Adult stocking filler ideas - all year round!

[OMGitsnotgood]

If you're anti Christmas until December or don't agree with stockings for adults, please scroll past.

Our adult children absolutely refuse not to have Christmas stockings, it wouldn't be Christmas without them apparently. Their main present is either something they've asked for or cash. I try to get a couple of other small gifts I know they'd like as a surprise but stockings are here to stay.
I know people have different approaches to stocking fillers, here are the criteria for ours:

Small enough to fit in a stocking (shop bought type not a sock).
Anywhere from 0 - £5 per gift (£0 could be a perfume/aftershave sample)
Must be practical, fun or consumable to avoid wastage.
Can be pre-owned (eg like-new books from a charity shop).
Usual ideas are foodstuffs, snacks, toiletries, DIY bits n bobs, stationery items. All get used but a bit dull, another reason for not leaving it too late to think of things.

I keep a 'Christmas note' on my phone and note ideas all year round. Generally I won't buy until later in the year, it's the ideas that are difficult. I sometimes pick up on things in conversation and add to the note to buy later (eg DS1's girlfriend mentioned how much she loved a certain chocolate bar - now in the list).
Obviously if I spot something that I probably wouldn't be able to get again - something unique or a real bargain, I will buy when I see them but don't go actively looking. Sometimes they are things I stumble across (I recently bought a trolley coin in aid of a charity one of my DCs supports when there was a stall in a service station).

Just been ordering a couple of slimline European usb adapters to take on holiday (see pic) and have ordered a few extra as stocking fillers. Which is what prompted me to start this thread. By starting early, collecting ideas even if not buying, I think you do so with a clearer mind and end up with better stocking fillers than leaving the thinking til December when there is so much else going on.
Not sure if anyone else will be interested in this thread but just in case, would be good to share ideas or things that you've seen that are not the usual everyday items.
I'd appreciate it we could keep this thread for adults stockings only please

You’re welcome! I think Sainsbury’s used to sell black garlic but not sure if they still do. The pot of cloves are great, such a unique flavour. You can mash them with a fork and add to things like mayo, soup, stews. The paste is a lot easier but I think the cloves are more fun.

The tealight shadow play things are so delicate and don’t create a huge shadow (but beautiful nonetheless), unless you buy the more expensive tubes to go with them.

Ooh, thanks for the reminder about this thread! Time for me to start buying in...

and co-incidentally I got an email from Present Indicative this morning, who have some lovely 'nerdy' bits in. I particularly like the 'Cousin Explainer' tea towel and the nuclear physics socks, which are perfect for my son and cousin (not the same person, if anyone was wondering. I'm not THAT rural).

ETA link https://www.presentindicative.com/collections/all-products

What a fantastic website!! Never heard of it before; want everything on there!

I bought a jar of local honey for a present with a dibber to level up. Always think a lovely jam or preserve is a great idea, pick one a step up from their usual.

It is fabulous, isn't it?

That's why I love this thread. All these places that you wouldn't otherwise know about!

ETA - sorry meant to quote @FinaleyDee but was so excited that I quoted myself!

Thank you @Vroomfondleswaistcoat that site is amazing - I want everything on it!! Some great gifts for the hard-to-buy for!!

Glad I found this thread! I always do a Christmas hamper as my gift to DH and another one for my parents: none of them particularly want/need things, so a box of consumables goes down well.

Hits from last year include buttermint tea from Bird & Blend - DH drinks a lot of peppermint tea, so I thought this would be worth a try, and it's astonishing. Smells and tastes like Murray Mints.

The Monster Supplies shop website made me laugh so much just looking through everything (try toggling the language), and my parents got bah humbugs for Christmas as a result. It's a literary charity for kids too, well worth giving them a few quid.

I've just got a couple of these for my kids' stockings, but they'd be fine for adults too. When the children were babies we stopped using breakable baubles and now have a huge and eclectic collection of wooden, woollen, felt, etc etc decorations. Now Lego will be added 😂

This shop has a good range of things, I might come back to it nearer to Christmas for perishables:
Lego DIY Christmas bauble

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat my word thank you for sharing that link. Have a massive maths / science nerd of a husband so this site is perfect

As someone with a maths nerd son, I was incredibly delighted to discover it myself!

If you like Present Indicative, you might also like the Literary Gift Company: same parent brand.
https://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/

The Garlic Farm have black garlic (and lots more delicious things!)

https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/collections/black-garlic

https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/products/garlic-twist-cross-cutter

and this gadget is great for when you need to mince up garlic - super easy to use and clean.

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat and @cornbunting thank you for both of those sites! I’d love to get a Shipping Forecast shirt or tote bag and a Richard Scarry tote bag.

I got my brother one of the shipping forecast ones - I can't remember if it was 'Good, Occasionally Poor' or 'Veering Slowly, Losing Identity' - but he loved it. They are excellent quality too.

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat those are exactly the two I had my eye on this morning. 😂

A piece of serving cutlery that goes with the sets that they already have (eg a pie/ cake server)

Fold-down hairbrushes for their handbags

Ditto super-small fold-down umbrellas (not black since they get lost/ borrowed and not returned etc)

Jar of local honey

Mascara

A posh beauty product that they love eg moisturiser

A small-size hand cream for their handbags

A chocolate santa

= 8 things - that’s plenty

@SunnyPraguethese are exactly my kind of stocking fillers. Love the serving cutlery idea, not something I’ve ever thought of.

https://www.wildcare.co.uk/greenblue-beeblock-small.html?srsltid=AfmBOoodskmSMlGQZ6H-WUL0G5Newor84z7YFI-UcWtictoAkZrwLxGPko One of these little bee blocks- homes for solitary bees.

Love the bee block and serving cutlery ideas. I have cake forks on my list of present ideas for myself - needed some for years but never got round to it. Always felt a bit extravagant but maybe this year will be the year.

On the subject of bees, a previous stocking ideas thread mentioned a ‘bee revival kit’. I think a few kids and adults in my family would enjoy this.

beevive.com/collections/bee-revival-kits

Home Bargains have stainless steel straws for 99p

and trendy hair claw clips which are far more expensive elsewhere

Re cake forks, it’s worth checking charity shops, I’ve had 2 complete sets in their original boxes and use them regularly - friends always compliment on how pretty they are.

Great idea, thank you!

I love my cake forks. Black stainless steel from Viners - husband also uses them to get cat food out of the pouch 🥺. I’m sure I picked them up for £5 or similar. I adore these fruit/pickle forks https://amzn.eu/d/a1cZGEz

Yep I’m the hunt for a pretty set in the local charity shops too. I always have a list of stuff I’m keeping an eye out for.

Visiting my parents and leafing through the newspaper magazines has come up trumps - a few farmshop type websites that I hadn't heard of before. Great to add to my list of places to buy interesting chocolate/chutney/jam/snacks etc. I'll have to remember to check out the papers in a couple of months time and see if there are any other suggestions.