Silver Plate Plant Markers -- with 20% off coupon code!

It's been far too long since I posted about any of the lovely handmade items available on Etsy, but now I can remedy that situation. Heidi of the CambriRae etsy shop has generally offered my blog readers a 20% off coupon (code "20off") which can be used on her lovely silver plate plant markers, Christmas ornaments, and page clips.

Although you should look through all of her beautiful offerings, I personally love the plant markers the best; each is made from vintage silver-plate forks and spoons with letters permanently engraved into the metal. Each marker is $5.00, or only $4.00 with the coupon code. They're perfect for outdoor or windowsill gardens, and as the product description states, they "make a wonderful gift for anyone who loves gardening, is an antique fanatic, enjoys a shabby chic décor, or simply likes to receive unique gifts."

And there's still time to get these for Christmas, at least within the United States. As long as you choose priority mail shipping and order by Sunday night (Dec. 19), you should have these by Thursday (Dec. 23).

And if you've already done your Christmas shopping, keep these in mind for Springtime birthdays and especially Mother's Day!

What: Silver Plate Plant Markers -- with 20% off coupon code!
Where: CambriRae (an Etsy shop)
How much (as of today's post): $5.00 apiece -- $4.00 with coupon code!

Fortune Gumballs

Anyone on your stocking-to-be-stuffed list like fortunes and fortune cookies? If so, they might get a kick out of these Fortune Gumballs. The "set" comes with seven boxes labeled Love, Finances, Career, Future, Health, Travel, and Mystery, and each box contains two gumballs and a fortune. The overall package is 4 1/2 inches long by 2 inches tall -- perfect for stocking stuffers!

What: Fortune Gumballs
Where: Perpetual Kid
How much (as of today's post): $2.99 (plus shipping)

Cocoa Puffs Lip Balm

I admit that this stocking stuffer idea is inspired more by nostalgia than anything else. I used to love Cocoa Puffs when I was a kid (and Cocoa Pebbles perhaps even more). I used to eat bowl after bowl of these cereals along with a glass of Welch's grape juice. It's a miracle I didn't go into sugar shock!

In any case, though, here's a way to enjoy the memory without the sugar -- Cocoa Puffs lip balm! I would think kids up to 8 or 9 years old might really like this -- any older and they might be too "sophisticated" for it! I found this on the Perpetual Kid website, and they also have Lucky Charms and Boo Berry cereal flavors, and Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll flavor, in case Cocoa Puffs aren't the thing.

What: Cocoa Puffs Lip Balm
Where: Perpetual Kid website
How much (as of today's post): $2.99 (plus shipping)

Craisins

Looking for a sweet treat other than candy for stockings? Craisins are still "new" enough to be a little bit of a novelty, but common enough that you can find them in any grocery store at a reasonable price. They do have sugar added to them, so this won't work for everyone -- and be sure to read the ingredients if you want to make sure it's cane sugar and not high-fructose corn syrup. But even if they're sweetened -- and after all, they are cranberries, so you can see why they would be sweetened -- they have all sorts of nutritional benefits that candy is entirely without.

I believe "Craisins" is the Ocean Spray brand name, but I imagine there are other brands of dried cranberries out there too. For Craisins themselves, Ocean Spray also puts out 100 calorie packs (perfect for stocking stuffers), and in more exotic "blends" such as blueberry, cherry, and pomegranate-juice "infused".

What: Craisins
Where: any grocery store
How much (as of today's post): varies

Handisleeves & Dandisleeves

Almost every Sunday, my husband and I go to Panera for lunch. I drink iced tea (unsweetened!) and he drinks hot tea. The hot tea is always very hot, so he uses those cardboard sleeves so he can hold the cup comfortably. Now, we do always recycle the cardboard sleeves, but wouldn't it make more sense to use a re-usable one and save some trees?

Enter Handisleeves and Dandisleeves from the Container Store! The pretty Dandisleeve comes in pink and has a lovely cut-out pattern, while the more manly Handisleeve comes in either green, black, or red. They're $4.99 apiece, making them a nice, useful, affordable stocking stuffer.

And in the meantime.... Happy Thanksgiving!

What: Handisleeves & Dandisleeves
Where: Container Store
How much (as of today's post): $4.99 (plus shipping)

Thanksgiving Dinner Gumballs

These Thanksgiving Dinner Gumballs would make a cute gift for kids, or for college students who are too far away to make it home for Thanksgiving dinner! There are three flavors: Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, and Pumpkin Pie. I think they would certainly taste.... interesting! But I probably should not indulge myself -- I can't stand the buttered popcorn flavor of Jelly Belly, because the taste is right, but so wrong with that texture! I have to imagine turkey-flavored gum might be a similar experience.... But kids love things that are weird or even gross!

