Totally Biased Jim here with great kids stocking stuffers.  I was a kid once.  And I must still be a kid, because I could be pretty darn happy with any of these gifts.  I was keeping the gift price to under $25.  Yes, I know that a brand new flat screen TV would be a great stocking stuffer for your kid, but I had to set an arbitrary limit.  You know, a budget.  The word that the U.S. government hasn’t learned yet (Ouch!!!)

Anyway, here are your top 5 kids stocking stuffers.

Number 5

Birth Year Coin Set

What is more cool than getting money for Christmas. Why, it just might be getting money that has your birth year on it. These collectible gifts are coin sets have minted coins for your birth year and are made up of a one cent piece, a nickel, a dime, a quarter and a half-dollar. And they are nice and shiny. Most of the coins from my birth year are scratched and filthy and look like they have been run over. Pretty much the look I am going for every day.

Number 4

Earth Marbles

Cool gift…check. Under $25…check. Recycled material…check. Support charitable organization…check. Well, if that is your checklist, then this is the gift. Made from recycled glass, these beautiful marbles are different colored versions of the earth. And a portion of the sale go to wilderness education. Good gift for the kids, good gift for your conscience. After such a great gift, you can easily go a month of throwing away your plastic milk cartons without feeling any remorse.

Number 3

Sling Shot Frog

A plush frog with elastic arms allowing you, er, I mean allowing your kid to launch this toy 50 feet and more? Hell, with a distance like that, we could play drunken frog football Christmas afternoon. No, wait, I mean the kids could play. No wait, they wouldn’t be drunk…I mean…dammit! Fine, I am ordering two for me and not any for my kids. You caught me. So sue me.

Number 2

Waboba

The ball that bounces on water. Christmas is about Christ…Jesus walked on water… OK, maybe that is a little too much of a stretch to link the season to the Waboba water bouncing ball, but the toy is a heck of a lot of fun.

And the Number 1 kids stocking stuffer is:

Retro Candy

Everybody loves candy but now it is your turn to show your kids how great the candy was in your generation. Not the crap they make today. Why, in your day, candy was worth walking to the store in a driving snowstorm…two miles…uphill…both ways…in just your bare feet…on your way to school. Right, we get it, your generation was tougher and better. Now you can start to prove. Give your kids a taste of the sweet life from the past. They might actually start to think you were cool. Not enough to say it out loud, but they will think it.

Honorable Mention

Glow Brick

Some bored out of her mind engineer was sitting around and thought about how fun it would be to play with glow-in-the-dark material. The result is the Glow Brick, which is a light bulb full of glow-in-the-dark material, then it is encased in a clear acrylic cube. The light bulb sucks up light during the day and then glows green at night. At $35, this is a little pricey for the kids stockings. But I might have to purchase a little stocking stuffer for myself…

Totally Biased Jim here.  This is a bonus addition to the blog.  There are a lot, and I mean A LOT of good, basic stocking stuffers.  While you are trying to find some unique and fun ideas, here is just a sample of the types of gifts you can give to fill out that stocking.  Obviously, this is not a top 5 list, just a random list of numerous ideas for stocking stuffers for both kids and adults. My little gift to you!  I hope some of these ideas help.

Kids – General

• Coloring books/crayons
• Silly Putty
• Stamps and ink
• Stickers
• Tattoos
• Plastic miniature animals/bugs
• Small puzzles
• Face paint
• Bubbles
• Personalized pencils
• Holiday pencils
• Holiday erasers
• Disposable camera
• Books/bookmarks
• Playing cards
• Computer software
• Video games
• Stuffed animals
• Glow sticks
• Glow-in-the-dark ceiling stickers
• LEGO
• Play-Doh
• Rubik’s Cube
• Webkinz
• Yo-yo
• Novelty socks
• Watch
• Gift card for music or favorite store
• Gift certificate for movies
• Subscription to favorite magazine
• Christmas tradition – Orange chocolate ball, special ornament, Christmas snow globe, etc. Something that they can expect and begin to look forward to each year. My kids were not excited about the ornament they received the first year, but the next year, that was THEIR ornament to hang up and no one else was allowed to.
• Candy…and more candy!

Kids – Boys

• Action figures
• Matchbox cars
• Bouncing balls
• Marbles
• Swiss Army Knife

Kids – Girls

• Costume jewelry
• Hair items – barrettes, bows, headbands
• Compact mirror
• Wallet
• Facial products
• Manicure
• Arts and crafts set
• Body glitter
• Lip gloss

Adults

• CDs/DVDs
• iTunes gift card
• Gift cards (Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Sears, Best Buy, clothing stores, etc. There are gift cards for EVERYTHING!)
• Gift certificate for movies
• Candles
• Earrings or bracelets
• SD card
• Flash drive
• Lottery/scratch-off tickets
• Books/bookmarks
• Mini-booklight
• Stationery
• Leather gloves
• Key-chain flashlight
• Bath salts and spa items
• Cell phone accessories
• Memberships to a zoo or museum
• Golf balls or other hobby goodies
• Soaps
• Perfume/cologne
• Watch
• Picture frame
• Slippers
• Sunglasses case
• Gourmet coffee
• Wine/favorite alcohol
• Wireless mouse
• Novelty socks/novelty tie
• Subscription to favorite magazine
• Candy…and more candy!

