In all the bustle of Christmas shopping, it’s easy to forget about the stockings hung by the chimney with care. But there’s something special about those sometimes simple, sometimes ornate stockings, and the tiny presents that fill them up.
You might not expect to load up with stocking-stuffer gifts at a grocery store, of all places, but Trader Joe’s has a sleigh full of carefully curated items that fit in a stocking and don’t drain your budget.
Here’s a look at some of them that I checked out this month. Note that the prices are what I paid at my local Trader Joe’s store in Seattle.
1. Taste Test of Caramels
Here’s my favorite TJ’s stocking stuffer. I bought so many boxes of these that the TJ’s cashier and I laughed about how we could possibly cram them all into one bag.
The Taste Test of Caramels is a box of 12 indulgent caramels in 12 different flavors — ranging from hot chili and Passionfruit to maple and gingerbread — all dipped in dark chocolate and all delicious. The fun is that you don’t know which is which until you taste them, though the flavors are noted inside the box.
For just $7.99, these make a fabulous teacher gift, and yes, they fit in a traditional Christmas stocking–though at 21 inches long, they will stick out, so wrap them if you want to keep them a secret.
2. Gummy bear-flavored lip set
My teen daughter can take or leave chocolate, but she’s in love with gummy bears. So of course I scooped up Trader Joe’s Gummy Bear Flavored Lip Duo for her stocking (and let her take a whiff of them early).
The attractively boxed gift consists of one 0.5-ounce tube of lip balm butter and one 0.35-ounce jar of overnight lip mask. Both are gummy bear-flavored, but my daughter said they smell more like blue raspberry Icees.
They make for a sweet stocking stuffer either way. The set sells for $6.99.
3. Chocolate-covered espresso beans
Got a coffee lover on your list? TJ’s Coffee Lover’s Espresso Beans is a 2.5-ounce bag of chocolate-dipped espresso beans that sells for $1.49.
They’re colorful, too. The darkest beans have a rich espresso taste, the medium-brown colored ones remind me of cappuccino, the tan ones taste like a caramel latte, and the speckled white ones have the mildest coffee flavor.
They make a great snack along with that oh-so-necessary first cup of coffee on Christmas morning.
4. Hand serum and hand cream set
Dry skin hits hard in winter, and TJ’s stylish Hand Serum & Cream Duo makes for a classy and practical stocking stuffer. Each tube contains a generous 2 ounces, and the set is priced at $9.99.
Your gift recipient won’t be bowled over by a strong smell. The hand serum is unscented, and the hand cream has just the lightest bergamot scent, meaning it smells only lightly of citrus.
5. Dark chocolate ‘orange’
If you haven’t tried orange and chocolate together yet, what are you waiting for? The distinct sharpness of citrus and the sweetness of chocolate meld together to form a real treat.
TJ’s Dark Chocolate Orange includes 5.11 ounces of orange-flavored, orange slice-shaped chocolates in a box that sells for $3.99. The “orange” breaks into 20 equal segments, just right for sharing.
And the tradition of finding an orange in one’s Christmas stocking dates back hundreds of years. American pioneer author Laura Ingalls Wilder rhapsodized in her Little House on the Prairie book series about the utter joy of finding the rare warm-weather fruit in her stocking on the cold December prairie.
6. Hydrating face mask
Now, here’s a stocking stuffer that slides into even the smallest Christmas stocking. TJ’s own single-use Hydrating Biocellulose Face Mask is just $2.99, and packaged in a colorful slender pouch.
It’s designed to smooth and moisturize dull, tired skin. You, or your gift recipient, may look like an alien wearing it, but that’s the price we pay for maximum hydration.
7. Oversize milk chocolate coin
The 3.12-ounce milk chocolate coin might be the most fun stocking gift I scooped up this year. It’s a generous five inches wide and wrapped in a strong shiny gold foil that’s decorated with a key, a heart, an anchor and the Trader Joe’s logo. The price is $2.49.
This one’s a great stocking stuffer for any chocolate lover in your life. But they’re going to have to either share it or eat it over a series of days, as it’s not exactly a single-serving size.
8. Candy cane-scented body scrub
If pumpkin is the unofficial scent and flavor of fall, peppermint is winter’s equivalent, especially around Christmas.
I’m not the world’s biggest mint fan, but Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Body Scrub is a winner with me because the mint scent isn’t nose-stabbingly sharp. It’s a gentle peppermint with hints of fresh icy snow and sugar. It’s priced at $6.99 for a generous 8-ounce tub.
9. Hot chocolate on a spoon
This might be the least-expensive stocking stuffer you can find, at just $1.29. Trader Joe’s Hot Chocolate Stirring Spoon is perfectly stocking-sized, too.
It’s a slender wooden spoon tucked into a generous block of solid chocolate that’s dotted with mini marshmallows. Your gift recipient uses it to stir an 8-ounce cup of hot milk, and eventually, it turns the milk into a DIY cup of cocoa, complete with marshmallows.
10. Hydrating bath fizzer
TJ’s honeycomb-styled Honey Hydration Bath Fizzer is perfect for anyone on your list who occasionally swaps a shower for a nice long soak in a bathtub.
Made with honey, cocoa butter and kaolin clay, it is designed to release a gentle honey fragrance as it fizzes away in the bath and leave your skin feeling soft and smooth. The 5-ounce fizzer costs $4.99.
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