What: Thanksgiving Dinner Gumballs
Where: ThinkGeek.com
How much (as of today's post): $3.99 (or $9.99 for three) (plus shipping)

Mushroom Pencil Sharpener & Eraser

In keeping with yesterday's small, cute art and school supply type stocking stuffer, here is another cutie from the Library Foundation of Los Angeles: a mushroom pencil sharpener and eraser in one. They're two inches tall and come in several colors, although you unfortunately don't get to choose the color. Still, most kids won't mind which color they get, since they're all adorable.

What: Mushroom Pencil Sharpener & Eraser
Where: Library Foundation of Los Angeles
How much (as of today's post): $3.00 (plus shipping)

Mini-Capsule Colored Pencils

I know colored pencils are colored pencils, and you can surely find a set cheaper if not so elegantly packaged. But it's the lovely packaging that would make this set of mini colored pencils such a perfect stocking stuffer. The 12 pencils are only 2 inches tall, so this little set will fit almost anywhere.

I found these in the Library Foundation of Los Angeles store. There's a good bet you could find them, or something very similar, in an art supply store, though.

What: Mini-Capsule Colored Pencils
Where: Library Foundation of Los Angeles
How much (as of today's post): $4.50 (plus shipping)

Apple and Pear "Slice" Memo Pads

Here's a new twist on the old shaped memo pads: instead of being flat pads shaped like an apple or an orange, each page of these 3-dimensional pads constitutes a "slice" of the fruit itself. The color-coordinated paper clip helps mark your place if needed. There are 150 pages in each pad. In addition to being appropriate for an office gift, these pads would be great for a teacher, a little girl, or an adult with an apple or pear motif in the kitchen.

What: Apple and Pear "Slice" Memo Pads
Where: Container Store website or stores
How much (as of today's post): $3.99 (plus shipping)

Halloween Scrunchies

I truly believe there's a website for everything, because when I did a Google search on scrunchies, Scrunchies.com was the first hit! And because it's October, I immediately looked to see if they had a Halloween category, and of course they did. They have seven Halloween designs listed: Little Miss Spider in orange, green, or purple; Creature Peepers (eyes); Hairy Potter 2 (wizard stars and crescent moons); Batty (neon green bats on a black background; and Trick-or-Treat (pumpkins and candy).

And of course, you could probably go to a Claire's accessory store and find them there too. Maybe even a dollar store!

What: Halloween Scrunchies
Where: Scrunchies.com or elsewhere
How much (as of today's post): $3.99 (plus shipping) (or maybe less at a Claire's or dollar store?)

Pet Food Can Covers

I've never been a fan of canned food for cats and dogs -- I'm not crazy about the way it smells -- but recently our vet recommended we add wet food to one of our cat's diets as he seemed like he might not be getting enough water. And I have been giving Pixel only a half-can at a time, so these covers might be just the thing for my own stocking this year! In any case, if you are looking for stocking stuffers for the cat or dog lover in your life, this set of 3 pet food lids is only $2.99 from the Container Store. Cats or dogs, your choice! Or maybe they choose us.... (I say this because I grew up a dog person and suddenly I find myself with a house full of cats!)

What: Colorful Pet Food Can Lids
Where: The Container Store
How much (as of today's post): $2.99 (plus shipping if ordering online)

Zoo Mania Pencil Toppers

I remember loving school supplies as a child, especially brand new school supplies at the start of the school year, like a pencil box to keep in the desk, and new crayons, and a cute little stapler.... And what child doesn't like special decorated pencils, or pencils with cute little toppers? If this is your child, here's an inexpensive stocking stuffer: Zoo Mania Pencil Toppers. They come in all sorts of animals and all sorts of sets. The best part is, you can order amounts that work for you: individual toppers for 50 cents each; a set of five for $1.99. Or if you want to spread these out over the year, or have lots of kids, neighbors' kids, nieces, nephews, etc., you can buy a set of 10 for $3.95, or a bundle of 25 for only $7.99.

I think the only problem will be kids fighting over who gets which one!

What: Zoo Mania Pencil Toppers
Where: Adam's Animals website
How much (as of today's post): $1.99 for set of five (plus shipping)

Lipstick Pen

I'm not sure what's going on, but I seem to be in girly-girl mode just now, which is odd considering I'm usually something of a tomboy. But I do know many women who would love to get this as a stocking stuffer: a realistic-looking lipstick pen. It's only 4 inches long so a great size for a purse, and the $5.00 is for a set of two, making it a pretty affordable stocking stuffer (as long as shipping isn't too exorbitant, of course...).

What: Lipstick Pen
Where: Spoon Sisters website
How much (as of today's post): $5.00 for set of 2 (plus shipping)

Wizard of Oz Magnets

Oh dear! The weekend completely got away from me. Rather than play catch-up, I'm going to start fresh today with these Wizard of Oz magnets. And I chose them for today because I had an Oz-infused weekend! On Saturday, my husband and I went to see the touring company performance of "Wicked", which I missed last time it came through Houston. I read the book years ago and even got to meet the author, and I'm a huge fan of Kristen Chenowith, who originated the role of Glinda in the Broadway show, so I've been dying to see this show for some time. My husband was willing to go but not particularly excited since not only did he not know anything about "Wicked", he had never seen the movie "The Wizard of Oz.

