Embellished White Christmas Stockings

Happy Holidays! Hopefully you have recovered from your Thanksgiving food coma by now! If you’re anything like me, you’ve made a swift recovery after the Thanksgiving break and are already in full-on Christmas mode! I’ve been wanting to make new stockings for several years now and keep putting it off. Last year I swore I would tackle it this year, so here I am. Plus, I have my newly updated bright fireplace to decorate, so that’s exciting. After lots of Pinteresting for inspiration, I decided on the simple, yet elegant white stocking with some sort of added decoration. I wanted kind of “modern farmhouse”, without going rustic. I’m kind of going through an “All-things-white” phase.

Here are the looks I used for inspiration:

I settled on the design from Jones Design Company as my favorite, which is another DIY design. She used white felt stockings from West Elm. Ironically, I had already bought these exact same stockings from West Elm several months ago simply because they were the ONLY very plain white stockings I could find and wanted to get them before they sold out.

You can find the West Elm stockings here. They are super affordable at only $19/each or $61 for a set of four. (Hurry! They are on sale now!)

I really loved the green, black and white color scheme from Jones Design Company. I wouldn’t have thought to add in the black and white and I really love the final look, with gold accents.

I added a much larger gold monogram for each family member’s name, and changed up the ribbon and faux twig composition slightly, as well.

Supplies:

• Ribbon
• Dark Green
• Chartreuse Green
• Black and white herringbone
• One evergreen plant stem (will cut small piece(s) off stem)
• Hot glue gun
• Gold bells
• Twine
• Wood Letter, 3-inch (purchased from Hobby Lobby)
• Gold Spray Paint
• Drill

 

Steps:

• Spray paint the wood letter(s) and let dry
• When dry, drill a small hole in the corner for hanging

• Cut your ribbon pieces for each stocking
  • Dark green: 2 pieces @ 6.25 inches each; 1 piece @ 5 inches
  • Chartreuse/light green: 2 pieces @ 6 inches each
  • Black and white: 2 pieces @ 6.75 inches each; 1 piece @ 6 inches; 1 piece @ 1.5 inches
• Layer and glue the ribbon together. Cut the ends of the ribbon at a diagonal point to give them a finished look

• Create your bow
  • Cut the remaining 6 inch piece of black and white ribbon length-wise down the middle to make two narrow 6-inch pieces. Note: If you prefer, you can use a thinner ribbon for the bow rather than cutting a thicker ribbon in half
  • Take one of the narrow pieces and glue the two ends to the middle to create two loops
  • Take the remaining narrow piece of ribbon and cut it in half to make two 3-inch pieces
  • Create a loop with each 3-inch piece and glue to the center of the larger looped piece

• Take your remaining 1.5 inch piece of black and white ribbon and cut it vertically down the middle to make a narrow piece. Take one of the narrow pieces and wrap it around the center of the bow, being sure to glue the seam in the back

• Take your remaining 5-inch piece of dark green ribbon and glue it to the back of the other ribbons. Loop the free end around the stocking hook and glue or pin together

• Take your ever green stem and break/cut off a small piece to add as an accent to the ribbons. Note: I readjusted the stem from the picture above to stick out horizontally rather than down.
  
• Add the bells: I took thin twine and braided 3 pieces together to add thickness because I already had it at my house. You can also use a thin ribbon to hang your bells from as well. Choose the length at which you want them to hang and glue your twine/ribbon to the other ribbons. Be sure tuck the twine between the other ribbons so the attachment point isn’t visible.

• Add the gold, wood letters and hang your stocking: I used a piece of twine to hang the letters and simply tied the letter to the stocking. The letters are not glue or attached at all to the other ribbons. You may have to adjust the letter and its length after you hang the stocking it you want to adjust the length or the way it hangs.

I hung my stockings on either side of the fireplace hearth, rather than directly in the middle,  because we have fires often and I don’t want the stockings or their contents to get too hot, or worse, catch on fire!

I intentionally did not glue the ribbons or letters directly to the stocking. This way the ribbon embellishments can be modified or redesigned each year as your décor and style changes, without damaging the stocking.

Tip: Use plastic grocery bags to stuff the bottom of the stocking to plump it up.

Good luck and thanks for reading my blog!

-Whitney