Lacing Cards -- Buy or DIY!

I love Eric Carle illustrations -- in fact, I've been to the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts -- so this set of animal lacing cards caught my eye. The box has 10 cards measuring 6.5 by 5.25 inches and 10 brightly colored laces to attract little ones' eyes. And at the same time, of course, lacing helps children develop all kinds of skills, including sequencing, dexterity, coordination, and fine motor skills.

Of course, this is something that you could easily make yourself for less! You could use extra sturdy cardstock or cardboard, and stamp them with fun images or even just paint or draw. You can look in the dollar store for inexpensive colored shoelaces. You could even put a set of cards with the laces in a store-bought or handmade drawstring bag. The images could even be photographs that you've taken of your kids or pets. The possibilities are endless!

And you know what? I'm just now having a flashback.... I'm pretty sure my mom made lacing cards for us out of recycled Christmas cards at one point!

What: Lacing Cards
Where: Chinaberry or DIY!
How much (as of today's post): $14.95 (plus shipping)

Body Double Magnets

This is a stocking stuffer that is too large as is to put in a stocking, but which can be easily repackaged or even split among several recipients to keep down the cost. The overall pack of these "body double magnets" measures 6.5 inches wide by 10 inches high, but the individual magnets are only 2.5 inches high. Splitting them among recipients lowers your cost-per-stocking-stuffer quite a bit!

So what are these "body double magnets"? They're magnets that let you put a new body on a familiar face. Turn your husband into a body builder or your little girl into a prima ballerina. (I could turn me and my husband into the nerd with the pocket protector, but it's already pretty obvious we're nerds!) I think this would be especially fun for teens and college students, who are always plastering their rooms with photos of their friends anyway.

This is also another possibility for a DIY stocking stuffer, using adhesive-backed magnetic sheets, the kind that let you turn photos into magnets.

What: Body Double Magnets
Where: Spoon Sisters website
How much (as of today's post): $7.50 (plus shipping)

Chocolate and Peppermint Crusted Marshmallows (buy or DIY!)

Here's an elegant food stocking stuffer that's so simple even I could do it myself! These marshmallows-on-a-stick are coated in chocolate and then dipped in crushed peppermint, making them perfect to swirl in a cup of hot chocolate.

And even if you're not handy in the kitchen, the price of these isn't too outrageous when you consider that you have four individually wrapped marshmallow pops to a pack. Stick one out of the top of each Christmas stocking, and you have a pretty stocking stuffer for about $2.

But really, I suspect most of you are handy enough in the kitchen to try this! And the possibilities are endless. Don't like peppermint? Try something else, like crushed toffee or chocolate sprinkles.

What: Chocolate and Peppermint Crusted Marshmallow
Where: Crate and Barrel or do-it-yourself!
How much (as of today's post): $7.95 (plus shipping) or pennies if you DIY

Shakespeare Fortune Cookies (Buy or DIY)

If you know someone who loves everything Shakespeare, here's a cute food gift idea for their stockings: Shakespeare Fortune Cookies. I'm sure it goes without saying that each one features a quote from the man himself! The pint-sized red "carry out" container has six cookies and costs $5.95, and a quart-size with ten cookies is also available for $7.95.

I've also listed this as a possible DIY stocking stuffer since I know people do make their own fortune cookies. Here's a link to instructions on WikiHow.com, or you can just google "make your own fortune cookies" and find the instructions you like best.

What: Shakespeare Fortune Cookies
Where: Folger Library website
How much (as of today's post): $5.95 (plus shipping) or DIY

Tangrams -- Buy or DIY

Do you know Tangrams? I was first introduced to these many years ago, when I was in fourth grade. In fact, I still have my original set from back them! Tangrams are a Chinese puzzle set of seven specific shapes that are combined to make pictures of figures, flowers, boats, abstract shapes, etc. You simply move the pieces around in various combinations until they form the desired shape, but it's harder than it sounds. My set came with a book of solid black shapes, and the answers in the back showed the solutions by recreating the same shape but with white lines showing how the various puzzle pieces lined up. Probably the most common Tangram puzzle is to arrange the shapes in a simple square, like so:


But like I said, it's harder than it looks!

There are so many reasons Tangrams would make great stocking stuffers. First, they're inexpensive -- in fact, you can buy five complete sets on Amazon for only $5.99. These don't come with a book, but that doesn't matter, because you can print free Tangram puzzles online -- just go to Google.

