No-Mantel Stocking Solution

Hanging our stockings has become a bit of a challenge in our house. We don’t have a mantel or anything close to resembling one.

Last year I just hung my stocking and Joshua’s stocking on our shelves in the dining room.

You could barely see them, and because of space I couldn’t hang up my pets’ stockings. This year, I wanted to be able to hang all of them up. I knew I couldn’t be the only one in my situation, so I searched for ideas.

My friend Jane from The Borrowed Abode had fantastic idea that she’s used as a renter.

It seemed pretty easy to replicate. All I needed was some wood, a branch, paint, and hardware for hanging. Luckily I ended up having everything on hand except for the hardware; we have a hardware store right around the corner, so no big deal!

Building My Stocking Branch

First I went out to our shed to see if I had any spare pieces of wood for our sign. The previous owners left a ton of wood, so I had a very nice supply to choose from. Next, I spray painted my sign with some white spray paint I already had on hand.

While waiting for my sign to dry, I ventured around the yard to find a branch. We have a few trees we intend to cut down, so I grabbed a branch from one of them. I put my final coat of spray paint on the sign and then went inside to begin prepping for the letters.

My next step was figuring out what I wanted my sign to say. Jane chose, “Let It Snow” and I had seen a few other solutions that said, “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.” As I sat down at my computer, I caught a glimpse of my desktop wallpaper which says, “Merry and Bright.” Ding ding ding!

I chose the typeface Vidaloka and used my Silhouette machine to print out the words. I laid them out on my sign, and then I traced them.

After everything was traced I painted! I decided I wanted a little more embellishment, so I printed out a snowflake, traced, and painted while the letters dried.

We had different things going on the next couple evenings, so it took us a few days before we were able to get the hardware, put the sign together, and hang it.

Budget Breakdown

• Wood (left behind by previous owners): $0
• Branch (left behind by nature): $0
• White spray paint (already had): $0
• Paint and brushes (already had): $0
• Silhouette Machine + white card stock (already had): $0
• Hardware and fishing line: $9.97