Crayon Savings Bank

When I was a kid, I had a crayon savings bank much larger than the 5-inch high version shown here. I loved that bank, although of course now I have no idea what happened to it! In any case, a 5-inch version would make a cute stocking stuffer, wouldn't it? My only reservation is that it doesn't look like you can specify the color. At 99 cents, I guess I can't complain too much, but at the same time, you can be sure no boy is going to want a pink crayon bank.... You could go in with a friend or neighbor, though, and get a dozen of these for $8.39 total -- then you should have a large choice of colors!

I see that PartyPalooza.com also has several other crayon-related items: a crayon-shaped pencil sharpener, crayon bubbles, and a 44-inch inflatable crayon (?!). Put in an actual box of crayons and you'd have a real theme going there!

What: Crayon Savings Bank
Where: PartyPalooza.com
How much (as of today's post): $0.99 (plus shipping)

Alice in Wonderland Themed Stocking

I haven't seen the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version, but I am kind of enchanted with the renewed interest in Alice in Wonderland -- the other day I was in Barnes and Noble and they had a huge display of all sorts of different illustrated versions of this perennial classic. So for today, I present several items around which you could build an Alice-in-Wonderland themed stocking or gift basket:

• Alice's Enchantmints from Shakespeare's Den. This 0.4 oz tin of mints features a classic Alice illustration and some mints that you can at least pretend will make you grow or shrink!
  
  
• A lovely set of four rubber ink stamps from Etsy seller NikoArt. I featured a giveaway from this seller some time ago, and I just love the simple, clean lines of her artwork. Isn't the White Rabbit especially adorable? Check out her other stamps too!
  
  
• A "Six Impossible Things" magnet from fridgedoor.com, featuring the classic Carroll quote about believing six impossible things before breakfast.
  
  
• A lovely Alice-themed charm bracelet from Etsy seller Spacepearls; it's a silver beaded bracelet with a silver mushroom charm and tiny dangling red beads. She also has some lovely Alice-appropriate clock, teapot, and teacup necklaces, so be sure to browse through her shop! (That's the thing I love about Etsy shops -- you find the most amazing things! She has a wonderful group of Harry Potter "potions" in little vials too!)

And of course, you can always find a zillion little tidbits from the current Burton/Depp version in stores like Hot Topic and Target. Believe me, there's no shortage of Alice out there these days!

Wine Cork Candles (In a Wine-Themed Stocking!)

Here's something that would go perfectly with last week's wine cork place card holders: a set of four wine cork candles that fit atop empty wine bottles. Each cork candle will burn for two hours, so they're perfect for a romantic dinner or as a hostess gift.

In fact, think of what a lovely wine-themed gift basket or themed stocking you could put together with the wine-themed stocking stuffers I've listed over the past several months:

• Handmade grape cluster wine charms
  
  
• Chardonnay or Chambourcin wine jelly
  
  
• Saint and sinner wine stoppers
  
  
• Wine cork place card holders
  
  
• And of course (if it's a gift basket, a bottle of wine!

There are lots of other possibilities too: some chocolate to go with the wine, or a pocket-sized wine guide, or a nice corkscrew.... Themed stockings and gift baskets are easy once you start to think about them!

What: Wine Cork Candles
Where: Vat19 website
How much (as of today's post): $7.50 (plus shipping)

Cupcake-Themed Stocking

Cupcakes seem to be all the rage these days, and not just the cupcakes themselves, but cupcake-themed merchandise. Let's face it: little is cute, so little cakes are almost universally appealing. If you really enjoy seeing the remarkable cupcake creations that individuals and bakeries are concocting on a daily basis, you might enjoy checking out the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog. But in the meantime, here are some ideas for cupcake-themed stocking stuffers!

First up, how cute is this Sweet Shop Lip Gloss boxed set of four cupcake-shaped lip gloss containers? The gift box (shown above) measures 1.5 by 5.5 inches, and the flavors are strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry. These can be found at the EverAfterStore.com website for $12.50.

