Christmas hamper/stocking filler ideas for adults

[normaleggy]

I've decided to do a hamper/stocking for my adult relatives (dm, df, db, dsil and pil) made up of a few items costing no more than £5 or £6 each. I may present these in a cake tin or something similar. Ideally I'd like them to be nice or useful items, nothing jokey or gimmicky. I have a few ideas already such as chocolates, marmalades, hand cream, nail varnish, packets of seeds, face packs, etc but could do with a few more and maybe something more original!

Any ideas?

[bananananacoconuts]

A book (dm particularly enjoys a crossword book for christmas), lovely hair slides/shampoo, obligatory socks!, reed diffuser/incense, calendar, tea towels.

To be fair, i'm not the most imaginative!

[raisah]

M&S have got large boxes of Swiss chocs on offer at £4 reduced from £8.

Keyrings with a little light attached are useful for the winter months when you are scrambling around trying to open your door.

[normaleggy]

A book is a good idea though, it's the men that are the biggest problem, I can always find stuff for the women. Thanks banana

[normaleggy]

Yes we have no street lights in the villages around here so that could be good too.

[WaitMonkey]

Candles ? Will have a think.

[chanie44]

I do one for oh every year....

Flask
Socks
Travel mug
Playing cards
Torch
Utility knife
Earphones
Pen
Chocolate
Thermals
Pint glass
Lottery ticket
DIY tools
Hat
Book
Cd/DVD
Accessories for iPad/kindle/Xbox etc
Cinema voucher
Bottle of beer/alcohol miniature
USB stick

[bananananacoconuts]

Love a cinema voucher!

[toisa]

Novelty tea towels, aprons, oven gloves. Kitcheny gadgets like garlic peeler or the like.

[OldRoan]

We always get a calendar for the next year. Might not fit in a cake tin though!

[bouncingbelle]

I know it sound ridiculous but I got a really cute lighter in my stocking last year and it was one of my favourite presents! I don't smoke so never had one in the house but its so handy for lighting candles, when the lights fuse etc!

[zipzap]

Check out this thread on christmas bargains - already on it's fifth new thread, it's filling up quickly!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/Christmas/1842155-From-Robotgate-to-Vertbaudetgate-it-s-the-Christmas-bargain-thread

Also check out play.com - they have a deal of the day which recently has had some great tshirts for men (films/tv, star trek, back to the future, star wars, big bang theory etc) at half price just for the day, also lots of 'bloke bits' of hardware. Sign up for their emails and be prepared to look at it each day and get it there and then if you like it.

Likewise, 7dayshop.com also often has good stuff reasonably priced for men, again, sign up for their emails to see what's on offer.

TKMaxx has some good bits and bobs in their men section.

Book People have good offers on books and often have sales or offers on.

ebay has all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff on - particularly some of the shops in china that sell stuff over here. Somebody had posted something that looked quite nice on an earlier xmas thread; I looked at the other stuff being sold and it included a giant silicon nose that you put shower gel into then stuck to the wall in your shower, then squeezed for the gel to come out - snot fashion . A snip at about £4 for something truly tacky and dreadful but could also be quite funny for the appropriate male (Especially if they keep telling you that they don't know what they want - you can just tell them you got them a 'don't nose' as they requested...

asda have a pack of two packs of cards and 4 dice for £1.50 which always seems a bargain, they don't look cheap cheap and it's always good to have cards and dice around.

[fuzzpig]

DH likes little models to put together.

[raisah]

item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=360549709893

Gift baskets to put your gifts in.

[NeverQuiteSure]

Tesco and sometimes Aldi sell packs of stroopwafels (Dutch syrup waffles for the uninitiated) for around £1.50

Coffee bags are fun for those of us who still haven't succumbed to coffee machines

[Guitargirl]

I do one for my parents every year. Last year I bought a basket from Home Bargains, covered it in clear cellophane and stuck Christmas stickers all over it. I usually fill it with food/drink - more unusual stuff (we live in London) which they wouldn't be able to get in their home town. I have in the past bought Harrods/Harvey Nicks/Fortnums type food - biscuits/coffee/sweets. But this year I think am going to focus on Borough Market. Last year I also put in a book about Christmas and a Christmassy apron for my mum.

