50 Wirecutter-Approved Stocking Stuffers for Adults

Baggu Puffy Glasses Sleeve

Keep your glasses scratch-free with this puffy, machine-washable case made from 100% recycled materials.

Buying Options

$17 from Baggu

The cute Baggu Puffy Glasses Sleeve comes in a bunch of colors and patterns (including Snoopy!). It accommodates glasses from nose-perching librarian readers to Italian movie-star sunnies, and it has a magnetic closure to keep them from escaping.

Taza Oaxacan Sampler

Organic cacao beans are stone-ground into bolder, grittier, and more nuanced chocolate than usual. This four-pack contains plain, guajillo chili, cinnamon, and vanilla flavors.

Buying Options

$49 from Taza Chocolate

Once you try the Taza Oaxacan Sampler—intense, intriguing, rustic—you may never go back to smooth, ultraprocessed chocolate again.

Scotch Expressions Washi Tape

This colorful, patterned washi tape is made from strong synthetic acrylic and makes wrapping, journaling, and wall-hanging a lot snazzier.

Buying Options

$13 from Amazon

$14 from Walmart

Packs of Scotch Expressions Washi Tape come with eight rolls of varying widths and designs. Break them up and divide the rolls among the stockings. The adhesive is sticky enough to stay put, with no lifting or residue, and the packs come in lots of colors plus metallics, glitters, and patterns.

Bread Elastic Shoelaces

These stretchy shoelaces can turn almost any laced shoe into a slip-on. They’re available in six sizes and nine colors, but they may not be easy for everyone to slip on and off.

Buying Options

$10 $8 from Amazon

You save $2 (20%)

$10 from Walmart

Turn even the snuggest high-tops into slip-on sneakers with these elasticized laces. The Bread Elastic Laces come in four lengths and five colors.

Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath Salts

This simple, therapeutic bath soak (made with alkaline sodium bicarbonate, mustard seed powder, and astringent botanical oils) is both soothing and invigorating.

Buying Options

$10 from Amazon

Regardless of your stance on Ayurvedic claims, a restorative soak in Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath Salts will be simultaneously soothing and energizing. While your muscles relax in a hot bath of the salt-mustard blend, its eucalyptus, rosemary, and wintergreen aroma will awaken the senses.

Kristin Ess Mini French Pins

These simple, U-shaped hairpins keep even the thinnest, most slippery hair tucked into a bun or twist.

Buying Options

$10 from Amazon

The Kristin Ess Mini French Pins are a classic for a reason: They work. Wirecutter senior engineering manager Polina Grinbaum says, “The style is so simple, but the size, shape, and finish are effortlessly elegant. Even though the pins have no teeth, they hold so well, I have even slept in them!”

Skippy Cotton Lavender Scented Tokens

These handmade sachet ornaments—based on the illustrations of creator Emma Mierop—are stuffed with organic cotton and lavender.

Buying Options

$24 from Skippy Cotton

Yes, they’re pricey, but Skippy Cotton’s Lavender Scented Tokens are based on original illustrations, have a whimsical fairy-tale quality, and are meant to hang in plain sight rather than get tucked away in a drawer.

Art of Play Yosegi Playing Cards

The backs of these playing cards feature yosegi, a symmetrical and repeating design from Japanese marquetry.

Buying Options

$29 from Amazon

$18 from Art of Play

Yosegi, a type of Japanese marquetry, involves pattern-making from intricate wood veneers. The backs of the Art of Play Yosegi Playing Cards feature an intricate, mosaic-like design, turning gameplay into artful meditation. The custom-designed face cards complement the yosegi look.

Yamato Sticky Notes Memoc Roll Tape

Choose your own note-size adventure with these tear-off rolls of sticky note paper, which come come lined or with a grid pattern.

Buying Options

$9 from Amazon

Everyone loves sticky notes—except when they are either too small for the entire grocery list or too big for making margin notes. Now your loved one can Goldilocks their sticky notes to get them just right. The bright-yellow Yamato Sticky Notes Memoc Roll Tape comes with a refillable tape-like dispenser with tearing teeth. The entire back side of the 2-inch-wide tape is lightly adhesive but easily removable.

Herb & Earth Palo Santo

These packages contain five 4-inch Peruvian palo santo sticks, which are ideal for scenting a room. They light and extinguish readily and smell transcendent.

Buying Options

$8 from Etsy

Palo santo trees grow in abundance in South America, and people have enjoyed the wood’s perfumed smoke for thousands of years. Simply light one of these sticks, allow a 30-second flame, and blow it out to release the fragrant smoke.

