Never Grow Up at Christmas with Pre-Filled Stockings

Everyone knows Christmas is the most magical when you are a little kid. Believing in Santa. The school Nativity. Presents. The build up that seems to last forever and the excitement; so much you really do think you will burst. I used to get so excited, I ended up ill! Always drove my Mum potty.

Once you have kids it really is lovely to start to experience the magic of Christmas through their eyes. You also start to realise how much work it is as a parent. You not only want to make your kids happy but the rest of your family and try to have a brilliant day.

I find this the hardest part, as the big kid in me still wants to be a kid! Hubby asks me every year what I would like and every year, I ask for the same. Lots of small things so I have lots to unwrap! My Mum tended to go nuts when we were little. Although we did not have lots of expensive presents, we did get a lot of small things and tended to have so many presents to open on Christmas morning. I love the morning, chilling in your PJs, presents everywhere, your kids buried in wrapping paper.

One of the biggest stresses for me as an adult now, is buying presents for the girls and my hubby. I often find it hard to be imaginative and creative. If I know they want something, it is easy to choose. I rarely ever get my hubby surprises as I always worry he won’t like my choices (though he usually does!).

I love the idea of combining surprises with my big kid love of opening a tonne of presents on Christmas morning. To help with my plan is Hawkin’s Bazaar who to my utter delight produce a variety of stockings for both sexes and for different ages.

My Hubby

I chose a male adult stocking and was very keen to see what he would be getting. The stocking retails at £25.99 and contains at least £50 worth of gifts, so there is a 50% saving.

Inside the stocking was a complete mix of goodies with words like random, original and downright funny coming to mind. My highlights for hubby was a tattoo sleeve, jelly alcoshots and emergency pants in a keyring. I had a really good giggle pulling everything out of the stocking.

You can see more from the pictures below.

Although some of the contents were very quirky, I really liked it. I would have NEVER thought of any of the contents as ideas for presents at all and I know my hubby will love unwrapping some of the gifts. It will make Christmas morning much more original and fun.

Another idea for the stocking is using it for a secret Santa at work; everyone contributes and gets a fun gift.

My Eldest

For my eldest girly, I chose a girl stocking for ages 3 plus. It looks very similar from the outside to the adult version with obviously very different content. These also retail at £25.99.

What I liked about this stocking is, although it was marked for girls, a lot of the contents were quite unisex. There were some fab gifts including a soft toy, a mini game of noughts and crosses, scented play dough, puzzles, wind up toys and bath toys.

I knew my gremlin would have a great time unwrapping and looking through everything. Some of the gifts would be perfect for saving for rainy days or trips!

Overall

I was really impressed with these stockings from Hawkins. They are good value and save a lot of time. Although the contents are quite eclectic, especially for the adult male one, there are original gifts I would never buy. They are therefore fun, original and would be a complete surprise!

Definitely worth checking out this Christmas!

Disclosure – we were provided with these stockings from Hawkins free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.