The first Christmas my husband and I spent together we bought new stockings. Neither of us had one and we had a fireplace mantle that was simply begging for some stockings. I'm glad that we bought those stockings and we still use them, but part of me really wishes I'd made us stockings. That wish intensified after finding these fabulous stockings that bloggers have made.
Let's start with a classic stocking. Amy shared a basic DIY Christmas stocking pattern. I can't sew very well and even I feel confident about my ability to make these stockings following her tutorial.
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I love Natalia's simple striped stockings. There's a part of me that really, really likes matching stockings. If these are a little too matchy-matchy, you could use the same fabric pattern in a different color for each member of your family.
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Melissa's wool felt Christmas stocking remind me of hand-knit socks. It's a basic stocking design but the colors she selected for each family member make them feel modern.
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I'm always surprised by the different ways people use burlap and how nice they made this modest fabric look. Ashley didn't just use burlap in her stockings. She wove strips together to create her weaved burlap stocking. Since her family has personalized stocking holders, she didn't add names to them but they'd be really easy to personalize.
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Hayley's created something that I haven't seen in any of my local stores -- Christmas stockings with pockets. Those pockets are giving me all kinds of ideas. They are the perfect size for gift cards. Or a note from one of Santa's elves. Or travel-sized beauty items. You're totally thinking about what you could slip inside those pockets, aren't you? You need a stocking with pockets.
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Are you a quilter? Amy is and she's created a fabulous scrappy stocking tutorial. She uses fabric scraps to make her stockings, which I think makes me love them even more.
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Cathie turned a vintage bedspread and some place mats into stockings. I think that's a fabulous way to breathe new life into older items. It's frugal too!
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When I saw Courtenay's easy DIY Christmas stockings all I could think was, "Chevron!" I have some friends who adore chevron and they'd love this stocking. And since it's such a very easy DIY project, if you ever get tired of chevron you can whip yourself up a new one in a different pattern.
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Once you have stockings, you need someplace to hang them. We have a mantle and we have stocking holders but we find that they aren't always the most secure items, especially once you fill the stockings. Ashley became my hero when she shared her stocking hanging rod solution. It's absolutely brilliant in its simplicity.
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Don't have a mantle? We didn't have one when I was growing up. We would hang our stockings with care on the television stand. It worked but I like Jessie's DIY stocking holder much better. It's easy to assemble and your family can have it for years to come.
Are you making stockings? How do you hang them?
Be sure to check out the rest of the posts in our 12 days of Holiday Crafts series.
Karen Ballum is a Community Moderator on BlogHer.com. She also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.