You know what is the best thing about Christmas Day? My stocking. I love getting an overflowing stocking; it’s like being a kid all over again! I tell my mom every year that I still want my stocking, and the more stuffed to the gills or the more it overflows the better 🙂 I mean, not everything has to fit in the stocking right? It can have just way too much to fit in it, and still be called stocking stuffers 🙂 Yep, totally hinting at my mom here. So I decided to put together a list of Non-Traditional Stocking Stuffer Ideas for those people who are looking for ideas for the non-traditional person – or the kid who refuses to give up that stocking!

Homemade Gifts: No one turns down a homemade or handmade gift (and if they do then they don’t deserve it), so going old-school and making something is always an option. I love getting food – duh. But also colored pics from my niece and nephews, hats, scarves, anything.

Vegan & Gluten-Free Chex Mix: I love receiving homemade food gifts. Especially ones that I can snack on, and Chex Mix? OMG, it totally makes my Christmas! If you have all the stuff go for it – especially right now since Chex is on sale and there are coupons too!

Quilted Expressions: So my mom is the most amazing quilter – not only does she make quilts for babies, adults, and lap quilts for TV watching, she makes the cutest stuffed animals, Christmas wall hangings, t-shirt quilts, pillowcases – she also does monogrammed baby quilts! The perfect gift for the perfect new baby! Need something custom? She’ll do it. Head on over and check her site out – she is having an end of year Christmas sale right now until 1/2/2015 – just enter code “XMAS2014” at checkout.

Donations: Donations are the gifts that keep on giving. When you give money to the organizations that are meant to help others – no matter whether it’s humans, animals, the environment – you are not only giving of yourself but of others to help a good cause.

The Humane Society of the United States: This amazing organization takes in all animals, big or small, and tries desperately to find them homes. Now that some shelters are going no-kill they need our help – and it doesn’t have to be money, you can donate food too! – more than ever. And with the holidays upon us more people will be adopting and then giving back animals to shelters because they were more trouble than they thought.

Sierra Club: This organization cares about our outdoors – parks, mountains, any lakes or land you can think of. Not only our land but the animals on that land. They help to protect what we can’t or some won’t and they even helped to pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. They are truly awesome.

World Wildlife Fund: I love this organization. It isn’t one of the crazy ones that support movements or eco-terrorism, they are about helping to save our animals. It doesn’t matter where those animals are they want to help save them and the areas that they live.

Magazine Subscriptions: I don’t know about you, but I love books and magazines that I can hold in my hands. Turn pages. Crease corners. Call me old school, but I don’t have an ereader or iPad so real page turners are for me. And since I read all my magazines on fitness machines while working out they really do have to keep my attention.

Vegetarian Times Magazine: This magazine is not just for the vegetarian or vegan. They always have articles about what is freshest for that time of year, reviews of green items for body or home, stories, and of course recipes. I have been getting this magazine for over 10 years and it never gets old.

Clean Eating Magazine: I don’t discriminate in my magazines – I love all food magazines, but I really like this one because it helps me to think about eating clean, cutting sugar and processed foods and just keeping on track with myself.

Oxygen Magazine: This is like the elite of fitness magazines. The one I love to read but also feel intimidated from so I don’t subscribe. The ladies are fierce looking, all buff and making it look easy to lift all those heavy weights. But they also give new strength moves, different cardio routines, and healthy eating options and recipes.

My ultimate kitchen

Kitchen Stuff I would Love: Since I am a food blogger, I am always on the lookout for different things to make my life easier (besides money). But most of the time those easier things are expensive. I found some that aren’t too bad and are all things everyone might want.

Silpat Baking Mats: I haven’t ever used these but I have seen them used on the Food Network and they look cool.

Rolling Pin: I so need one. I forgot to bring the one I had back in San Antonio to DC with me and with the holidays here I can’t make and bake any of the recipes I have thought about.

Spiral Slicer: This is the newest “it” gadget out on the market. I don’t have one and didn’t really care about getting one, but it is kinda cool.

Colorful Trivet: I love this trivet – and I never really thought I would need one until I moved into the apartment and I have a ton of counter space and I have been using one of the two hand towels for hot stuff.

Sharp Knives: I have only one chopping knife that is two years old and has never been sharpened. I need another good one, especially since I hate cross-contamination – in flavor. I mean who wants garlicky apples?

Other Options:

Gift Cards: This one’s kind of a given. I mean everyone loves gift cards right? I especially love them because I can get what I want without having to worry about hurting someones feelings if a gift was received that didn’t fit or I didn’t like. But be sure to actually use the cards! I hate when people get gift cards but don’t use them – it’s kind of insulting to the people who gave them isn’t it? It was their hard earned money that bought the card so you could get what you want for yourself. but hey – feel free to give me your card. I’m not shy – I’ll use it. Here are some of my favorite stores: Barnes and Noble, Whole Foods, Ross, Marshall’s, Amazon, Target, Walmart, and the best – the nearest grocery store! I love grocery gift cards so I can get the food I need to keep up this site! The other awesome gift card is for the movies – it’s a luxury some (I) can’t afford.

One-Time Subscription Boxes: I have tried quite a few of the food subscription boxes. Some are way over-priced for what you get, and others say they have certain things then you get them and they are blah. Here are a few of my faves that I have gotten and really liked: Vegan Cuts – all vegan all the time and usually has gluten-free options in it; Graze is a true snack box – choose your snack and you get portioned little snack packs! (reward code: CCP2355XE); and Healthy Surprise – all healthy snacks that will keep you surprised with lots of different snack I hadn’t ever tried before! (affiliate links used)

Little Things:

Perfume (love getting!), earrings (my mom gives me a pair every Christmas) or other jewelry, soft yarn (to create soft and warm hats and scarves), Scratch-its (this is a must for every stocking; my mom gives my dad and I tickets and we spend the day scratching away), movies, Bath and Body Works candles (love them!), or really anything else that someone wants to put in it 🙂