Tiny stocking stuffers

Work from the toe up. The toe takes something about the size of a plum, a balm, a keyring, a resin figure, a tin, and everything above it can be a little wider. Four or five things fill a stocking without it bulging, and the standard shape is something to eat, something to use up, something to keep and something silly. The fifth is usually a keyring, because a keyring is flat and a stocking runs out of width long before it runs out of length.

What does not go in, whatever the packaging suggests: a mug, a boxed set with a rigid lid, a candle in a wide jar, anything in a gift bag. The rule of thumb that works is the postal one: if it would go in a padded envelope, it will go in a stocking. Everything on this page passes that test. If the stocking is for a small child, read the size line as well as the age on the packet: the pieces that fit the toe best are also the ones a toddler can put in a mouth.