Stocking Fillers
Some of my most treasured memories of Christmas are waking up to find a filled stocking at my feet.......before being promptly returned back to bed because it was little after 3am! After one unsuccessful creaky floorboard attempt here several years ago, stockings are now hung on the fireplace where sensitive little ears are far less likely to catch me out and getting-up time might squeak past 6am if we're lucky!
I think I enjoy the process of putting a stocking together more exciting than Christmas gifts themselves. Some years I am super organised and pick things up as I see them, months in advance. Others, admittedly, are a bit of a last minute mad panic but whatever the circumstances I always try to fill them with beautiful things that will be loved and played with (or eaten!) over the weeks to come rather than disposable items that end up neglected after a few seconds of glee.
We have heaps of pocket-money priced and stocking sized goodies in-store (from next week) and online. Certainly too many for me to detail in full here so I've decided to share some of my personal favourites and own choices this year and hope you like them...
Candylab mini vehicles were SUCH a hit last year and they are so pleasing to look at as well as play with. The Rio Grande Mule Mini Candycar towing the Pinecone Camper Trailer will be much loved here and a welcome addition to our burgeoning collection of these beautifully crafted retro wooden vehicles.
Something for the bath always goes down well and Nailmatic kids have some brilliant crackling bath bombs and salts in addition to kid friendly nail varnish, body gel and lip gloss. Bath bombs come in green, yellow and purple and the crackling salts pink and blue. I'll probably pop one of each variant in - they are vegan, cruelty and preservative free as well as being dermatologically tested, gentle to sensitive skins and huge amounts of fun!
We LOVE a jigsaw in this house and the Warhol shaped mini puzzles are perfect for slightly older children. Choose from 3 designs - the banana, Marilyn and the soup can. Each one is just 100 pieces, perfect for keeping them quiet when you need a bit of a lie down later in the day!
Meri Meri have lots of brilliant stocking fillers from necklaces and hair clips to tattoos and badges. Some are Christmas themed but lots aren't. I think I'm going to embrace all things festive this year though!
Technically if something is repeated for the fourth year in a row that makes it a tradition right? It's nice to know that as well as carrying over Christmas traditions from my own childhood we are making some of our own which leads me nicely on to tree decorations! What's so lovely about something that is simultaneously expected and a surprise is that they dig through the stocking desperate to see what character awaits them and this year we're going prehistoric with one of the gorgeous felt dinos from Amica.
For anyone that doesn't have a stocking yet, or fancies updating what they do, check out the cute cat jacquard knitted stocking from the newly released Bobo Choses FUN capsule collection, just a few remaining!
Following the news from the UK government this week we look forward to opening the shop again in December, still plenty of time to shop for Christmas and we have lots and lots of lovely gift ideas for all budgets. In the meantime everything is available to purchase online - we have a dedicated Christmas shop and have banded our toys by age now too which we hope you'll find helpful.