Back in the late ’60s, we lived in a small apartment above the garage of my grandparents’ house. Our home was simple, without all the “fancy” things that I envisioned in bigger homes, like actual brick fireplaces. But it was a home full of love, laughter and resourcefulness. At Christmastime, since we didn’t have a real fireplace, my parents put up one of the faux red-brick cardboard fireplaces that were popular at the time (how many of you remember these?). It was perfect for our little fur-trimmed red felt stockings from the dime store.
When we built our bigger home, it had a large brick fireplace along one wall of the family room. Ah, now we had an actual solid mantel to hang stockings on, and our stockings progressed through various versions, from skinny knit ones that were almost impossible to get goodies in or out, to patchwork country-style designs (this was smack dab in the country-loving ’80s). As a newlywed in a second-floor condo, I again was fireplace-less, so we hung our stockings on the pass-through counter from the kitchen. In the home we raised our kids in, again we didn’t have a fireplace, but we had a half-wall that was perfect for hanging the stockings, which by now had become bigger, personalized creations that could hold all kinds of candy, fun treats and even a luscious piece of fruit at the bottom.
Today’s homeowners are very creative when it comes to hanging stockings, with or without fireplace mantels. On the mantel, stockings can be hung evenly spread out or all grouped to one side. If you don’t have a mantel, you can hang your stockings from a series of hooks on a board, or on the backs of chairs around the dining table, or on rungs of a ladder leaned across the wall. Our image above shows one of my favorite ways to display stockings—strung across the foot of a bed. In our annual Christmas issue, we have a feature on spectacular ideas for displaying stockings and for designing your own. I know it’s only days before Halloween, but the Christmas issue will be on sale November 1 for everyone to get their brains thinking and to be inspired by all the different ideas. In the issue you’ll see ideas for displaying stockings on barnwood slabs, birch branches and coat hooks, as well as instructions for creating stockings from an old chenille bedspread or vintage quilt pieces as well as a felt stocking with a cozy winter scene. And since this is the season for sharing, we want to share this project with you! See below for a free download for the Soft Winter Scene felt stocking instructions and pattern.
Click Here to download the Soft Winter Scene felt stocking instructions
Click Here to download the Soft Winter Scene cutting pattern
Click Here to purchase the Country Sampler Farmhouse Style Christmas Issue
We always love to see your creative decorating. Share your comments below about how you display your stockings, or share a photo on our social media sites or tag us:
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