Totally Biased Jim here with another riveting addition to my blog.

So, you are going to a white elephant party.  You know the people but you aren’t sure if you can get away with the gag gifts you normally bring.  You want to play it safe and you don’t want to spend too much money.  Oh, and you want people to like what you brought.  Here are some basic ideas that can help you give a great gift, give a good impression of yourself, and do it under $25.  Woo hoo!

Number 5: Wacky White Elephant

Seriously, if you are going to a white elephant party, then why not a gift that is completely about throwing a white elephant party?  This is a great upgrade over the classic white elephant party, with cards that have Christmas trivia, cards that create movement, and cards that make you perform.  It has the cards, the board, and the numbers you can draw to set the order of players.  This board game makes the white elephant party easy and fun! 

Number 4: Candles

Nicely scented seasonal candles, such as the Chestnuts Roasting candle, fall within the budget as well as bring out some of the Christmas smells we love.  Though, to be honest, I am not sure if I want to smell chestnuts roasting…but you get the idea. 

Number 3: Drink Recipe Book

Alcohol?!?!?!  That can get expensive!  A book explaining how to mix expensive alcohols, now that is a cheap gift everyone will use…till they can’t say “alcohol” anymore.  For example, “The Martini Book: 201 Ways to Mix the Perfect American Cocktail.”  All I can say is, ” Hells Yeah!”  Seriously, hells yeah!!!

Number 2: Glassware

Nice glassware, such as the Cosmopolitan Cocktail Glasses, are very nice to give.  They have a classy and sleek design.  These glasses look good at any party and are good for both cosmopolitans or martinis.  Or both…  Especially if someone else brings a drink recipe book.

And the number 1 generic white elephant gift is…

Disney M&Ms

Chocolate.  Can I get AMEN!  And you get to eat your favorite Disney characters.  I am sure Freud would have a field day with you!  Actually, not with you, but with the person that just HAD to steal the gift for the final time.  This is a great gift that everyone would be happy to be stuck with and it will be the unique gift that has people thinking you aren’t so bad and they might invite you back.  Now if they just get your martini-soaked self out from under their kitchen table and get you in a cab, they can call this a successful party. 

Honorable Mention: “Classic” movies

If you are my age, then 80s movies hold a special appeal.  Fun and funny movies that hold many memories.  Think about the group you are going to be around and pick two or three movies to package together.  The people I hang out with would love The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Stripes.  These are movies they might not buy for themselves because they haven’t thought of the movies in years, but they will get a kick out of owning them.  OK, maybe it is just me that would love owning them and now you know it.  So bring these to my next party!

Totally Biased Jim here asking, who doesn’t love trivia?  OK, maybe a lot of people.  I, however, am one of those goofy people who can’t remember an important birthday (sorry Mom) but I can remember that the color yellow is anathema to the Green Lantern or that the Olympic and Britannic are sister ships of the Titanic.

Here are my top 5 Christmas trivia questions.  Answers included for free!

Number 5:

Which President first decorated the Christmas tree at the white House and which one banned them?

Sorry for the double, but both bits of trivia were interesting and I just had to combine them into my number 5 trivia question.

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States, served from 1853 to 1857, and he is the only President from New Hampshire.  He was also the first president who had a Christmas tree in the White House.  Can we blame him for the marketing blitz that is Christmas now?

Teddy Roosevelt

Franklin Pierce may have started it, but in the early 1900s Theodore Roosevelt stopped it…sort of.  Teddy was the 26th President in the Oval Office.  He was a staunch conservationist and had banned Christmas trees in his home, including the White House.  Not to be deterred, his children covertly brought them into their own bedrooms.  Don’t get between a kid and their Christmas tree.  Ever.

Number 4:

What was the “ruling name” of the United States Supreme Court decision in court challenges over the separation of church and state during the holiday season?

In the 1980s, we needed the Supreme Court to examine the public displays of religious symbols at Christmas time.  The Supreme Court decided that it was OK to have religious decorations as long as there were non-religious symbols as well.  Having Santas and elves mixed in with the God stuff makes it clear that the offending government entity is not supporting a religious agenda.  This ruling began being called the “Reindeer Rule” or the “Three Reindeer Rule”.  The mathematical formula to calculate whether the rule is being followed is 3R = N.  Spelled out, that is 3 Reindeers equals 1 Nativity scene.