For an extra special stocking gift, try this James Avery silver cupcake charm (shown right). I've featured James Avery charms before, because I love their simple elegance. This charm is 7/16" long and is available in sterling silver ($48) or 14k gold ($295). Obviously, these wouldn't be appropriate for a very young girl, but they would make a lovely special gift for a woman who loves baking in general and cupcakes in particular.

This next stocking stuffer is a lovely pink cupcake luggage tag (shown left) from the EverAfterStore.com website. This would certainly stand out on the luggage carousel at the airport! The cupcake part measures 3.5 x 3.5 inches. It's made of vinyl and has a clear acetate window on the reverse side with a paper insert for your name and address.

These last three cupcake stocking stuffers (all shown below, left to right) take us back to the under $5 realm... First, we have a cupcake key cap from the Perpetual Kid website that's pretty cute. It measures 1.25 inches in both height and width, fits most standard keys, and costs $4.99.

Next up are these fun cupcake bandages from the Archie McPhee website. The 3.75-inch tall tin comes with twelve latex-free adhesive bandages with sterile gauze. Each bandage measures 1.75 by 1.5 inches, and the tin, which costs $4.95, comes with a free prize inside.

Last but not least, I headed back to the EverAfterStore.com website for these puffy cupcake stickers. Each of the eight puffy vinyl sticker measures 1.25 inches, and they're perfect for decorating school notebooks. The set of eight costs $3.95.

I hope that gives you some ideas! Use your imagination: if your cupcake enthusiast recipient is an adult who bakes, you could include some of these items, plus a rubber spatula/scraper or some other appropriate kitchen utensil. Or if you're making up a gift basket, you could put in a book of cupcake recipes or cupcake-decorating how-to. For a more personal approach, put in your own favorite cupcake recipe. For little girls, you could put in an IOU gift certificate for a cupcake-making session. Have fun!

Space-Themed Stocking: Celebrating the Moon Landing!

Here in Houston, we're all very aware and proud of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. In honor of that event, here are some ideas for a space-themed Christmas stocking for the budding astronaut in your life. First, Johnson Space Center's gift shop carries this "Space Toob", a tube filled with small astronauts, space vehicles, and even a little space chimp. It's great for imaginative play, and the tube will look cute stocking out of a Christmas stocking. For those of you who don't live in Houston or Florida, it's also available from Amazon.

And you just can't have a space-themed stocking without astronaut ice cream! This used to be something exotic you could only get on a school field trip to a science museum, but nowadays, astronaut ice cream -- or even alien ice cream! -- is readily available from many retailers including the Perpetual Kid website. Heck, these days you can even choose chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, or an astronaut ice cream sandwich! The Kennedy Space Center gift shop, which also sells online, even has a can of moon soup, although I doubt the little ones will find that exciting as the ice cream.

Another space-themed stocking stuffer: glow-in-the-dark stars and planets to decorate your child's ceiling. The previous owners of our current home included a teenaged boy, whose bedroom is now my office. We bought this house five years ago, and I still haven't taken down the NASA space shuttle wallpaper border or the glowing stars on the ceiling because I get such a kick out of them! These stars can be found at the Kennedy Space Center gift shop, and I imagine they can be found elsewhere where novelties are sold, such as Spencer's Gifts.

Once you start looking, you'll see that space-related stocking stuffers are remarkably easy to find. And if your son or daughter or niece or nephew is really into this space stuff, here is the ultimate gift to pair with your themed stocking: the NASA flight suit, which is available in orange or white. These aren't cheap, at $49.99. But we purchased one for our almost-nephew (son of a very close friend) a few years ago, and his mother reports that it's hard to get him out of it because he loves it so much! It does double-duty as a Halloween costume, and has provided hours and hours of play time for him. We purchased it at least one size bigger because we knew he would probably grow out of it quickly, and it turns out the danger is him wearing it out before he outgrows it!

Finally, for some extra quality time with your child, you could spend some of your Christmas vacation helping him or her build a space shuttle out of cardboard boxes. Back when I was a kid, I built a "viper" out of cardboard boxes based on my favorite show, Battlestar Galactica (yes, I'm dating myself -- I mean the old version, although I also love the new show!), and it's one of my fondest memories.

