As the mortar for the tile dried this afternoon I hung the stockings by the chimney with care– that poem running through my head the entire time. With illness and germs running rampant through the house (still running, too, I’m on Round 2 of sickness and the hubby isn’t feeling so hot) we just today got the tile and hearthstone finally installed. The moment the tile guy left I was hanging those stockings!
While we are on the subject of stockings, are yours old or new, matching or mixed? If you are like me… a little of both. I kept waiting until our family was “complete” before ordering a personalized set. I started scouring the internet in October to find ones I loved now that I’m pretty sure totally positive we won’t be adding more little ones to our family. While I found some great stockings, I didn’t find any I had to have…
… until I found blank felt ones at JoAnn Fabric for $2 each (on sale). I. Could. Not. Resist. A. Bargain. Seriously, the supplies to make them from scratch would have cost more.
Stockings at the ready, I found these pretty darn fabulous felt cutouts on Etsy for $4 a set. Two sets of circles and flowers (in ivory and white) plus a tube of felt glue and I was ready to go.
It took a few tries, but I came up with these designs:
I personalized them with our names in puffy paint but must admit I don’t like the look very much. Next year I plan on stitching our names in contrasting thread, similar to the one my grandmother made me when I was a baby:
My favorite part is that while I really like them, my semi-handmade stockings ended up only costing $4 each and less than an hour of work total. Should I happen to stumble upon the “perfect” set in the future I won’t feel badly using these as secondary stockings (anyone else love stocking stuffers? we always had a few stockings to hold all our little stuffers!)
I clipped an antique candle cup to each loop for a little extra bling since I won’t have time to decorate the mantel this year.
Here’s a close-up of each stocking:
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| Noodle’s Stocking |
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| Bee’s Stocking |
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| My Stocking |
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| The Hubby’s Stocking |
Who knows? Some day, these little cheapies could become our heirlooms. My all-time favorite is the stocking made by my YiaYia (which means grandmother in Greek):
She passed away when I was two years old, and yet I always felt her love. Especially at Christmas, because I was her Baby Dear. And I’ll always know that, too, thanks to her special gift to me.
Angee says
Your stockings are precious. I’m sure they’ll be heirlooms one day. We have classic red and white stockings from Pottery Barn. Hubby and I debated for a long time what name to put on our stockings. Angee, Mom, Mama, Mommy…we went with Mom and Dad.
My husband’s family loves stocking stuffers. His mom has a stocking for all the kids (big and little). I always get socks and slippers. I love socks and look forward to my stocking every year.
FranticMommy says
Those are sooooo ka-UTE! Lord how I wish I was crafty! Stockings are a big part of our Christmas as they were for me when I was a child. I think it’s an overlooked holiday tradition
Randi says
Those are adorable. I totally know what you mean about not wanting to order personailized ones until you’re family is complete. I was the same way! We hang all kinds of stockings around our house. I have stockings from family memebers that passed away, and one that my Grandma has had for as long as I could remember. Last year we picked up pretty initial stockings with each of the girls initials on it, for now those will do. You never know when I’ll change my mind though, lol. Now if I could just find a tree skirt I loved…..
Angela says
I love the way your husband’s stocking turned out! Really cute!
Mikey says
So pretty! Thanks for stopping by my Shabby French Cottage! My pink tree is very deceiving–it does not have a single pink ornament hanging from it! The pink ornies are so hard to find and getting so expensive, at least the vintage ones…..I used the ones I had mostly on the mantle, with a few sprinkled under the tree in the paper house village! I really love those stockings! Merry Christmas!