Second, Tangrams are fun for kids, teens, college students, men, women -- anyone who enjoys games and puzzles. They also make a nice traveling game for car trips, as long as you have a lap desk. They're great for kids to play with while waiting for food at restaurants. Moms can keep them in a baggie in their purses!

Third, there are a lot of varieties these days. You can get magnetic Tangram sets, wooden sets that come in a little square-shaped frame for storage, sets of cards with new patterns when you've exhausted what you have, an ABC pattern book, a puzzle-a-day calendar, and so on. Here are some of the many options.

Fourth, if you prefer not to buy, Tangrams can also be a great do-it-yourself stocking stuffer, or a fun craft project for kids. I was so enamored of my set in fourth grade that I made my older sister a matching set out of cardboard that I painted. I just traced my set onto the cardboard and cut them out. Nowadays, you can just find free templates online. You can paint them or get fancier with ModPodge, although a busy pattern might make it harder to solve puzzles with them because it could be distracting.

What: Tangrams
Where: Amazon, elsewhere, or make your own!
How much (as of today's post):

Bunny Hot Cocoa -- To Buy or Do It Yourself

This little "toot" or cone of hot chocolate would be lovely for Easter, especially in those places where your winter is lasting forever this year! I found this on the Pelican Bay website, but it occurs to me it would be something that would be fairly easy to do yourself. Even if you don't have a little cone-shaped bag (since I'm not sure where to buy them), you could also use a little sterilized jar that you fill with cocoa and tiny pastel marshmallows, and then decorate with Easter trimmings. It would work for other holidays too, for that matter.

If you're not handy in the kitchen or with crafts, though, you can always just buy this!

What: Bunny Hot Cocoa
Where: Pelican Bay website or DIY
How much (as of today's post): $6.50 (plus shipping) or pennies if you DIY

Finger Printing Art Set

This adorable finger printing art set will have your kids creating animals, caterpillars, flowers, and who knows what else out of their own fingerprints. So it's kind of like finger-painting, but hopefully a little less messy! This set comes in a metal box that measures 6 3/4 inch long by 3 3/8 inch wide by 1 inch deep. It contains 4 colored ink pads (about 1 inch square apiece), 12 mini rubber stamps for body parts, faces, and accessories for your creations, and 12 colored pencils.

If you're looking for ways to cut costs, what's nice is that you could also make a do-it-yourself version of this kit! You can find a cute tin at the dollar store, or even use an altered Altoids tin or something else you've recycled. Put only one or two mini ink pads in there, and a few colored pencils, and there you have it! Small children aren't going to care if the version they get is less fancy than the one pictured here.

Or (especially for those snow-bound lately who are going crazy with bored kids with nothing to do), you can dispense with the kit altogether. Get out an ink pad and some paper and start your kids creating finger print art on the spot. I'm reminded of an elementary school carnival I once volunteered at when I was in junior high school. Kids would stamp their thumb onto a piece of paper glued into a cocoa tin lid, and I would use colored pens to turn their thumb print into a reindeer or Santa or some other Christmas symbol. It was great fun!

What: Finger Printing Art Set
Where: Spoon Sisters website or elsewhere
How much (as of today's post): $11.50 (plus shipping)

Last Minute DIY Gifts/Greetings for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are links to a few last minute, do it yourself Valentine's Day gifts and greetings:

• A pretty Valentine's Day necklace for a little girl (or for you to help a little girl make) from beads and toilet paper rolls, courtesy of the Filth Wizardry blog.
  
  
• A simple but pretty and elegant "bag of hearts" Valentine's Day card, from Kabobbing Cards.
  
  
• Some adorable paper cup gift or treat boxes, from the Zakka Life blog.

I can't believe it's Valentine's Day already! Wasn't Christmas just last week?

Round-up of 3 DIY Valentine's Day Ideas

It seems like everyone out there is getting more and more creative with the do-it-yourself gift ideas. Maybe it's because the economy still isn't too perky, and necessity is the motherhood of invention. In any case, here are links to my three favorite DIY Valetine's Day gifts (which are technically not off-topic because two of these are small enough to be stocking stuffers and can easily be adapted for Christmas!).

• A melted crayon heart card from Craftzine.com
  
  
• A Valentine's Day votive made from dollar store materials and Modge Pod, from the Charlotte's Fancy blog
  
  
• My absolute favorite, an amazing little "52 Things I Love About You" personalized book made from a deck of cards and two binder rings, as shown on the Trans-craft-inental blog. I will definitely be attempting this one in time for Valentine's Day, and will hopefully have a result for which I can post photos!

