MyRedPacket.co.uk Blog

Depending on how early or late you like to do your Christmas shopping, soon everyone will be in full Christmas shopping mode, whether it will be searching for individual Christmas presents or a variety of Christmas stocking fillers.

When it comes to looking for stocking fillers, there is such a large choice, and this in itself can make it quite a time-consuming task. Traditionally, stocking fillers tend to be relatively small, inexpensive and often ‘obvious’ items such as chocolates, sweets, stationery for the kids or toiletries for adults. However, there really is not reason not to ‘think outside the box’ a little to try and make opening a filled Christmas stocking that little bit more unique.

In this short article I am going to compile my own top 10 stocking filler ideas for men, women and children to include gifts which are a little bit different and also falls within the important criteria of being inexpensive. This, I hope will help you not only to save time and take the stress out of searching endless ideas, but to help you buy things that are a little bit different.

Stocking Fillers for Men

1. Men’s toiletries such as shaving foam and deodorant- although yes, these types of fillers may be a little ‘obvious’, there is no getting over the fact that they are useful and are always needed by man. Why not buy his most-liked brand?
2. Gadgets- it’s true to say most men love gadgets. The key is to buy small and inexpensive gadgets to put inside a stocking. I would recommend items such as a Sonic Keyring Finder, Credit Card Sized Card Light or and Emergency Phone Charger. All these 3 items are small and inexpensive, the highest cost being the emergency charger at £6.99.
3. Novelty and Funny gifts- Christmas is mostly about fun and laughter, so putting a funny novelty present inside a stocking will no doubt go down a treat in Christmas Day. Gifts such as The Screaming Flying Monkey, and The Arse/Face Scented, both at £4.99, are not just fun but will cause much laughter!
4. Essential Accessories – for example, if one of your fillers is in fact an emergency phone charger that requires batteries, why not slip in a couple of packs of batteries to go with it!
5. Munchies- now, you really can not go wrong with putting in a range of his favourite sweets, chocolate bars or biscuits.  

Stocking Fillers for Women

1. Beauty and Toiletry Gifts- it’s fair to say most women, if not all, love to be pampered, look and feel good. So why not put in a couple of her favourite soaps, essential oils or bath salts?   
2. Gadgets- not all gadgets are for men! An excellent stocking item that falls within his category for women and is inexpensive are flashing mobile phone charms eg MoPods and of course the Emergency Phone Charger. The MoPods attaches to her mobile phone and the little character flashes and spins when the phone rings. Priced at just £4.99, it won’t put a dent in your pocket.
3. Novelty and Funny Gifts- I would recommend funny and inexpensive wind up toys, such as the Racing Grannies or the Chicken and Egg Race. The fact that they can be played with 2 people adds that extra bit of fun to Christmas. Both are £7.99.
4. Essential Accessories- again, batteries are a prime example. Or maybe a new Ipod Arm Band, for her to use when she’s running or at the gym?
5. Munchies- I would recommend self-indulgent chocolate bars or the more healthy options such as dried fruits.

Stocking Fillers for Children

Most Children always wish for the latest toys or games from Santa, which are often much higher priced. I would leave out this type of gift as the main present, and concentrate on finding small and inexpensive fillers. My 5 ideas are:

1. Christmas Light Up Boxing Pens- these fun pens are of Santa, Snowman or Rudolph. They have boxing arms operated by a lever, and light up when you write. Price at merely £1.99, why not put one of each character in the stocking!
2. Small miniature toy cars are loved by all boys.
3. Flashing or glow in the dark toys- for some reason, most kids seem to have a liking to toys that flash or glow. Therefore why not add one of these to his toy collection, such as a Flashing LED Strobe Ball. This is a bouncy ball which, when bounced flashes in an array of colours. Examples of glow in the dark would be stick on stars for his bedroom. Both can be bought at less than £3!
4. Jumping Beans- children seem to have so much energy and love to run around like crazy. I’d therefore recommend a box of Jumping Beans which wriggle and jump unpredictably for the kids to try and catch. As it is Christmas, why not let them try chase and catch the beans to their hearts content! A box of 5 jumping beans can be bought for less than £2.
5. Arts and crafts- for the quieter child who prefers to draw and make thing, I would suggest a set of fashion doll stickers, colouring pencils or a mini arts set. Kid’s craft are very popular, easy to find and also very cheap!

I hope that this list has given you some ideas for this year’s Christmas Stocking Fillers to help with your Christmas Presents.

With Christmas comes a range of traditional acts that celebrators of this festive occasion follows: Christmas Turkey dinner, putting up a Christmas Tree and of course giving and receiving Christmas presents. The latter of giving and receiving Christmas presents can come in the form of a traditional Christmas stocking filled with a whole variety of small presents, otherwise known as Christmas goodies.

In this short post I will give my 5 reasons why I think Christmas Stocking fillers make a great alternative and addition to one larger present.

