Inexpensive Christmas toy and stocking stuffer ideas

[PaloAltoCougar]

If you are buying gift certificates to TRU, please add me to your list.

http://www.trurestaurant.com/

Yowzah, that looks great. And since my five year-old grandson has become something of a food aficionado (my daughter took him to the Colorado Cheese Fest where he impressed the adult vendors, like the young Jesus before the elders in the temple, as he declared, "I'm a cheese man,") I may follow your counsel and honor your request.

[TripletDaddy]

Yowzah, that looks great. And since my five year-old grandson has become something of a food aficionado (my daughter took him to the Colorado Cheese Fest where he impressed the adult vendors, like the young Jesus before the elders in the temple, as he declared, "I'm a cheese man,") I may follow your counsel and honor your request.

one of my favorite places to eat in Chicago. Next time BYU plays Notre Dame (which will be almost an annual event, as opposed to a one-off schedule filler), we should plan a meal there, expensing it to Jeff Lebowski and CUF, of course.

[TripletDaddy]

One thing I will probably put in my daughter's stocking is those silly bands that are the big hit with the kids right now. You get a pack of 24 for around 5 dollars and they have all sorts of shapes. You can get Spiderman, Star Wars, Strawberry Shortcake, Hello Kitty, etc. I am not a fan of silly bands, but my daughter loves them. Apparently, they take them to school and trade shapes.

The Puffy Check loves silly bands. As the name indicates, they are definitely silly.

I prefer to call them, "Target Practice for the Vacuum" bands.

Last weekend, my son went to bed with them on his wrist. He woke up in the morning with all these indentations all over his wrist, as though they had been cutting off his circulation. I explained to him the danger of sleeping that way and he said, "cool!" He was more concerned with the indentations going away before he could back to school and show his friends.

[The_Tick]

A thread like this is good.

I think I can link my holiday Bah Humbug/Depression to that fact that I am Christmas shopping for an 18 and a 13 year old.

No toys...no fun little things to build.

Their Christmas lists look like this:

Gift Cards
iTunes Gift Cards
Cash

You know...the same stuff I do for them all year.

The Bah Humbug is around the corner...I can feel it.

[marsupial]

DDD, those Pillow Pets are quite ubiquitous. I also saw the Pillow Pets at Kroger today. So maybe next time you're at Smith's look for them by the milk.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Silly Bands are silly, awesome and annoying! We also have what seems like thousands of these, and they could be easily included in a CUF toy exchange. I can offer a grab bag, various Disney, Princess, Barbie, Garbage Pail Kids, Oregon Duck, Halloween, Scooby Doo, fairies.

I am not a heavy user, I go with a simple 4 SB combo, 1 pink Daisy Duck, 1 yellow Duck paw, 1 white goal post and 1 green Oregon O.

[old_gregg]

Silly Bands are silly, awesome and annoying! We also have what seems like thousands of these, and they could be easily included in a CUF toy exchange. I can offer a grab bag, various Disney, Princess, Barbie, Garbage Pail Kids, Oregon Duck, Halloween, Scooby Doo, fairies.

I am not a heavy user, I go with a simple 4 SB combo, 1 pink Daisy Duck, 1 yellow Duck paw, 1 white goal post and 1 green Oregon O.

at first glance i thought your hand was your forearm. "my, what big forearms hfn has," i thought to myself.

[cougjunkie]

My daughter has a bedroom the size of most peoples master bedrooms full of toys. To be completely honest she has way to many but when other kids come over (DDD and Puffy Check can attest) it is a big hit because for them most of the toys are new. Same when my daughter goes to other kids houses the same boring toys that other kids are sick of my daughter comes home raving about it and how she wants them.

[Lost Student]

at first glance i thought your hand was your forearm. "my, what big forearms hfn has," i thought to myself.

I did the same thing. My brain was trying to figure out what was going on. The second construction it made was that the bands were on his extremely long and hairy ankle, right below his ridiculous calf.

[wuapinmon]

I always like balsa-wood gliders in stockings. They are very cheap, and a lot of fun. I'd recommend buying two per child, as they tend to wear out quickly. Also, I'm getting my kids little high-powered LED flashlights for Christmas (sometimes Costco will have great deals on these) because they're always taking mine to play with it.

[Surfah]

My daughter just got a pillow pet--$20 at Best Buy. It's LAME but she loves it.

Pillow Pets are everywhere. Like Sup said, they're even in grocery stores. Our menehune got one last February for her birthday. She wanted the Unicorn. Now she wants the Turtle. And I think Nana obliged.

As for stocking stuffers ours aren't complete without a chocolate orange and Christmas tree Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Also ever since I was a kid my parents/Santa gave me deodorant and usually Old Spice/Brut/Jovan Musk. I guess they were trying to tell me I smelled bad.

[1337coug]

We are pretty lucky in that respect. The only thing I have too much of is pokemon cards. I despise pokemon right now.

Hang on to those. Of all the stuff I had as a kid, the one thing I wish I could get back is my massive binder of pokemon cards. I think my mom threw them away.

[Parrot Head]

Well, Wal-Mart has them too. We were just in Best Buy and she had birthday money burning a hole in her pocket.

And of course Best Buy--Pillow Pets are great accessories for a new TV or Blu-Ray player. Something comfy to watch a flick on.

Maybe this has come up before, but I'd imagine you an Anti-Wal-Mart-ite.

[YOhio]

Maybe this has come up before, but I'd imagine you an Anti-Wal-Mart-ite.

No kidding. This anti-circumcision le leche league stuff has thrown me for a bit of a loop.

[TripletDaddy]

Are pillow pets the latest Cabbage Patch doll craze?

They are definitely everywhere, but it is the same ones that are everywhere....the bee, the ladybug, the monkey, etc.

My son wanted the frog. Found that at a mall kiosk. My daughter wanted the dolphin. Found that at wal-mart.

My other daughter seems to have chosen the hardest one to find...the triceratops. Now I understand why some parents were going bananas for those Cabbage Patch dolls. I am obsessed. I feel like I am on a quest to find this silly toy. Call me Ishmael.

ps if anyone runs across the large triceratops, I would be much obliged....