So, have you found any terrific Valentine's DIY projects this year?

Personalized Alphabet Flashcards

(My husband valiantly spent many hours yesterday and today trying to clean up the virus that had infected my computer, and we think it's mostly gone -- please excuse the lateness of this posting!)

JHill from the Mad in Crafts blog posted one of the best do it yourself stocking stuffers I've ever seen: personalized alphabet flashcards, using digital photos you've taken yourself. Apart from being warm, fun, and personal, these have the advantage of being able to featuring photos of people and pets your child already knows, giving them something familiar to attach to those mysterious letters! JHill gives detailed instructions here using picnik.com, a free photo editing software. I was able to whip up the above cat flashcard in about two minutes using Publisher and then SnagIt to grab the image and change it to a jpg, although I haven't tested it for printing yet.

So, putting together a whole set would take a little time, but if you can steal a few minutes here and there over the next two days and get them printed at Walgreens on the 24th, you could a very impressive last minute stocking stuffer! My only concern is that photo paper is a bit flimsy, so you might want to mount them on something a little sturdier, and of course that would take more time and more supplies. (JHill also points out that you could have fun putting together something for a bachelorette party or some other event.)

What: Personalized Alphabet Flashcards
Where: Mad in Crafts blog
How much (as of today's post): maximum $5.20 for photo printing at a drugstore, plus supplies for mounting if desired

DIY Hot Chocolate Kits

Yesterday I was rather alarmed when my computer started flashing a red and yellow warning at me, saying that it had been infected and all my accounts could be hacked and I should "click here" to fix it. Luckily I knew better than to "click here", but my husband and I are still determining how best to get rid of the virus pretending to be a cure for a virus. So I'm using my husband's laptop for this post. It has a tiny keyboard with no mouse, which I find very hard to use for any length of time, so today's post will be short, and (it feels like to me) a bit of a cheat since it will only be pointing to someone else's stocking stuffer idea. No pictures, even. :-( I feel like I've been electronically crippled!

Anyway, today's post is about Hot Chocolate Kits, which Heidi from the My Paper Crane blog made up for her child's classroom party favors. They're the perfect size for stocking stuffers, and would look lovely sticking up out of the top of the stocking. Basically Heidi used the plastic cone "bags" you use to pipe frosting, and filled them with one serving of hot chocolate mix, plus chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Then she tied them up with some festive ribbon, and presto! Click here to see the result (scroll down past the little gnomes, which are also adorable). Aren't these hot chocolate kits a perfect last minute stocking stuffer?

What: DIY Hot Chocolate Kits
Where: My Paper Crane blog
How much (as of today's post): (depends how many you make -- they should each be fairly inexpensive when you divide up the cost of the supplies)

Do It Yourself Stocking Stuffers, Part the Third

Here's another round-up of do-it-yourself stocking stuffers:

• Chocolate-dipped spoon coffee stirrers. I can't remember exactly when/where I first saw this idea (I've seen it more than once), but the Healthy Lifestyle Blog on the Daily Spark website has directions here. You can pick up spoons at the dollar store or at a thrift shop for a very inexpensive DIY stocking stuffer. You can gussie them up by sprinkling the chocolate-dipped spoons with crushed peppermint candy, sprinkles, or other sugary goodness before wrapping them in cellophane and tying them with a festive bow.
  
  
• Hand-stamped tea light candles, as shown on the Primitive Paper blog. These are very pretty and elegant.
  
  
• The Matsutake blog has a step-by-step tutorial for making a cute fruitcake pendant using an empty tea light shell, polymer clay, and some little jeweled beads.
  
  
• The Zakka Life blog has an adorable snow baby ornament made out of little yarn pom poms and a bit of felt. It is too precious for words!
  
  
• Tipnut.com has directions for making five different homemade bath salts and soaks. I save jars all the time, so I have plenty of small, pretty containers that would work for these.

And now it's off to buy some scotch tape for Christmas wrapping! I'm sure I have little tape dispensers hiding everywhere, but I can never find them when it's time to wrap presents. One of my New Year's resolutions will definitely be becoming more organized!

Do It Yourself Stocking Stuffers, Part the Second

[Click here to enter my ongoing giveaway of stocking stuffers for men. Giveaway ends Saturday Nov. 28, 2009! Apologies, but U.S. residents only.]