1) Christmas Stockings can be filled with almost anything, from sweets, novelties to small toys & games. You will not be lost for choice when it comes to finding gifts to fill the stocking.

2) Stocking fillers themselves can be made up of low value items and hence does not need to cost the earth. Having a good range of cheaper items can make up for the cost of one large present.

3) Kids (and many adults in fact) love to wake up on Christmas morning to see a wonderfully decorated Christmas stocking hanging at the end of their beds. Their face will light up when they look inside the stocking to see a delightful range of gifts and goodies.

4) When you really do not know what to buy someone, because they are classified as ‘the person who has everything’, the novelty of having a stocking full of ‘bits and bobs’ can overcome that risk where one large present may be not what they want or that they already have.

5) It will save you time (and money) wrapping the individual gifts, as the Stocking itself, by default, will act as the gift wrap.

These are my 5 reasons why I think Christmas Stocking fillers make a great alternative or addition to one large present.

The Barclay’s Premiership Football season truely underway, and as of today (1st Sepetember), multi-million pound transfer deals are being made.

Anyone fans of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool or Tottenham? Well, if you are, this is one for you….Limited Edition Football Monopoly. It’s the classic boardgame of Monopoly (which let’s face everyone knows of). With past and presents squad players and heroes of the past, it’s a game which requires you to buy and sell players and stadiums to accumulate wealth for your beloved club. Community Chest and Chance are replaced by Home and Away cards

So, if you’re stuck for gift ideas, available at MyRedPacket UK are Machester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspurs and Chelsea…..check it out here….Premiership Football Monopoly

For all you women out there with a bag fetish (i’d have to admit, i’m one of them)…let me introduce the all amazing Zip It Bag.

The photos do not really do it justice…take a look at this video clip…

How amazing is that!

Available at myredpacket.co.uk are 2 designs- Cabana and Messenger.

The cabana bag is a small evening bag with dual straps to carry pover your shoulder or by hand,

The Messenger bag is a decent sized day time bag, with front velcro flap and long handle, for carrying casually over the shoulder.

 So, guys and girls, next time you’re looking for gifts for women, check out the Zip It bag!

I can not believe it is past mid August, and the weather is MISERABLE! What has happened to British Summer time??? Seems like it decided to go into hiding this year. With Summer nearly over, we don’t even have another Summer month to look forward to and ‘keep our finger’s crossed’ that next month could be better.

With all this rain we’ve been getting, i thought it was quite apt to introduce The Twilight Umbrella…

Take a look…with fibre optic coloured lights scattered around the umbrella, operated by a switch on the handle. Let others watch in amazment as the fibre optic lights phases through a spectrum of glittering colours- enough to brighten up the dullest of rainy days.

Of course, for the less adventurous, you can turn off the lights to leave you carrying a normal black umbrella.

As the saying goes…’all men love gadgets’. So when it comes to buying a gift for the man in your life, you can’t go wrong with buying him a gadget. Gadgets can come in all different shapes, sizes, types and uses, so you’re spoilt for choice.  From my own personal experience, I always try and narrow down my search by looking for interesting gadgets that matches his interests, his hobbies and the occasion. For example, my boyfriend is a bit of a music lover- many of my gifts to him have been based around this theme. Although he loves to dress well and is quite particular in what he wears, very rarely do I buy him clothes, unless he is with me to chose and try them on, as 9 times out of 10 I know I will chose the wrong thing.

Since launch, MyRedPacket has brought in some wierd, wonderful, funny and useful gadgets. What i’d like to do  match some of the gadgets we have in stock to types of interests and personalities. 

Music Gadget Lover

Finger Drums- This miniature but genuinely life-like finger-sized drum kit lets him express his uncontainable musical energy in a way that will either get people to join in or to ask him to leave the room! The super finger-sensitive tiny drums include large and small tom-tom, bass drum with miniature foot pedal, snare and cymbal, so there is nothing missing. And even better, he can record what he has created.

I bought Matt one of these for his birthday. Click on the Finger Drum link to watch him trying to keep up with the Demo- don’t think he’s done too badly…he is a drummer afterall!

USB Drum Kit - This USB Drumt Kit by Brand is a must have for all you budding drummers out there!

USB Drum Kit

The genious of a kit comes with six different pad areas which can be assigned different sounds by the included software. Its 3-level learning feature helps to teach you how to play and also has a play along option. It is portable and lightweight making it easy to carry everywhere! There is now need to annoy the neighbours!

The Eco-Conscious Gadget Lover

Solar Self Assembled Racing Car- This futuristic self-assembled Triple Action Solar Racing Car kit is an exciting way to demonstrate the use of alternative energy. It features an aerodynamic sports car shell design, 4 wheel chassis, powerful 1.4 volt, 350 milliampere solar cell (included) and a transparent plastic body that can be painted or left clear to display the car’s inner mechanical construction. 