Well, of course we needed to remedy that, so on Friday night we watched the movie. The most fun part was watching my husband react to lines like "Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!" and "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" and saying "So, that's where that line comes from!"

And was he ever glad that he saw the movie, because there are so many jokes in "Wicked" that depend on it. As for the show itself, I loved the story more than I expected (I've forgotten a lot since I read the book so long ago, and I'm sure there were some changes), and did not like some of the music as much as I expected. But that said, there are two songs, "Popular" and "Defying Gravity", that are worth the price of admission alone.

What does any of this have to do with stocking stuffers? Almost nothing, except if you have an Oz-enthusiast in your family, you could do worse than to fill their stockings with a magnet cut-out of the ruby slippers, or Glinda, or the Wicked Witch of the West. There's also a group shot from the poppy field scene. (I've also seen the same cut-out images as stickers at Michael's, by the way.) The magnets are $2.99 apiece at FridgeDoor.com, or you can buy the set of four for $9.95.

[Edited to add: In ironic timing, I just now saw a news item saying that movement seems to be picking up on a movie adaptation of "Wicked"! I had been wondering about that this weekend, and was thinking "please let them get Kristen Chenowith for Glinda!"]

What: Wizard of Oz Magnets
Where: FridgeDoor.com
How much (as of today's post): $2.99 (plus shipping)

Floating LED Keychain

Here's a handy and inexpensive stocking stuffer for men: a floating LED keychain for use while boating and fishing. The keychain starts flashing when it comes into contact with water, and it keeps the keys from sinking (always a plus!). This is currently on sale at Solutions.com for only $2.99, but if you don't like to do mail and internet orders for something so small, sports stores and hardware stores might carry these as well.

What: Floating LED Keychain
Where: Solutions website
How much (as of today's post): $2.99 (on sale from $6.48) (plus shipping)

Kodak Free Photo Magnet

The Saving Cents Together blog put me onto this free photo magnet deal from Kodak Gallery online. The normally $3.99 photo magnet is free with coupon code FREEMAGNET -- all you have to pay is the $1 shipping. This makes a perfect stocking stuffer for the total cost of one dollar -- how often does that happen? And you can get it for anyone: spouse, child, grandparent, boyfriend or girlfriend, and so on.

I mentioned in a post a while back that I always keep photos "on deck" so I can take advantage of such specials as they come up. So I just got a magnet of one of our kitties who has been feeling underrepresented in our family photo-wise. (A few of our cats are extremely photogenic while a few others -- we have many! -- seem to have demon eyes in every picture no matter how we take it. So we tend to have lots of photos of some and hardly any of others.) It's nice because you can also put a name or short caption on the photo magnet.

I have no idea how long this promotion will last, so I suggest taking advantage of it quickly!

What: Kodak Free Photo Magnet
Where: KodakGallery.com
How much (as of today's post): free ($1.00 shipping)

Sprinkler Hide-a-Key

The "sprinkler" hide-a-key gadget is definitely an afforadable stocking stuffer, at only $3.99 plus shipping. It's 3.5 inches high by 1.3 inches in diameter, and looks like a regular sprinkler head. Of course, it might only be useful if you happen to have built-in sprinkler's in your yard already, but you could actually still hide this pretty well in a flowerbed if you wanted. It just depends on how forgetful you are with your keys! I think I've only locked myself out of my house once....

What: Sprinkler Hide-a-Key
Where: ThinkGeek.com
How much (as of today's post): $3.99 (plus shipping)

Curry Flavored Kali Mints

This stocking stuffer is only for the brave: curry-flavored "Kali" mints. As I've grown older, I've become far more adventurous in terms of what I will eat, or at least try once. But I'm still a bit of a wimp when it comes to hot and spicy food. So while I probably won't get these for myself.... that doesn't mean they won't make a fun stocking stuffer for those in the "the hotter the better" food camp!

The tin is 2.25 inches in diameter and contains 100 mints. I almost want to get one just to keep the tin for myself!

What: Curry Flavored Kali Mints
Where: Perpetual Kid website
How much (as of today's post): $2.99 (plus shipping)

Fire Fork

Ever heard of a fire fork? Me neither, til I came across this on the Uncrate website. They don't sell these themselves, but I was able to find them on the REI website, which means they're likely available at outdoor gear stores in general.

In any case, the fire fork is made of stainless steel that wraps around the end of a twig or branch to create a campfire fork that will work a bit better than a pointy stick -- they tend to lose the hotdogs in the fire, from my experience! This is also a little more sanitary since you can take it home and wash it, yet it still lends that campfire experience. I think this would make a unique stocking stuffer for anyone who enjoys camping, or just so you can roast marshmallows or hotdogs in your backyard with your kids.

What: Fire Fork
Where: REI website or outdoor stores
How much (as of today's post): $4.95 (plus shipping)

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):