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How to Stuff a Christmas Stocking

A vintage Rudolph stocking is filled with fun socks, chocolates, oranges and other presents.

From the gifts you choose to fill a Christmas stocking to the order in which you pack them, here are some helpful tips for stuffing a stocking. At Cute But Crazy Socks we're ready to answer your questions about what to put in a Christmas stocking and help you spread Christmas morning glee with your expertly stuffed stockings.

Choosing the Best Stocking Stuffers

When it comes to choosing the best stocking stuffers, it can be hard to know where to begin. The only limit when choosing stocking stuffers is size, since each gift has to be small enough to fit in the stocking. From there you can really go wild!

One cool way to pick stocking stuffer gifts is to choose a gift for each of the five senses. Here are some examples to get you started:

A Sears Roebuck catalog page shows a mesh Christmas stocking full of children's toys for sale in 1916

1. Sight

This stocking stuffer could be a pair of sunglasses, a new book, an eye makeup palette or tickets to see a movie.

2. Taste

Something delicious like candy or hot cocoa mix, spices for a chef or even a gift card for their favorite restaurant.

3. Touch

Soft and cozy socks are the perfect touchable gift for this category! Not only are they practical and inexpensive, fun socks are also a gift everyone will enjoy!

4. Smell

For this category, choose something that smells good like perfume, a candle or a bag of fresh coffee.

5. Hearing

Keep their ears warm with the gift of earmuffs or a hat, or delight them with a kazoo or whistle, a new set of headphones or an MP3 gift card.

One of the hottest Christmas stocking debates is whether presents should be wrapped or unwrapped inside the stocking. On one hand, wrapping paper adds another layer of mystery to stocking stuffer gifts. However, it can also easily become crumpled and unsightly in a crowded stocking. In the end, it's up to you whether you wrap your gifts or not.

A vintage snowman Christmas stocking stuffed with men's socks.

Stuffing a Christmas Stocking

So what order should your stocking stuffers go into the stocking?

In the toe of the Christmas stocking, it is traditional to place an orange. This might seem kind of random, but as the story goes, oranges represent the gold that Saint Nicholas put into the very first Christmas stockings. Another possible orange origin? Marketing. By the early 1900s oranges were being heavily advertised to the public at the holidays by American citrus growers, who dreamed of an orange in the toe of every child's stocking. In my family, sometimes we substitute the regular oranges with chocolate oranges.

A vintage Rudolph stocking is filled with fun socks, chocolates and other stocking-stuffers.

After the orange, add candy and other food items, or anything that could potentially spill. This way, if the unthinkable happens and that chocolate melts or those caramels drip, none of the other gifts in the stocking will get ruined.

Stack the rest of your stocking stuffers from heaviest to lightest, almost like you are packing a shopping bag. This keeps the stocking from being too top-heavy and prevents the lighter and more delicate items from getting smushed.

If you are giving socks as gifts, you can even wrap them around smaller and more delicate items to keep them separated from the rest of the stocking. If you have a tall gift like colored pencils, add them into the leg of the stocking so they wont bend or stick out too far.

At the very top of the stocking, it can be fun to let a few gifts peek out. This could be a great place to put a pair of funny novelty socks that will catch your loved one's eye from across the room!

Start shopping for stocking stuffers today at Cute But Crazy Socks. Our Christmas socks collection is a great place to begin!

Andrea Farrell

Andrea Farrell is the lead buyer and content writer for Cute But Crazy Socks. She is a sock industry expert with over a decade of experience in socks retail, customer service, product selection, product development and customer behavior. Andrea leans on her degree in journalism from Western Washington University to write helpful articles on socks and hosiery, covering all topics from current fashion trends to sock jokes.

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