I put ear rings , hair ties, brush, makeup in the girls stocking along with candy, gift cards , deck of cards, toothbrushes, if i need a filler a cute pair of socks or two , a new ornament for the next year, I don't normally do a lot of candy so will put in Beef jerky, granola bars, fruit snacks,sometimes little bags of cookies. Boys hot wheel cars maybe a game . i just look for little items. for me it isn't real hard.

Oh and remember the new toothbrush inside it too!!!

We did have stockings but plain ones since everyone got the same thing. We also got oranges and nuts and candy inours. We were raised by our grandparents though. My grandmother still thought in the 60's that 2 dresses were enough, one for school and one for church. I never had more than 5 though.. LOL

Holy smokes, you transported me back to my childhood in an instant!! Yes, your own sock and fruit in it, maybe candy and a coin. I too have often wondered what my kids would think, and now, I wonder what my grandkids would think! I have made Christmas stockings for all my kids and grandchildren now, and yes, are they ever expensive to fill!! Thanks for the memories. Merry Christmas.

Forget about little socks at the end of the bed...we tied pillow cases at the bottom of our beds.

We had plenty of presents, but I don't remember any stockings as a child. We have stockings now, and I stuff them with candy as it's a goody we don't normally buy. Of course, if I didn't buy my own stocking candy, the stocking would be empty. Ask me how I know. LOL!!

I still use the biggest apples and oranges I can find to fill the bottom of the stocking. I then add tooth brushes and tooth paste and other supplies I would have to buy them during the year. (deodorant, face wash, sport socks..etc) Divide a large package of gum and candies. If I have money left I add something they would like personally.

Merry Christmas to all!
Now for the stockings: You can't have a stocking without an orange/tangerine and nuts in the bottom; some cookies are always good; one or two small gifts! I always had the idea that the food in the stocking should equal a small breakfast. This was to hold us over until we had opened all the presents and can have a full 'Christmas' breakfast.

Stockings were so much fun! I have no kids so I can only reminisce about the ones we had growing up. They were red with a white cuff and of course, had our name on them. There were 5 of us kids and we weren't allowed to go open presents until 6 am, when the parents and Grandma were up for the event, but we could get our stockings at 5! Not having a fireplace, they were hung along the staircase. That hour provided mom and dad with a little more sleep and got us even more excited. We found socks small toys sometimes makeup (for us girls) in our stockings and sometimes, and this was the best, BATTERIES! Batteries meant that there was something under the tree that required them, thus building the anticipation, then, way down in the toe, we would often find a big juicy tangerine!

My daughters could open/explore their stockings as soon as they got up. Like someone else said, it let us sleep a little longer. :) When they were older, they brought our stockings to us in bed along with a cup of coffee. Then we had to get up so all could see what Santa had brought.