Number 3:

What country did the poinsettia come from?

A highly popular Christmas plant in the U.S., we obviously brought over this botanical beauty from England, or it came from our Canadian neighbors.  Where else would such a colorful wintertime plant come from? 

Well, it comes from the wintery climes of Mexico.  The plant originated near present day Taxco de Alarcón (normally just called Taxco).  The Aztecs cultivated the plant that was used to make dye and as a medicine for fever.

The poinsettia’s name is Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd.  It was brought to the U.S. in 1825.  The first U.S. ambassador to Mexico was a botanist and was visiting Taxco when he saw the plants on the hillside.  He sent samples back to his home and began growing them. They grew well and so he began distributing them.  From this humble beginning, it has become the most popular flowering potted plant in America.  All because an ambassador to Mexico, one Joel Roberts Pointsett, walked that Taxco hillside.

Number 2:

Candy Canes – Seriously, where the heck did that idea come from?

Ever want to shut a kid up?  Nothing goes farther than sugar.  They knew that 350 years ago as well.  Back then, hard, straight sugar sticks that were completely white were made by many candy makers.  Sounds like a “kid, shut yer trap” idea if there ever was one.

The church thought so too.  The story goes that, in 1670, a church choirmaster in Germany bent the sugar sticks to look like a shepherd’s staff.  These were given to kids to shut them up, er, I mean to help them make it through the long Christmas services by giving them a reminder of Jesus as the shepherd of our souls. 

Since those damn kids can’t sit still during the enlightened glory of God’s word, priests began using the candy cane bribe effectively and the practice spread across Europe and America.

Supposedly, in 1847, another German named August Imgard began to decorate his Christmas tree with candy canes.  Did that introduce the idea to Americans?  Who knows, but the practice persists.

They don’t know who added the stripes to the canes.  All we know is that Christmas cards before 1900 had plain white canes and after 1900 cards started showing up with stripes.

So we can thank a church choirmaster for the cane shape and we can thank a Catholic priest for mass production.  Gregory Keller created the machine that mass produced the candy cane for his brother-in-law.  Father Keller’s invention made his brother-in-law rich and a lot of kid’s quiet in church.

Interesting Tidbit #1:  We can also thank Germany for the invention of Christmas tinsel (which was originally silver and would tarnish) and artificial Christmas trees, which were metal wires or wood covered in bird feathers that were often colored green to look like a pine tree. 

The artificial tree was created in the late 1800s.  In the 1930s, the Addis Brush Company created the artificial brush tree using the machines that were normally used to create their toilet brush line.  “Ma, we got company coming over and this bathroom is filthy.”  “Well, Pa, just break a branch off the artificial tree and get that toilet bowl scrubbed!  Oh, and use some Pine-Sol to get it Christmas-y clean.”

And the number 1 Christmas trivia question is…

Why was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer created?

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.  A memorable song and a Christmas special that is played on the TV every year.  I have great childhood memories of this…advertising gimmick.

Montgomery Ward had been paying for Christmas coloring books and handing them out every year as a promotion.  They figured it was cheaper to create their own books, so they had one of their own workers create the story.  Robert L. May was the advertising copywriter who created the tale in 1939.  

Rudolph was originally going to be Rollo, then Reginald, but the author thought they names were “too jolly” and “too British” respectively.  So Rudolph was the final choice.  Seems like a good one, since we the name is burned into our conscience.

Even better, the red-nose did not almost make it into the story.  Montgomery Ward execs were afraid the red-nose would be associated with being drunk.  May had to get a friend in the art department to draw Rudolph so that he didn’t look wasted.  Apparently, the guy was good, because the exec’s allowed it to go through.

Also of interest, May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks was the person who wrote the highly successful Rudolph song.  Ironically, no one would publish the song when it was written, so Marks created the St. Nicholas Music Publishing Company.  Then he was able get Gene Autry (who didn’t even like the song) to sing it.  25 million copies later, it is the second best-selling Christmas songs of all time, only behind “White Christmas”.

Interesting Tidbit #2:  Our buddy Gene Autry (singing cowboy) was a big force in the Christmas recording business.  Not only did he record “Rudolph”, but also “Frosty the Snowman”, and co-wrote/recorded “Here Comes Santa Clause”.  What a bad-ass!

Here is a good list of the 25 most performed holiday songs.  You can access it at Top 25 Christmas Hits.

Interesting Tidbit #3:  Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins heard Rudolph and thought, “Those Rudolph guys are making cash.  We could write something that stupid and we want to make a lot of money too.”  So they settled on a snowman, gave him human characteristics, and thus, Frosty the Snowman was born.  And, in the sprit of making Rudolph-type money, they even got Gene Autry to sing the song.  Toot-Toot!  I hear the money train a-comin’!

