor family needed money so that their daughters could get married, and mysteriously, bags of gold coins were thrown in through the window at night, landing in the stockings hanging by the fire to dry. 
You can replicate the legend by filling the stockings in your house with bags of gold chocolate coins ($9.99), available at Party City in Longmont or if you happen to be driving through Boulder, at Trader Joe’s for $1.99.
Give the gift of magic that will last the whole year through! These glow-in-the-dark star stickers ($7.99) will inspire children of all ages when they look up on their bedroom ceiling and behold the galaxy.
Throwback Stocking Stuffers
Create great conversation-starters by giving your kids (and young-at-heart adults!) classic toys from a time before smartphones! Remember Silly Putty ($2.99), that strange but wonderful substance that can bounce, pick up an exact copy of newsprint, or stretch as thin as a spider’s web? You can snag some at Target. How about a Rubik’s Cube ($4.49), the 3-D puzzle that kept you occupied for an entire day on Christmas? And Slinky ($3.39), the amazing stair-descending spiral of metal? They’re all available at your local Target on Orchard Pkwy in Westminster.
Take a trip even further back in time to Nostalgic Toys for super novelty items from Grandma and Grandpa’s childhood, like a secret spy pen ($5.99) to write notes with invisible ink, a set of jacks ($5.99), or some Go-Fish cards ($2.79). Then watch the fun as the older generation shows everyone how to use them!
Hang Your Stockings at Colliers Hill
The master-planned community of Colliers Hill, is the perfect place for a family holiday gathering! Check out this fast-growing community, with new homes from Meritage Homes, Richmond American Homes, and Century Communities. There’s lots to do in the surrounding area, so stop by to find the new home of your dreams in ranch and two-story models, priced from the $300s.