Themed Easter Baskets for Boys

Let's face it, girls are generally easier to buy for than boys. So before I know it, I've posted about dozens of stocking stuffers and gift ideas for girls before I come up with anything for boys. To address that lack, I wanted to post today about themed Easter baskets for boys (or tomboys!), as opposed to all of those cutesy, pastel-colored things that are lining the grocery and drugstore shelves at this time of year. For instance, this soccer ball bank from the Blair Candy website is filled with soccer ball chocolates -- not quite egg-shaped, but maybe close enough? If soccer isn't the thing, they have basketball and baseball banks filled with the appropriate chocolate balls also. And at $6.95, they're not too pricey.

If you want to fill out the Easter basket with other items along the same theme, here is a soccer-playing chocolate Easter bunny (this one's a little on the expensive side, though), and even a roll of personalized address labels featuring a soccer-playing rabbit. A younger boy might like having his own return address labels, and they can be used on schoolbook covers and notebooks and elsewhere.

And even if you don't care for any of these particular ideas, don't give up! Instead, try doing an internet search to put unusual things together, such as "soccer" and "rabbit", or "basketball" and "rabbit". You just never know what will be out there, and before you know it you may have a really unique themed stocking or gift basket -- even one that's suitable for boys!

Animal-Themed Stocking: Owls!

Themed stockings are always fun, and you can tailor them to the individual, especially if that person is a collector. For instance, I've known a person who collected bees, another who collects cows, one who collects dragonflies, and another who collects frogs. So I thought I'd "virtually" put together a themed stocking for owls, because I've always found them sort of mysterious, and because after the Harry Potter books and movies, I'd love to have one of my own to bring me mail!

Nowadays, the natural place for me to start looking for any given gift item is Etsy. If you go there and search on owls, you get lots of results, including this owl tile pendant from Etsy seller HomeStudio. She actually has ten different owl tile pendants, so clearly I'm not the only one who likes owls! This pendant is $7.95 plus shipping.



Also on Esty is this lovely set of one-inch autumn images that can be made into your choice of magnets, pinback buttons, zipper pulls, or thumbtacks/pushpins. These are from seller ButtonDivas, and are only $6.85 plus shipping for the set.

Moving away from Etsy (although honestly, I could stay there all day!), you'll find that small owl-inspired items are everywhere once you start looking for them. For instance, this wood mama and baby owl set comes from Germany, and can be purchased through the Animal Rescue Site store for $21.95 plus shipping. I love the way they fit together, and I like that the description says that the wood used by the German woodworking company, Finkbeiner, comes from mostly-downed trees. And bonus: with each purchase of this item, the Animal Rescue site will fund 28 bowls of food for animals living in santuaries and shelters.

If you want to go with soft and cuddly, a plush owl would work nicely. This particular Plush Snowy Owl Audubon Bird 6 is available on Amazon, but you can also surely find small plush owls in greeting card stores and such.

Is that enough? If not, Target.com has a set of owl rubber stamps and an Owl and the Pussycat music box -- which of course brings to mind a board book of the same title. I found an owl clip watch on eBay, and also came across an owl brooch with Swarovski crystals and two freshwater pearls that's surprisingly affordable at $9.99. Don't forget that Google is your friend, and you can find all manner of owl items. If you're really ambitious and/or crafty, you could even try to find an owl Christmas stocking. Surely one exists somewhere, right?

Shakespeare the Romantic on Valentine's Day

One of my all-time favorite movies, and certainly one of the most romantic, is Shakespeare in Love. And the best thing about this movie is that it's not really a "chick flick" the way many others are -- there's enough wit and humor in this movie that many men will like it too (my husband thought it was great). It did win the Oscar for Best Picture, after all! And it's downright laugh-out-loud funny in places.

Then it occurred to me that Shakespeare in Love offers a wonderful opportunity for a themed Valentine's Day gift basket. First, I'd start with a heart-shaped basket, which should be easy enough to find at Target or a Hallmark store, or maybe even a dollar store. I'd layer in some Valentine-colored tissue paper, and then I'd pop in a DVD of Shakespeare in Love (Miramax Collector's Series), which can found on Amazon and elsewhere for under $10.