[Loolah]

Hat, scarf, gloves and a posh pen ( in a case)

[nickdrakeslovechild]

I do my mum a stocking and Primark does lovely stocking fillers really cheap. I got a lovely set of 4 mini polishes for £2 and a diamonte bangle for £2.

[5Foot5]

Are there any local or boutique breweries near you where you could get a bottle of unusual beer for the men?

Interesting puzzles to solve.

http://www.hawkin.com/ Hawkins do have jokey stuff but also loads of other ideas to and I usually find them great for stocking fillers.

Diaries - might be able to get them cheap on the market or in a discount card store.

What about a theme? My PILs love Italian food so we always try to get some interesting stuff for an Italian hamper.

[bootsycollins]

I've started my shopping this week, so far I have bought 3 lovely ceramic oil burners for 99p each from B&M and I've bought a Yankee wax tart for each burner and put 3 tea lights inside. The oil burners have a few different designs, spots, stripes and hearts and there are different colour combinations, black and white, cream and beige and multi coloured brights on a cream background.
I've bought a few black photo frames also from B&M, they're 8" 10" size and have white mounts included, £2.99 bargain then onto eBay where I've bought a few photo prints for £1 each, Kurt Cobain on MTV unplugged, Ian Brown, Noel Gallagher.
At The Works you can buy 6 postcard size mini canvases for £1.99, fab for the kids to make a mini masterpiece as a gift.
I make 4 hampers a year as gifts and I've started to buy an item a week now. Wine, spirits, tins of chocolates and biscuits, biscuits for cheese, crisps, chutneys, good coffee, luxury hot chocolate, bubble bath and hand soap, honey roast cashews, after eights and last minute mince pies. I budget £40 per hamper and get all the booze from Lidl, the tins of biscuits from Aldi and the tins of chocolates from wherevers offering 2 for £10. They make a great joint present and I love making each basket unique with favourite treats. I then get free cardboard boxes from Morrisons and wrap in red and white polka dot paper and use brown luggage labels as gift tags (£1 for 10 at the post office).

[flowergirl61]

I usually make up a hampers for the grandparents with lots of home cooked goodies but thought I might add some cheese n wine this year - any suggestions as I'm a cheddar girl not so keen on the smelly stuff but I know the olds love them?!

[moonsl]

Yes there are lots to choose from but I always include some Cropwell Bishop Stilton and maybe some brie from //www.finecheese.co.uk - the cheese is a bit pricey but it is delicious and they sell some yummy crackers to go with them and if you are not sure what to buy the staff there are really helpful and will help you choose. I've been including these in a hamper with home made goodies for the past few years. I also include a bottle of bubbly and a small carton of OJ so they can enjoy some bucks fizz on Christmas morning!

[flowergirl61]

thanks moonsl I'll give them a call

[Liwwybettykins]

One of those portable phone chargers
Small breathalyser
Pack of some nice little mints in a tin

[ohtheholidays]

A small diary
A nice notebook,myself and a few of the other women in my family love nice stationary.
A nice pen.
A silk or woolen scarf.
Pair of gloves.
A warm hat.
Hand warmers.
A alcohol minature.
Some nice shower gel or bubble bath.
Shortbread or some unusual sweets,M&S or John Lewis usually sell some lovely one's nearer Christmas.
A pair of warm socks.
Bookmark
A gift card for a book shop or for a music store.

I've done Christmas hampers for quite a few of my family in the past.
1 I did for my Mum from the Grandchildren was lots of treats that were gluten free,I bought her cakes,biscuits,cereals,crumpets,different types of crackers,nice soups and sauces and sweets and chocolate(the gluten free stuff costs a fortune so it was nice for her to able to have all of the things she liked all at once)and I did her a relaxation hamper from us that had scented candles,a magazine subscription,some nice hand creams,some fancy slippers,face cream,stuff for her nails,some nice bath stuff and a gift card for a clothes shop she liked.

For my Dad we did 1 full of all of the sweets he liked and the old fashioned glass bottle fizzy drinks from the Grandchildren and from us we did 1 with crossword books,a really nice pen,some nice soft slippers(he had bad feet)a board game,a pedicure kit and nice feet and leg cream and some DVD's.

I've done cinema boxes before,tea,coffee and biscuit hampers,family game nights hampers.