Zerodis Needle Type Wine Bottle Opener

Pierce the cork with the food-grade metal needle on this lightweight, 5.5-inch bottle opener and give it a few pumps; the pressure dislodges the cork effortlessly.

Buying Options

$11 from Amazon

Simply insert this aluminum-alloy needle into the center of a cork and give it a few pumps, and out pops the cork, just like magic. Staff writer Samantha Schoech was introduced to the Zerodis Needle Type Wine Bottle Opener at a dinner party, where the host showed it off proudly. She has since given one to her husband, who is equally tickled.

ChainsOnly Custom Audio Scan Keychain

You can order this 2-inch stainless steel keychain with a scannable barcode that pulls up a Spotify song or playlist of your choice.

Buying Options

$7 from Etsy

Simply send in the URL of a song or playlist from Spotify, and the Etsy seller ChainsOnly will engrave a code onto a stainless steel Custom Audio Keychain that your giftee can then scan for playback on their phone.

Somatchi Women’s Sheer Socks

These striking, semi-sheer lower-calf-length socks—topped by a solid band of contrasting color—shimmer with a low-key iridescent sparkle. But they come only in a single size (for women’s sizes 5 to 8).

Buying Options

$10 from Somatchi

Somatchi Sheer Socks are soft and slinky, with a subtle shimmer and a sexy sheerness. These beauties come up to around the lower calf, and they’re made of an itch-free fabric blend that includes polyamide, polyester, and cotton, with a reinforced toe.

Be Home Gold Corn Holders Ears

These golden corn holders come in the shape of ears. They are pleasantly solid in the hand and are sure to get laughs from punsters everywhere.

Buying Options

$17 from Be Home

Golden ears to hold your golden ears might be the ultimate dad joke, but the funny Be Home Gold Corn Holders Ears have an undeniable elegance, too. Plus, they’re much easier to grip than the usual flimsy plastic cobs.

Glocusent Bookmark Style Reading Light

This chic and compact device offers the most light settings of all our picks, and its power indicator lets you know when to charge it.

Buying Options

$15 $10 from Amazon

Use promo code WIRECUTTER11

$16 from Walmart

Our favorite reading light has a bendy, swiveling head, and it provides multiple levels of brightness and three colors of light, from blue to amber. The Glocusent Bookmark Style Reading Light is tiny, lightweight, and designed to plug right into a USB port for charging.

Yellow Owl Workshop Dutch Oven and Kosher Salt Earrings

These clever, conversation-worthy mismatched cloisonné studs are hypoallergenic, and they come in a stocking-ready glass tube.

Buying Options

$24 from Yellow Owl Workshop

Yellow Owl’s droll, themed-but-mismatched cloisonné earring sets are gilded in 22-karat gold and have hypoallergenic posts. The Dutch-oven-and-kosher-salt pair is perfect for an ardent home cook, but we also love the paste-and-scissors and taco-and-hot-sauce pairs.

Tops Malibu Deluxe Surprise Ball

Unwrap this colorful crepe-paper apple to reveal a small gift—temporary tattoos, candy, noisemakers, and other small trinkets—within each layer.

Buying Options

$25 from Piecework Puzzles

$25 from Tops Malibu

As your giftee unravels the crepe-paper Tops Malibu Deluxe Surprise Ball apple, they are rewarded with a dozen small treasures, from fortune fish to candy to temporary tattoos to gems. The only problem: It’s almost too cute to unwrap.

Deein Sewing Scissors (4.1-inch)

These scissors offer sharp, pointy blades made with high-carbon steel and an easy-to-hold, squeezable handle.

Buying Options

$7 from Amazon
(pack of three)

The teeny steel Deeinn 4.1-inch Sewing Scissors are super sharp and perfect for snipping errant threads and frayed edges. They come in a set of three, so everyone in the family can have their own pair.

Viviva Colors Travel Watercolor Set

Each flip-style notebook of watercolor paints contains 16 color squares on eight pages, plus a paper palette for mixing.

Buying Options

$19 from Amazon

The Viviva Colorsheets are great for traveling and totally biodegradable, and each notebook-like pack comes with water-repellent sheets between the pages, to prevent the paints from sticking. Simply wet a brush, dab it onto the paint square, and get creative.

Retro Point & Shoot Camera Phone Converter

This small, lightweight phone attachment creates a shutter and makes your phone feel and operate like an actual point-and-shoot camera.

Buying Options

$25 from Uncommon Goods

Attach the Retro Point & Shoot Camera Phone Converter to your smartphone to change it into a throwback-style point-and-shoot complete with a mechanical shutter button and a comfy, chunky grip.

