7 Stocking Stuffer gift ideas under $10

It's that time of year - the holidays are officially upon us! Mariah Carey is rocking in full swing, and I'm trying to avoid WHAMageddon once again. (Mark and I survived it in 2019!)

Maybe you've gotten your big gifts out of the way, but you still need that little something for your mom's stocking, or your kid's teacher gift, or your work Secret Santa party. Maybe you want to support a small business because it feels better inside, but you don't want to spend a lot because, let's face it, inflation is high and wages are stagnant so your budget is stretched thin. I gotchu, babe.

7 stocking stuffer ideas under $10

1. Soap Savers

I've gone back and forth on what to call this item. It's a soap cozy, because it wraps around your bar of soap. It's a soap saver, because the cotton fibers "cling" to the soap when it dries, so you can easily use up a small nugget of soap. It's also a soap saver because you can use the drawstring to hang your soap from a hook, keeping it out of puddles on the shower shelf. It's a body scrubby, because you wash yourself with it. Whatever you want to call it, it's a great gift for the environmentally conscious person! No more plastic loofahs that wind up in the trash after they mold or fall apart. This soft cotton soap saver is machine washable, so it can be used over and over again, for many bars of soap to come! At only $6.50 each, you can even get that special someone a bar of soap and stay near or under that $10 price point!



2. Wash cloths

If you're looking for a spa or self-care theme for your gifts this year, wash cloths are another great idea! They're also made from the softest cotton I can find in stores, and they have a sliiiight texture to them for a very, very gentle exfoliation. It's gentle enough to use on your face, but textured enough to feel satisfying on the rest of the body. This gift can be used with either bar soap or liquid body wash, so it's an ideal if you don't know the soap preferences of the person you're shopping for. These are $10 each, but they are always BOGO half off - so if you buy two for $15, they drop to $7.50 each, and you've got two people covered for under $10 each!


3. Small drawstring bags

Primarily created to hold dice for tabletop gaming, these drawstring bags come in handy for a huge variety of uses! I have a whole separate blog post dedicated to using these bags here; the biggest holiday-themed idea is to use it as a gift card holder! You could also use it to hold a few small stocking stuffer items, such as candies or lip balm, if you don't want your recipient to have to dig all the way to the bottom for the little items. Plus, it automatically becomes a gift that they can reuse however they want to! At $8.48 each, they're a great way to add some pizazz to a small gift without having to break the bank.


(Note: only the small size is under the $10 price point. Since medium and large bags take more time and more yarn, they are a little more costly.)

4. Dish scrubbies

Okay, cleaning items aren't always the most exciting to everyone, but who doesn't love a good scrubber for the kitchen? These dish scrubbies are made from a super textured polyester yarn, so they're going to cut back on the amount of elbow grease it takes to get that caked-on food grime off of the dishes. And they're machine washable, so they don't have to be thrown away when they start to smell funny like regular sponges do! Dish scrubbies are always BOGO half off - so whether you buy one at $6 or two for $9, you're still staying well below the $10 price point! Better yet - buy two, and split the set among two people, so you're only spending $4.50 per person!



5. Dish cloths

The big sibling of my dish scrubbies and cousin of my wash cloths, dish cloths are made from the same soft cotton but with a more textured stitch. The waffle-like design adds more scrubbing ridges, so they're more scrubby than the wash cloths, but still softer than the dish scrubbies. This might be a great option for someone with sensory issues who might not like the feel of the textured scrubbies. The waffle stitch also makes the cloth thicker than the average wash cloth - thick enough to be a pot holder, if that's your preferred use! Whichever way you think your loved one will use them, dish cloths fall at the same price as the wash cloths: $10 each or 2 for $15. 


6. Catnip mice

Whether you're stuffing the stocking of your own cat (don't worry, I do it too!) or that of someone who has a cat, a mousey stuffed with catnip is a great idea! My own Beef Stroganoff loves his two mice - and he thinks that EVERY mouse I make is his, always able to sense the opening of the catnip jar from wherever he was in the house! It makes me feel like a bad cat mom, but I have to hide new mice from him when I make them to stock up on my inventory. If that isn't enough to sell you on a catnip mouse, then I suggest you watch a YouTube video of a cat playing with a catnip toy! At $9 each, catnip mice fall just under the $10 price point.



7. Cat bookmarks

Trust a cat lover to make gifts for other cat lovers! These kitty-shaped bookmarks come in six different colors, and they're just the cutest way to hold a page! At $6 each, this would make a fantastic gift for the cat-obsessed bookworm in your life. 



I would (naturally) make the argument that ANYthing from my Etsy shop is a good holiday gift idea, but this is it for the $10 and under items! You can find everything I make online, or if you're in the South Lyon, MI area, you can find me at the South Lyon Football Boosters Holiday Market on Saturday, December 2nd! I will have all of these stocking stuffer items with me, plus a majority of my full inventory.

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