Hey y'all! I'm so sorry for the skippy post schedule this week. I've got tons to share, so I'll make it up to you this week and next. Wanna see a glimpse of what I've been up to?

Holy stockings! Here's the deal, and part of the reason I've been MIA: We're hosting Christmas this year. Twice! This weekend, Bret's two sisters, two nieces, parents and grandmother will join us in Brooklyn for some merry making, and my family will descend upon us starting the 23rd. That's three sisters, one brother, a niece, a nephew, a brother-in-law, a boyfriend and two parents on my end. Somebody, get a partridge.

Soooo, we're prepping. I started with stockings. Bret, Louisa, West and I have stockings, but that left ten to hang somewhere with care. I did a little research-y, and it turns out anything multiplied by ten is pretty expensive...except for one. In this case, one is absolutely the best number. I found these gems at our local dollar store.

Christmas elegance, indeed. If you look closely, you can see the super cheap felt backing. But the front had potential.

Cute, no? This picture is a little wonky. Suffice it to say, it's a cheap dollar store stocking. I was thrilled to even find green ones among the sea of red, but I couldn't hang (literally or figuratively) with that cheesy ribbon. (The picture is actually showing the ribbon in a flattering light). Luckily, nothing this girl likes more than her glue gun, so I got out some decent ribbon that I've been hoarding, ripped off the red ribbon with some sharp scissors, and replaced it.

Pretty cute, right? I did a few different iterations of my enduring fave color combo: Green, black and white. Then I needed to hang them. As much as I'm still tempted by this little gel fireplace situation, we currently have no fireplace. So I figured a wall would have to do. To hang them, I spray painted a bunch of Command Hooks gold, and then laid out a strip of painters tape to measure my placement and make sure things were level-ish.

I added some red gift tags I've also been hoarding, hung a wreath above them to create a bit of a focal point, stuffed that fat little bird in the wreath because cuteness, and voila!

Tell me that's not some high class festivity.

Why all the freaking stockings?

Normally, my siblings and I do a White Elephant/Pollyanna/Secret Santa bastardization in which we all buy for one of us, and then we do a group gift for my parents. It's fine, but this year I came up with the brilliant idea to do stockings instead. Well, mostly Laura Ingalls Wilder came up with it: You know we're still obsessed with the Little House over at this little house, and they get all their presents in stockings.

For us, the idea is that I'll provide the stockings (check), and we'll all stuff them. Cheap is fine, handmade is encouraged, but some level of thought is hoped for. And I'm hoping everyone joins in on the fun. In my family, the women tend to do the Christmas presents, leaving poor Bret, Eric, Evan, Adam and Joe to simply enjoy receiving gifts. I don't want to leave them out of the fun any longer! But seriously, folks, I love this idea. Though adding stockings to a mess of Christmas presents makes for a lot of work on the gift giver's part, having them serve as the chief present receptacle is fun. Here are some of the ideas we've been tossing around:

Chocolate. Obviously. Make it fun with something local, something special, or by picking the Hershey's bar that best matches each of your recipients.
Lottery tickets. This one's a real winner.
Airport bottles of liquor. A gift I promise will get used.
Local goods. Since I'm hosting a very NYC Christmas, NYC ornaments, tee shirts and tchotchkes are all potential fodder.
Gloves or hats. I want a hat with a fur ball on top. Fake fur, but fur nonetheless. Handmade is a bonus.
Homemade rice crispy treats or dessert of your choosing.
Hot chocolate bags: Hot cocoa mix (homemade or otherwise...I may be using traditional Mexican hot chocolate tabs) cute marshmallows, maybe another bottle of liquor for good measure.
Gift cards. $5 at Starbucks or Wawa goes a long way, baby. Ditto Itunes (thanks, Mimi!)
Really nice pens. Not like, Mont Blanc, but great pens that write well. Throw in a small notebook or planner and you're adorable.
Nail polish. Couple with a decent file and a packet of remover wipes and you've just provided post-present opening entertainment. Half-decent travel razors and a small thing of (homemade?) shaving cream are a more dude-friendly option in a similar vein.
Socks. Look, socks are sort of a gimme, but they're totally fun, and it'd be fun to pick out a meaningful pair for everyone.
Homemade coupons. For babysitting, dishwashing, litter box excavation, alternate side car parking, co-op shift working, snow shoveling, waffle making, diaper changing, laundry washing. Just, you know, off the top of my head.
Small framed photos of the fam or the grandkids.
Hand-molded pots, hand-drawn sketches, hand-cut funky thrifted tee-shirts. Hand-tied fly fishing earrings. Surely, you have some talent that could be put to use here.
Knock off designer sunglasses. The more ornate the better, because sooner or later, they'll lose their real ones and have to wear 'em.
Magnets. Cool ones.
Coffee and tea. Sleeves of Nespresso, packets of Via, loose tea and a little tea ball or a jar of homemade chai mix would all be super welcome here.
Mix tapes. In your audio format of choice, of course, but a workout mix, commuting mix, study mix, podcast compilation or series of your fave Ted Talks on a CD or thumb drive or whatever would be awesome.

That's what I've got so far. I'd love love love to hear your ideas for clever stocking stuffers that are both thoughtful and appreciated but don't just devolve into the typical gift hemming and hawing on a (literally) smaller scale. And I should note that both my mom and Bret's are some pretty stellar stuffers, so a lot of these ideas came from them.

*One more note: Really sorry for all the typos in Friday's post! I know these are never error-free, but that one was egregious. Once I hear West start moving about at the end of nap time, apparently half my brain decamps. Lo siento! See you tomorrow.