Usually for Fridays I post a "luxury stocking stuffer." But in real life, I do not spend the day after Thanksgiving going Black Friday shopping -- instead, I celebrate a personal "Buy Nothing" day. It's not that I have a problem with people shopping for bargains, especially in these economic times, but I dislike the way the retailers and the media try to whip people up in a frenzy, and I'd rather not participate in it myself.

So, instead of a luxury stocking stuffer today, here are links to a few more do it yourself stocking stuffers:

• Pretzel Birch Logs, from Anne Reeves' Moments of Delight blog. These would work for any holiday, of course. For Christmas you can go with the pretty and traditional "birch" look, or you might choose to use milk or dark chocolate instead of white chocolate, decorate with red, white, and green jimmies or sugar crystals, and so on. Wrap in cellophane and tie up with a pretty curling ribbon, and you're all set.
  
  
• Another food-related idea is to take whole walnuts, carefully open the shells and remove the nuts, put in small charms or a fortune cookie type message, re-glue them closed, and decorate the outside with glitter or pipe cleaners or any scrap materials. I came across this idea as a 2004 post on GetCrafty.com, posted by someone with the username "Felt" (although I have been unable to locate the specific post again). You can also take the actual nuts and package them up in a pretty little bag for someone's stocking, getting two stocking stuffers for the price of one!
  
  
• Do-it-yourself Batman or other soap, as posted by Lesley on the Pink Toque blog. I'm sometimes a little intimidated by trying new crafts, but Lesley's tutorial makes this look super easy, and it can be adapted in many ways, such as using the recipient's initials instead of a Batman or other logo.
  
  
• Where the Wild Things Are characters out of toilet paper rolls, as shown on the Wes Funderberg blog. Scroll down to the second photo to see the book characters specifically. Unfortunately, after following the link to Katie Steurnagle's blog, I was unable to find an entry there with any kind of tutorial, but I believe I could make these characters from toilet paper rolls based just on the photo.
  
  
• Homemade sidewalk chalk using toilet paper or paper towel rolls, from the Mad Maggie Designs blog. You could also try finding a smaller tube of some kind if you want pieces that aren't so big around, but I kind of like the big pieces.

I hope you find something here that inspires you, and that you had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday!

Do It Yourself Dishwasher Clean/Dirty Magnet

Finally, a do if yourself stocking stuffer than I came up with all on my own! This is a dishwasher clean/dirty magnet featuring my own Jean-Luc, who is the beauty of our feline family. But as you can see, even he can look dirty, as here when he got into the fireplace one day. I know I'm anthropomorphizing, but doesn't he look grumpy with the smudges on his nose and paws? (This was the largest I could get Blogger to display the whole magnet, so I've posted the "dirty" image by itself at the bottom of this post.)

I've been meaning to make this magnet for ages, because my husband and I had kept forgetting if we had run the dishwasher, so I scribbled "clean" and "dirty" on a piece of paper and we stuck it on the dishwasher with a magnet. But then I remembered the fireplace picture of Jean-Luc, and I knew I had several pictures of him looking clean and pretty. I don't have Photoshop or any fancy graphics software on my computer, but it finally occurred to me to try this in Microsoft Publisher, where I typed in the "clean" and "dirty" captions, turned one photo upside down, and then "snagged" the two together as a single "photo" using SnagIt. I then uploaded the result to Walgreens and ordered it as a 4x6 photo print. Finally, I used an adhesive magnet backing sheet that I've had lying around for ages -- I can't remember where I got it because it literally was several years ago, but surely they sell this stuff at craft stores?

And I'm really happy with the result! Because I had to save as a jpg in order to upload to Walgreens (as opposed to a .png file, which retains more detail), the letters are a little pixelated, but the result is still good enough that I'd be happy to give this as a gift. Wouldn't this be a terrific stocking stuffer for a grandparent, showing the inevitable "baby eats spaghetti" or "baby eats birthday cake" as the "dirty" side and a really angelic photo for the "clean" side?

It's also really affordable, because you can make several magnets out of a magnet backing sheet, and the photo print at Walgreens was all of 19 cents! Walgreen's also lets you play around with all kinds of borders and effects, so this is something you can really have fun with! I also experimented with printing the whole image as wallet-sized, which would result in a fairly small magnet. Ultimately, though, I went with the larger 4x6 size, because I love Jean-Luc's little face, clean or dirty!


[Don't forget to come back tomorrow for another stocking stuffers giveaway -- this time, it will be stocking stuffers for men!]