In my research I came across…

Interesting Tidbit #4:  So, when I was fifteen and starting high school, I was popping pimples and hoping I’d get a date by, well, my senior year. 

All the way back to the 17^th century (just before most of us were born) Christmas trees were lit with candles.  A practice that was pretty…dangerous.  In the late 1800s, trees were starting to be lit by electricity.  In 1917, Albert Sadacca used the inspiration of the Christmas candle to create the electric Christmas light. 

By adapting these safe electric lights with different colors, Albert created lights that would start a multi-million dollar business.  With that kind of money, he could buy his own car.  Oh, wait, he could buy it but he couldn’t drive it yet because he was only fifteen when he created these lights.

He probably got a date before his senior year…

Quick Bits of Trivia

This site has some pretty good Christmas trivia.

Here are some good ones from this site:

• Jingle Bells” was first written for Thanksgiving and then became one of the most popular Christmas songs.
• Holly berries are poisonous.
• If you received all of the gifts in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, you would receive 364 presents.  But do you really need that many lords a leaping?
• The first state to recognize the Christmas holiday officially was Alabama.

 Here is another good Christmas trivia site.

Hope you liked the trivia.  Stay tuned for more Top 5 Christmas lists.

Number 5:

Employee Trivia Game

This site had a couple of good ideas (Christmas music trivia) and some lame ideas (A Kevin Bacon 6 degrees of separation game with no Christmas relevance at all).  But the best was the Employee Trivia Game.

In this game, everyone in the company submits in one or two trivia tidbits about themselves.  The trivia must be related to Christmas, winter, or the holidays.  For example, “I go caroling every year.”  Take a trivia item for each person and put it in one column on a page and then another column with the employee names paired with letter or a number.  During the party, each person gets to complete the trivia survey and, obviously, the one with the most correct answers wins.

You could even make it so that employees can visit with each other and ask one question per person to try to help figure out the answers and, in the process, learn a little about their co-workers.

Number 4:

Ho Ho, Hold Your Tongue!

This is a good game to get people talking and listening.  Each player has a gift bag with the same amount of little goodies and small favors. Your goal is to catch others saying certain words, such as Santa, Christmas, or Reindeer. When you catch them, they have to give one of their goodies.  The person with the most goodies at the end of the game is the big winner.

Number 3:

Gift Wrapping

You are partnered up, hopefully with Becky from Accounting, and you are given the items to wrap a present (tape, paper, ribbon, scissors, etc.)  All the two of you have to do is wrap a present…with one arm around the other person.  So, one person uses their left hand, the other person uses their right hand, and everyone else laughs as you fumble around trying to wrap a present.  The first pair to neatly wrap the present is the winner.  Hopefully your partner wears deodorant!

Number 2:

Santa Dress-Up

You need material like red crepe paper and black construction paper for this game.  People are assigned to a team and the team picks one sucker to be Santa.  With the material given, you must make a Santa suit for your Santa in a specified period of time.  Lots of fun and really bad Santa suits are a given.  But some suits just might surprise you.  Check out the website for some pretty impressive Santa suits.

And the Number 1 office Christmas party game is……

Wacky White Elephant!

Everyone has been to a white elephant party (also known as a Yankee Swap, Left-Right Gift Exchange, Secret Santa…).  Nothing new there.  My boss throws a white elephant gift exchange every year and there is no swapping.  But then, maybe everybody wants the party to end quickly.

Anyway, this game makes the regular white elephant seem tame.  The creators obviously put a lot of thought into it.  They made it into a board game that can support up to 50 players.  Hell, it even has mistletoe!

What makes the game unique are the playing cards. There are cards that have Christmas trivia, cards that create movement of the gifts, and cards that make you sing or act for your gifts.

It creates lots of fun.  It would even force those at my boss’ party to have a little fun.  Of course, a little alcohol and photocopies of someone’s butt couldn’t hurt either…

P.S. It should be stated that EVERY site had some of the same games over and over.  Such as the following:

• Christmas charades
• Christmas bingo
• Christmas trivia
• Christmas carol trivia
• Christmas movie trivia
• Christmas name that tune
• The Stocking Game  (find the site on page 1 or page 2 that explains this well)
• Who am I? (a Christmas character is pinned to the back of each person.  Everyone asks yes/no questions to try to learn what their character name is.)

These games, and several others are repeated on many sites. These are all good Christmas party games.  For this blog, I was just looking for some games  that were a bit different.

Hope you like my suggestions.  Check back every now and then for my completely biased, expertly researched (in one hour or less), highly scientific (I was drinking when I did this, does that count as a double blind study?) Top 5 Christmas list.