Hawkins New York Lurex Sponges

Don’t let these three sparkly scrubbing sponges fool you. They may be great-looking, but they’re also effective at tackling for dish jobs big and small.

Buying Options

$6 from Urban Outfitters

$6 from Hawkins New York

Okay, so cleaning supplies may not be high on most Christmas lists, but the sparkly Lurex Sponges—disco sponges, really—get the job done and brighten up necessary chores.

Geometrical Pocket Tripod Pro

When folded, this origami-like phone mount fits into a wallet’s credit card slot.

Buying Options

$40 from Amazon

$40 from Pocket Tripod

The Geometrical Pocket Tripod Pro is a cell phone mount that, when folded, fits into a wallet’s credit card slot. When your shutterbug is ready to take a photo that needs a little extra stability, they simply twist it horizontally and flip up the sides, and it’s ready to go.

Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment

For people who favor a thick, glazed look and feel, this creamy, squeeze-tube formula provides a lot of moisture and shine.

Buying Options

$45 from Rhode

At first squeeze, Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment feels and looks like lip gloss rather than balm—shiny, pillowy, and viscous. But then it absorbs, leaving lips gleaming, supple, and maybe just a tad tacky.

Noshinku Hand Sanitizer

This flat, pocket-friendly hand sanitizer comes in sophisticated scents like vetiver, eucalyptus, and bergamot. And it’s refillable.

Buying Options

$23 from Amazon
(pack of three)

$9 from The Container Store

The lovely-smelling Noshinku Hand Sanitizer is an FDA-compliant germ-killer that also contains jojoba, rosehip, argan oil, and aloe to keep skin from drying out. Each canister is refillable and small enough to slip into a back pocket or purse.

Marvling Bros Kawaii Cross Stitch Kit in a Matchbox

This teensy cross-stitch kit comes with everything you need to create a cute smiling hot dog, and it’s all packaged in a matchbox.

Buying Options

$7 from Etsy

The diminutive Marvling Bros Kawaii Cross Stitch Kit in a Matchbox is cleverly packed with embroidery threads, a tapestry needle, a small piece of aida cloth, and instructions. Your loved one will end up with a teeny smiling hot dog (or mushroom, rainbow, or taco) on a 6.5-centimeter backing.

Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester

This zester has sharp teeth and a narrower face, so you can reach every nook and cranny on a lemon or a cheese rind.

Buying Options

$18 from Amazon

$18 from Walmart

$18 from Sur La Table

Finishing touches—lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, a sprinkle of nutmeg—often call for a zester for easy, fine grating. The Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester is our pick because it has super-sharp teeth and is easy to maneuver (no complicated handles or turning parts).

Vwmyq Silicone Face Scrubber

This inexpensive silicone face scrubber offers a quick, comfortable way to clean your face, with no washing, wringing, or batteries required.

Buying Options

$8 from Amazon

The Vwmyq Silicone Face Scrubber has dozens of tiny “fingers” that not only feel great but also find their way into creases and crevices for a thorough clean. It also ages like well-cared-for skin: Senior staff writer Brent Butterworth writes, “I’ve been placing the scrubber fingers-down on the shower caddy for 20 months now, and it’s still free of soap scum and mildew.”

The Original Tinned Fish Candle

This tinned-fish candle peels open like the real thing. When lit, it smells like a bracing ocean breeze.

Buying Options

$26 from Etsy

The exquisite packaging of The Original Tinned Fish Candle, from Etsy seller dashaflowerhead, is a big part of its charm. It looks like a chichi tin of European sardines, but it’s actually a cute little fish candle that smells like salt, olive oil, and a fresh breeze (with zero fishy notes).

Luxardo Original Maraschino Cherries

These maraschino cherries have been made in Italy for over 100 years, and they seriously elevate any cocktail game.

Buying Options

$23 from Amazon

Luxardo’s Original Maraschino Cherries are soaked in Luxardo marasca cherry syrup, and through a process of pasteurization, time, and something akin to magic, these deep red, flavorful, beautifully textured beauties are born.

Swedish Dream Sea Salt Soap

This dense, mineral-infused soap contains salt crystals for exfoliation, and it emits a pleasant marine scent.

Buying Options

$10 from Walmart

May be out of stock

$22 from Amazon
(pack of three)

Shaped like a little white puck, Swedish Dream Sea Salt Soap is infused with sloughing salt crystals that leave skin both clean and soft. This cult-favorite soap (which, despite its name, is made in the US) has a subtle, fresh scent, and because it’s dense with minerals, it lasts a lot longer than most bar soaps.

Ovener Silicone Luggage Tag

This brightly colored silicone case displays the luggage owner’s name, but it keeps other personal information out of sight.