UVEE Solar Charger - The Uvee solar charger is one of the newest, neatest and cleanest ways to charge your mobile devices. In direct sunlight, Uvee’s solar panels convert solar energy into electricity which is automatically saved to its integral Li-ion battery. The charging process process takes 4-7 hours for a full charge.

‘Likes  to Joke’ Gadget Lover

Desktop Defender- This Desk Top Defender fires foam darts and is great fun in the office. Annoy your work colleagues, by taking aim! It’s the latest thing in office cubicle warfare! Pan and tilt allow full control over your missiles. Features a remote control desk top launcher with detachable control panel and 3 foam rockets. Keep the intruders out of your space when you fire foam missiles up to 10 feet!

Red Bull Alert Button - Next time you suspect someone is just talking rubbish, slam this Red Bull Alert Button to tell them so! It’s a desktop beauty, with pre-programmed phrases such as:

• “Bullshit level 5″.
• “Warning, warning, bullshit alert”.
• “Oh come on now, don’t give me that bullshit, that’s bullshit”.
• (Beep) “That was bullshit”.
• (siren) “Bullshit detected, take precautions”.
• “Warning, warning, bullshit alert”.

Sentimental Gadget Lover

iWallet- as the name implies, this nifty gadget is perfect for the sentimental man in your life. It’s a stylish Nappa leather wallet, with a digital photo viewer that can hold up to 90 photos. In-built is a vocie recorder that can record up to 140 sec messages.

Digital Photo Frame Fridge Magnet- opening your fridge will never be the same again! This digital photo frame is also a useful fridge magnet. Storing up to 66 photos, this is an ideal gift for the man in your life.

I have merely touched upon some great gadget gifts available at MyRedPacket. Visit our shop for other great gift ideas 

Don’t know about you but i’m loving the Olympics! It’s totally distracting me from doing any serious work (eekk), so much so that my 2nd post isn’t about what i really should be writing about…gift ideas.

I’ll keep this post short…it’s a short topic. Michael Phelps has, by some, been named the GREATEST OLYMPIAN OF ALL TIME, after now having received 11 GOLD medals in his career so far, and with more to be won. Do you agree? What do you think?

Another Michael, Michael Johnson, another multi-olympic champion in 200 and 400 meters running, doesn’t agree. He said in an interview that the fact that in Swimming, you are able to compete in so many races of the same distance (freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breastroke, and all the relays), puts Michael Phelps in a distinct advantage.

Do let me know your thoughts.

Hello All, welcome to My Red Packet’s blog. The world seems to have gone blog crazy, so we thought we’d join in on the action and provide all you lovely people out there, looking for some inspiration on unique gifts and gift ideas, our dedicated blog on this very subject matter (we’ll also have some general chit chat as well) . Afterall, that’s what My Red Packet is all about- an online shop, providing the latest gifts and gadgets. 

So, finally, after months of, well, not having the time to get our blog of the ground, it’s finally completed! Now it’s just a matter of blogging to my hearts content!

Anyway, let me introduce myself personally, as i’ve given myself the job of looking after this gift ideas blog. My name is My Linh ..yes, you may be thinking, ooohhh, there’s a bit of a link between My Red Packet and My Linh? Well if you are thinking that, you’re right. I’m one of the founders of My Red Packet. Gosh, i can’t believe, we have just reached our first anniversary of trading! (”congratulations” i hear you say). It’s been an excellent year for us, and i’d like to say big THANK YOU to all our customers who have purchased from us. We’ve received some wonderful feedback on the gifts and service we have provided.  This is the most enjoyable part of what we do…it does put a big smile on my face!

Sorry…i digress…back onto what My Red Packet is all about..you now know where the My has come from. Red Packet also has a reason behind it. Red Packet aka ‘Laisee’ (in Cantonese) is a long standing Chinese Tradition where gifts, such as money and jewellery are given in Red Packets, on special occasions, such as Chinese New Year, Weddings and Birthdays. The Red Packet symbolises good luck, health and good fortune. The Red Packet can be imprinted with various symbols and one of them being the word LUCK printed in gold. Here’s a picture:

It’s also considered to be good luck to keep one with a coin in it, with you close at hand. Being Chinese myself, i’ve received and given quite a few of these Red Packets…i keep one in my wallet and use one as a bookmark. Those who have purchased from us, i hope you like the lucky Red Packet you got!

Before i dash, i must explain our slogan- Give as Good as You Get. There’s a double meaning to this. As a customer, someone who is looking to purchase a gift, we believe that giving to others sould be as good as you get from others. For us, the retailer, the level of customer service that we give you should be as good as what we would want to be given. Hence we promise to give you the highest level of customer service. Hope that explains it!

Bye for now, i’ll be back soon. Do check back with us, it would be great to have you around!

x