What: Do It Yourself Dishwasher Clean/Dirty Magnet
How much (as of today's post): $1-2 in supplies

Do It Yourself Stocking Stuffers, Part the First

I'm afraid I've been a little under the weather this week, so for today's post I'm going to rely on the cleverness of others. All year I've been bookmarking posts to come back to for DIY stocking stuffers, with the idea that I would try them all myself first before listing them.

Well, you'd think someone whose blog is dedicated to something Christmas related wouldn't get caught off guard just because it's almost Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here any second, but you would be wrong! So I haven't tried these myself yet, but they're simple enough that I feel confident even I could make these without messing them up!

So without further ado, here are some links to some of my favorite do it yourself stocking stuffers:

• DIY rubber stamps from dollar store erasers, courtesy of Obsessively Stitching
  
  
• The most elegant DIY S'Mores kits that you'll ever see, courtesy of Twig & Thistle
  
  
• A DIY wooden memory game, courtesy of Heather at Dollar Store Crafts
  
  
• A DIY mint-scented travel candle from an Altoids tin, courtesy of Kate at Design*Sponge
  
  
• DIY spiced nuts, courtesy of The Washington Post. [Note: I don't think any registration is required to access this article, but if it is required, it's definitely free. See the comments after the article for additional tips.]

I hope you see something on this list that inspires you. If you have any terrific DIY stocking stuffer ideas yourself, please do leave a comment!

DIY Santa Gum Pack

Happy Saturday! I took a trip to the dollar store this morning and felt pretty uninspired by what I found there, so I thought today would be the perfect time to finally post about this lovely little do-it-yourself stocking stuffer that I came across quite a while ago at the My Creative Corner blog by Wanda.

As you can see, Wanda came up with an incredibly cute and easy way to dress up one of those rectangular packs of gum, by turning it into a Santa Claus! Her blog entry gives detailed instructions so I will direct you there for the how-to. I'm definitely going to use this for my husband and sisters this year -- it's so easy even I can do it!

Be sure and check out the other posts on Wanda's blog -- she has posts with her lovely handmade cards, ornaments, favors, and more!

What: DIY Santa Gum Pack
Where: My Creative Corner
How much (as of today's post): approx $1-2 (gum and materials)

DIY Patterns for Felt Halloween Candy, Cookies, & Jack O'Lantern

It's the last Sunday before Halloween, so for my Etsy post, I thought I'd feature a Halloween item that you can either do yourself if you're quick and crafty, or give the patterns to the crafter in your life as a little Halloween gift. Etsy seller Umecrafts sells lovely patterns and tutorials which she sends via PDF file on e-mail, which means you don't have to pay or wait for shipping. This particular set is an adorable jack o'lantern that you fill with a set of Halloween cookies and candies.

If you're crafty but not quick enough to do these in time for Halloween, be sure to check out the Gingerbread house and cookies set for Christmas, or take a look at her wide selection of other food and cake patterns. Honestly, some of them look good enough to eat!

What: DIY Patterns for Felt Halloween Candy, Cookies, & Jack O'Lantern
Where: Umecrafts (an Etsy shop)
How much (as of today's post): $5

Make Your Own Ruler Kit

Here's a fun stocking stuffer idea that I'd never come across before: a "make your own ruler kit" from Escapade Direct. This plastic ruler, which has both inches and centimeters, has an easy pop-out backing that allows you to change the ruler "art" at any time. You can put in photos, drawings, paintings, or even a collage. On the one hand, this would be great for kids so that they can make their own ruler. On the other hand, this would make a great gift to a friend, sweetheart, or grandparent if you first fill it with appropriate photos. Very versatile, don't you think? And just the right price!

What: Make Your Own Ruler Kit
Where: Escapade Direct website
How much (as of today's post): $4.25 (plus shipping)

Photos on Deck!

Today's post isn't about stocking stuffers per se, but it could be related.... Let me explain! Periodically, Walgreens and CVS offer great deals on photo prints and gifts. And when I say great, I mean great: 25 free prints, a free 8x10, and even a free 8x10 photo collage this last week!

The trouble is, what if you don't have your photos organized? These deals are usually quite time limited -- 3 or 4 days at most from when they're announced until when they end. So what I do is keep my photos "on deck". I tend to use Walgreens for those times when I really want photo prints -- an album commemorating our trip to Japan, so I could actually show it to people easily, for example. One anniversary, I gave my husband a wall-hanging photo frame that actually had seven slots (one for each cat), which was hard to find, so I had a lot of photos printed and then I arranged and re-arranged until I got it just the way I wanted. Because of this, several of my favorite photos are already uploaded to Walgreens website.