Buying Options

$8 from Amazon
(pack of two)

The Ovener Silicone Luggage Tag is our top pick for the best luggage tag overall. It displays the luggage owner’s name but keeps other personal information concealed, and the bright orange color helps to resolve luggage-carousel confusion.

Five Drinks Co. Margarita

Along with notes of guava and grapefruit, the addition of hibiscus makes this margarita distinctly fruity. Slightly sweet, tart, and earthy, it’s made to drink straight from the can.

Buying Options

$11 from Total Wine & More

Even though Five Drinks Co. Margarita has a fruity hibiscus flavor, it doesn’t deviate too much from the traditional flavor profile of a margarita. That’s confirmed in its straightforward ingredients list: tequila, triple sec, lime juice, hibiscus, and habanero agave nectar. They come in four-packs, so feel free to break them up and toss one in each adult stocking. If your loved one prefers a Moscow mule, Five Drinks Co. also makes our pick for that cocktail.

Nanoblock Sulphur-Fishbowl Cat

Flat bags packed with tiny building blocks keep bored hands and minds occupied without digital crutches. The resulting model is about the size of a fist.

Buying Options

$9 from Amazon

Nanoblock sets—including the Sulphur-Fishbowl Cat—are great for busying fingers and minds without digital interference. Each set consists of about 150 pieces and has a difficulty level of two on a scale of one to five. The sets come with detailed directions, and the resulting models are between 2 and 5 inches tall.

Reusable Swedish Dishcloths

Washable, compostable, and quick-drying, each colorful reusable cloth takes the place of about 17 rolls of paper towels.

Buying Options

$7 from Free the Ocean

Made from wood cellulose and cotton, these Reusable Swedish Dishcloths arrive crispy as rice crackers. But once you wet them, they transform into light, spongy dishcloths that can absorb 20 times their weight in water. You can rinse them, wring them out, and reuse them like a sponge, and they’re available in 45 cheerful prints.

Studio Roof Robin Ornament

This cheerful hanging robin, which is made from 100% recycled paper and vegetable inks, takes about 15 seconds to assemble.

Buying Options

$10 from Studio Roof

Studio Roof uses 100% recycled paper and vegetable inks to make 3D paper designs of various birds, animals, and even boats and planes. The resulting sculptures are bright, beautiful creations that arrive flat and ready to assemble (as easy as fitting marked slots together).

Kikkerland Extendable Back Scratcher

This surprisingly handy telescoping back scratcher extends to about 20 inches to target all of those hard-to-reach itches.

Buying Options

$8 from Kikkerland

Impossible itches are no match for the Kikkerland Extendable Back Scratcher and its telescoping handle. Closed, this scratcher measures only about 3 inches, but it extends to nearly 20.

Hero Cosmetics Mighty Patch Original Patch

These translucent hydrocolloid stickers aid pimple healing by absorbing fluid and protecting the blemish from bacteria.

Buying Options

$13 from Amazon
(36 patches)

$9 from Walmart
(24 patches)

$13 from Ulta
(36 patches)

Rather than hiding—and prolonging—an errant pimple under loads of concealer, your giftee can heal it with the Hero Cosmetics Mighty Patch. The tiny hydrocolloid (a polymer compound that’s used in wound healing) rounds deflate unsightly whiteheads and help prevent below-the-surface pimples from erupting.

Green Bell G-1205

These clippers are razor-sharp, feel sturdy in the hand, and look sleek and strong.

Buying Options

$24 from Amazon

Seki Edge SS-112

These are the exact same stainless steel clippers, under a different name.

Buying Options

$25 from Amazon

$24 from Walmart

Yes, the person whose stocking you’re stuffing already has nail clippers. But do they have the best nail clippers? Wirecutter has tested 10 pairs over five years, and we even interviewed a podiatrist, so we’re confident in recommending the Green Bell G-1205 Nail Clippers.

Fhzytg Loupe Magnifier

Though this stainless steel loupe is only 2.5 inches wide, its glass lens offers 10x magnification—just enough to get detailed, but not so much as to render specimens unrecognizable.

Buying Options

$7 from Amazon

Curious loved ones will enjoy using a loupe magnifier, an ideal tool for inspecting all manner of flora and fauna. This model offers 10x magnification, which is plenty; any more, and your own heartbeat shakes the lens too much for you to really see anything. The metal housing stands up to drops and dings, and the glass lens offers a clearer picture than plastic versions.

Sugarfina Candy Deals

Peek into the digital bargain bin of this fancy confectioner.