So what else? How about the music CD for Shakespeare in Love? Stephen Warbeck's score also won one of the many Oscars the film picked up in 1999. (It also won for best screenplay, best costume design, best actress, and best supporting actress, in case you were wondering.) It really is gorgeous music, and I picture the movie any time I listen to it.

And finally, since I'm a book lover, the pièce de résistance: Shakespeare in Love: The Love Poetry of William Shakespeare. Admittedly, this is just a repackaging of Shakespeare's sonnets that was brought out in an attempt to cash in on the movie's success. But I loved the movie so much I just had to have this version, so I could picture Will and Viola as I was reading. Sadly, this edition is technically out of print, but the link above goes to the Amazon page where there are still many new copies available from Amazon Marketplace sellers for under a dollar (and shipping is usually $3.99, making this quite inexpensive). Personally I've had very good experiences using Amazon Marketplace sellers to purchase out-of-print items, but if you're not comfortable with that, there are always editions of Shakespeare's sonnets still in print.

And if you really want to go all out, you could throw in the luxury item I posted about back on December 26, the Shakespeare sonnets silk scarf available from the Museum Store Company.

Now it just may happen that Shakespeare isn't your favorite thing, but don't forget this could also work for other romantic movies -- what about the recent version of Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley? There's the DVD, the CD of the score, and the book. Even if there's not specifically a book edition with the movie art on the cover, any nice little copy of Pride and Prejudice would work just as well. You could even throw in the Jane Austen action figure I mentioned in mid-January, or the Jane Austen tarot deck featured back in November 2008.

What other romantic combinations of DVDs, CDs, books, and related items can you think of?

Color-Themed Stockings (featuring Omar the Sock Dog)

As we get closer and closer to Christmas, more individual blog posts about stocking stuffers are popping up all over the web, making clear that many people really enjoy putting together well-thought-out stockings for their loved ones. So, it occurred to me that "stocking experts" might enjoy going so far as to try color-themed stockings. For instance, someone with three kids could pick a color for each child and build a color-themed stocking around one larger central item of that color.

Which brings me to Omar the Sock Dog, pictured above. I found this Etsy item, made by Blue Monday Crafts, and immediately pictured a blue stocking starring Omar, whose color combination of blue, white, and gray I find to be very soothing. Can't you just see this for a little boy, from infant to four or five years old? Or even a teen girl whose favorite color happens to be blue? The artist tells me that Omar measures 12" long, 5.5" tall, and about 4" wide. As soft and pliable as he is, he could easily fit down into an inexpensive blue stocking, such as can be found at Target, Michael's, or a Christmas store.

The trick (and the fun!) will then be to find other little tidbits for the stocking following the same color scheme. How can we accessorize Omar? Of course, the answer will depend on the age, tastes, and interests of the recipient, but here are some ideas just to show that it's not as difficult as it might at first seem. And doesn't Omar seem content, there in the middle?

Pictured above (clockwise from top left):

• Play-Doh Sand Sensations Ocean Blue Tub (HasbroToyShop.com)
  
• Soothie Infant Teething Pacifier (BabyAnt.com)
  
• Blue M&Ms (any mall candy store)
  
• Grandoe Pillow Gloves (BonTon or other department stores)
  
• Blue Legos (can be chosen individually by color at Legos mall stores, or purchased in an eBay lot)
  
• Blue (board book) by J. Jean Robertson (Amazon.com)
  
• Berry Blue Belly Jellys (any mall candy store)
  
• Barbie Blue Bow Slippers for Toddler Girls (crazyforbargains.com)

And if blue is not the color you have in mind, a simple Etsy search on "sock animal" or "sock animals" brings up lots of other candidates, including lovely little baby sock monkeys in various colors. Think outside the stocking!

What: Omar the Sock Dog
Where: Blue Monday Crafts (an Etsy shop)
How much (as of today's post): $16.00 (plus shipping)