Which meant that when the free 8x10 photo collage deal came up this past week, I had photos at my fingertips! I ordered a collage similar to the one shown above, which I will be taking to work and putting up on my metal cabinets with a magnet.

How does this relate to stocking stuffers? You can always put a photo in a nice little frame. Or you can buy adhesive magnet backing and make your own magnet stocking stuffers. Don't forget that Walgreens lets you experiment with your photo images -- you can give them funky borders or neat effects. Or you can experiment with effects -- turning a photo into a "watercolor", for example -- before you upload to Walgreens or CVS.

My point is: be ready for these crazy-good deals when they happen. Have a number of photos uploaded and ready to go, or at least accessible on a Picasa or Shutterfly or other account, so you can get to them quickly. Otherwise it's too easy to let the freebie pass you by because you haven't yet gotten around to uploading the photos from your camera to your computer. I also recommend weeding out bad photos right away -- just delete them! That's the beauty of digital photography, after all -- you can always take more without paying to develop bad photos.

Free E-book Downloads from Girlebooks

Can you believe it's already August? Wow, this year is flying by!

Today's stocking stuffer is almost free, it's do-it-yourself, and it's something you can do at the very last minute if you get caught short. All you need is a flash drive, which is the part that isn't quite free. But maybe you have one on hand anyway -- I have at least six or seven of them that I've picked up various places.

Have you heard of Girlebooks? It's a website with the tagline "ebooks by the gals". Their stated goal is "to make classic and lesser-known works by female writers available to a large audience through the ebook medium." They provide many free downloads of ebooks that contain works that have entered into the public domain, and also provide links to ebooks by women that are for sale. If you're not familiar with the term "public domain," it means books for which the copyright has expired, meaning that anyone can reprint the book and sell it without having to pay the author or the author's estate. In other words, these are generally older books, but don't let that fool you into thinking they're uninteresting! Here's a sample of authors for whom Girlebooks offers selected free downloads:

• Louisa May Alcott
  
• Jane Austen
  
• Anne Brontë
  
• Charlotte Brontë
  
• Emily Brontë
  
• Willa Cather
  
• Agatha Christie
  
• Helen Keller
  
• L.M. Montgomery
  
• Dorothy Sayers
  
• Edith Wharton
  

The books are offered in multiple formats, including Adobe Reader PDF, eReader PDB, Microsoft Reader LIT, Mobipocket/Kindle PRC, and plain text. Unless you have a dedicated e-book reader, which I don't, PDFs are probably the best choice because just about every computer has a free PDF software, and if you don't already have it you can download it for free. I still generally prefer books in the printed form, but I have read a few books on the computer, especially at lunchtime at work, and found it easier and more pleasant than I thought it would be.

So back to the stocking stuffer aspect: all you have to do is take a flashdrive and download several books to it to have a great stocking stuffer for the book lover in your life. For instance, you could put all of Jane Austen's books on the flash drive: Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, and the lesser known Sandition and Other Stories. (Sandition is actually an unfinished novel, so they've collected some short stories into the same volume.) You can also take a shortcut by simply downloading Girlebooks' The Complete Works of Jane Austen as one file, but I actually like the idea of downloading them separately because Girlebooks has gone to the trouble of creating lovely covers for each of them. A flash drive filled with these books would make a lovely addition to a Jane Austen themed stocking (don't forget the Jane Austen action figure!), but it also stands on its own very nicely.

You could also do the same with L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books, although unfortunately copyright restrictions prevent Girlebooks from providing one of the books in the series, Anne of Windy Poplars. It seems odd, but copyright law is extremely complicated and these kinds of oddities do occur. For Agatha Christie, only two of her dozens of books are available so far (The Secret Adversary and The Mysterious Affair at Styles), but you could combine them with the two Dorothy Sayers mysteries featuring her Lord Peter Wimsey character for a mystery-themed stocking stuffer. Or you could put all of Louisa May Alcott's books on the drive, or simply some combination of books by different authors. This would even work for a teen or tween girl, because you can get the classics Heidi, The Secret Garden, Little Women, What Katy Did, and at least the first three Anne of Green Gables books. I loved each of these books as a kid, and it's clear that they're enduring classics that each generation can discover anew.

You can conveniently browse the Girlebooks catalog by title, author, American literature, British literature, young adult, and new releases. And Girlebooks is constantly adding new free e-books to its catalog, so be sure to check back there, or subscribe to their updates so you don't miss anything!