Buying Options

Buy from Sugarfina

Sugarfina, a Los Angeles–based candy company, makes the prettiest, tastiest gummies, including adult-friendly Rosé All Day Gummy Bears. Unfortunately, though, the price can be prohibitive. Luckily, Sugarfina regularly offers discounted “party packs,” so you can scoop up a bunch.

D.S. & Durga Big Sur After Rain Auto Fragrance

This rearview-mirror air freshener actually smells great. Each sophisticated, scent-infused cardboard rectangle lasts for at least a few months.

Buying Options

$15 from D.S. & Durga

Itty-bitty but potent, D.S. & Durga’s Big Sur After Rain Auto Fragrance is nothing like the noxious, tree-shaped papers of yesteryear. Instead, this perfume company has infused each one with a sophisticated, subtle fragrance and a pretty line drawing to match. Other novel scents include Portable Fireplace and Holy Ficus.

Les Mouettes d'Arvor Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil

These delicate French sardines, a favorite of Wirecutter staffers on the kitchen team, are flash-fried and then preserved in only olive oil and salt.

Buying Options

$11 from Amazon

The petite Les Mouettes d’Arvor Sardines are sustainably fished from the southern coast of Brittany, France, cured in salt water, cleaned, and then flash-fried before canning. Inside each tin you’ll find firm, perfectly preserved sardines swimming in little pools of olive oil.

Qi Mei Massage Ball

This spiky plastic sphere is perfect for rolling under sore arches or loosening knots in other muscles.

Buying Options

$7 from Amazon

Sure, a tennis ball can do a similar job, but the Qi Mei Massage Ball has less give, and it delivers more intense pressure distribution when rolled under an arch or back. The little spikes target even gnarlier, tricky-to-pinpoint knots.

Gerber Shard

This titanium-coated stainless steel gadget attaches to a keychain, and it includes a bottle opener and five other handy tools.

Buying Options

$9 from Amazon

$12 from Walmart

The Gerber Shard keychain tool is the perfect practical stocking stuffer. The light, titanium-coated stainless steel tool includes a pry bar, a wire stripper, two flathead screwdrivers, a bottle opener, and a Phillips-head screwdriver.

Supergoop Glow Stick SPF 50

This take-along sunscreen stick is easy to use. It’s completely clear, and it leaves a slight shine yet no hint of stickiness.

Buying Options

$30 from Supergoop

$30 from Ulta

It might be getting cold outside, but UV rays don’t disappear with the chill: Your loved ones still need to wear sunscreen. The travel-size Supergoop Glow Stick SPF 50 is a perfect stocking stuffer. It rolls on easily and doesn’t leave slimy residue behind, so even the most reluctant sunscreen wearer won’t mind it.

Salzmann Spoke Reflectors

These spoke clips—made with reflective 3M Scotchlite material for a safer ride—snap on easily.

Buying Options

$10 from Amazon

Spoke reflectors can make nighttime bike rides a lot safer. Salzmann’s Spoke Reflectors—made with reflective 3M Scotchlite for better visibility—snap on easily and come recommended by avid biker and senior staff writer Tim Heffernan.

Field Notes Memo Books

This notebook combines great paper quality, durability, and a range of page and cover choices.

Buying Options

$13 from Amazon
(pack of three)

A pick in our guide to the best notebooks and notepads since 2018, the Field Notes Memo Book is beloved for its compact size and paper quality. Each 48-page memo book fits in a pocket without feeling too cumbersome, and its pages are virtually smudge-proof.

Baggu Standard Reusable Shopping Bag

This reusable bag comes in dozens of cute patterns and colors. It can fold into a compact pouch for easy storage, and it holds up to 50 pounds without being difficult to carry.

Buying Options

$14 from Baggu

One of our favorite bags for toting anything, the Baggu Standard Reusable Shopping Bag comes in dozens of prints and patterns to elevate the schlepping experience. This bag can withstand up to 50 pounds (though we wouldn’t recommend that anyone torture their shoulders that way). It also folds neatly for safekeeping in a backpack or a glove compartment.

See’s Candies Assorted Lollypops

These rich, box-shaped pops are a Bay Area classic made with real butter and cream.

Buying Options

$30 from See's Candies

Anyone who grew up anywhere near San Francisco likely already has a favorite flavor of these box-shaped lollipops made with cream and butter. If your giftee is new to the suckers from the 103-year-old See’s Candies, you can bestow the pleasure of choice: vanilla, coffee, chocolate, or butterscotch. Buy See’s Candies Assorted Lollypops by the box to ensure lots of leftovers.

We love finding gifts that are unusual, thoughtful, and well vetted. See even more gift ideas we recommend.

Dorie Chevlen contributed reporting.This article was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter.