Today’s Christmas-themed “Question of the Day” is all about your Christmas stockings. You know, “the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there”. Love that story 🙂 So, do you hang stockings in your house? Are they on the mantle or somewhere else? How many do you have – one for each adult or just for the kids? Do your pets have stockings? Do you have stockings for your grandkids or someone else who might just be at your house on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but who might not be there the entire season? Are your stockings homemade or store-bought? And lastly – do you do all the stocking preparations, or does your significant other, or someone else, help you do the obtaining and filling (you know, helping Santa out!)
Here’s my answers – we do hang stockings, and they go up on our mantle at the same time the tree goes up. They are fairly new, some I bought a couple of years ago at Target that sort of coordinate with my tree skirt. I want to get one for our furry child Beau, but Tim doesn’t think he needs one. Our last dog, Sally, had her own stocking and it hung on our mantle every year. Tim thought it was silly and so far (this is our second Christmas with Beau), I have not gotten one for Beau. It’s hard though. Since we don’t have kids, I would really like to have one for Beau that I could fill. 
Speaking of that – I fill Tim’s stocking and end up buying a couple of things for mine. For years, I tried to get him to buy me something for my stocking, but that’s pretty much a lost cause. If I don’t get something, mine is usually empty. Sometimes, he will stuff a smaller gift in mine, but it’s not a deliberate thing. 🙂 We don’t have stockings for anyone else, and we’re often not here on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to do ours. But we will be this year. Now, I just have to find something for Tim’s stocking and help Santa out 😀
How about you? Leave me a comment and let me know!
I love Christmas stockings. Especially on a mantle. We don’t have a real fireplace so hubby went and bought an electric one for me just so I could have a mantle. Alas, the stockings are still not hanging there, because for some reason the dayhome kids cannot resist touching and pulling on them. *sigh*.
I’m not at all a sewer or crafty so all our stockings are storebought. The kids have felt country-ish ones, I have a fuzzy one and hubby’s is velvety. And just so you don’t feel alone, hubby always forgets to get something for mine too. I stuff everyone else’s. My youngest has an extra special stocking. She was born on Christmas Day and they brought her to me in a Christmas stocking after checking her out. So some of her birthday gifts go into that stocking.
Well, we used to hang them on the mantel and then Santa would fill them and bring them to our rooms, at the foot of our beds. This would give the boys time to play before waking us up so they could go downstairs. Or should I say, it gave us a few extra minutes of sleep!
Now they sit under the tree and are stuffed mostly by me. My dh does mine but if I see things on sale, I’ll toss them in a bag and hand him the bag as Christmas approaches. Half the time I forget what I bought! He will add what he wants to add. Sometimes he’s in a scroogy mood and doesn’t get anything else. Sometimes he likes to shop. (fingers crossed for this year).
I do a stocking for my mom too since she lives with us. And this year I will do one for my son’s gf too. It’s so much fun buying for a girl!!
We have four this year! One for each of us. Philip’s mom quilted a stocking for G the year he was born, and this weekend she brought over a matching quilted stocking for D. Each one has their name embroidered on it. Philip’s always gets filled with candy. He always fills mine with candy and sometimes a little gift or two. G’s is always filled with little toys and some candy. I don’t think D will have anything in his this year, but next year we’ll do the same for him as we do G.
We hang them up when the tree & other decor gets put up. They hang on the wall in the LR. I use command adhesive hooks to hang them each year. We fill them on Christmas Eve and get to bust into them on Christmas morning.
As for stockings for pets, we don’t do that anymore now that we have kids. BUT, before we had G, we absolutely had a stocking for Reagan (the dog)! I put his name on it with glitter glue and we hung it and filled it with doggie treats. So, I obviously don’t think it’s silly! It’s fun!
I have stockings for Dom and myself (red plaid ones), red ones for Maggie and Teddy, and a green one for Shelby. I fill all except mine. Dom’s supposed to do that one.
I fill them with little things – like travel size toothpaste, shaving cream, etc. For Shelby, I’ll probably put in some makeup and maybe something for her car. When the kids were little, I’d put in school supplies – but I’m sure Shelby wouldn’t appreciate that!
For the dogs, they always get some dog treats and a couple of toys (that I usually recycle from their toy box plus one new one). I wrap them in tissue paper so they can rip them apart. And they always get a new blanket – a baby receiving blanket.
I love stockings! I still have mine from when I was growing up. My dad got it homemade from a craft store. It’s made of fabric with a Christmas angels print. I also have two other pairs of stockings. One pair is fuzzy plush with a white cuff & a white snowflake print, one on a navy background & one on a hunter green background. The other set are plush as well: a snowman & a santa. We never did our names on our stockings because we each (my brother, my dad & me) had a unique stocking.
Growing up, my dad always did our stockings growing up & then would get a few small things for himself that he wanted & just save them to fill up his own stocking. When I was older & had a job, I always made sure my dad’s stocking was filled. Then when I was on mty own, it was pretty much me who filled the stockings. And right now, living by myself, I don’t even bother. I have a stocking at Nichole & Daniel’s that they are sweet to help Santa fill me for when I visit for Christmas — that one is a “traditional” fuzzy plush red one with a white cuff, and we each have our name written on the cuff with glitter glue. They fill each other’s stocking & collaborate on mine. =)
Oh what a great, fun question!
First of all I see NOTHING silly with a stocking for the furry babies. (before I had dogs I Had stockings for all three cats..I’ve since stopped doing that…3 cat stockings and 2 dog stockings is just too much for our little living room).
I have two stockings from L.L. Bean each in a different pattern,with mine and D’s name stitched on to them. He LOVED his stocking when I first got it for him (it has a lab puppy on Santa’s lap…we have a lab). Last year was our first Christmas together and while D did not fill up a stocking quite like I do (I put in tons of candy, little items like deoderant and new razors, lottery tickets, and small gifts) he did throw a few items in mine like candy, a gift card and a small present that originally he had under the tree! We open up our stocking on Christmas morning AFTER all the presents have been opened!
We don’t have a fireplace so every year I have to think of a place to hang the stockings. This year I haven’t thought of one yet. I made our stockings as well as all of them for my entire family. However, when there is a new addition to the family, my mom usually makes the stocking.
I usually fill the stockings, but I”m sure if I reminded DH to get stuff for a stocking he would at least get one thing. Otherwise we just usually have candy canes, an orange and peanuts–which is just a tradition, I guess. And maybe a couple trinkets or things like travel size toiletries–always popular!
Both of my dogs have their own stockings with their names on them. My husband wouldn’t have it any other way. We still hang the stocking for his old dog that passed away a few years ago as a rememberance. Not to speak ill of your husband, but get real! Our dogs are our children as Beau is your child. Treat him as a member of the family and get him his own stocking. Just because he has 4 legs doesn’t mean he should be treated any differently.
Hope your Christmas is a happy one!
We all have stockings. Sophie the cat and EVEN TOM the hamster has a mini stocking! I don’t have a fireplace so they go up on the 1/2 wall between the living room and kitchen. I put the cards up on the shelf above them and then Christmas lights above that.
Sophie is getting a new collar with some *bling* on it, some treats, and of course the yearly catnip!
Tom is getting little wooden carrots to munch on and some yogurt treats!
Pets have to be included! Look at Beau’s eyes! He wants a stocking mama!
Sherry
We are not a stocking family, but I wish we were! I can remember a very few years when I was a little girl that we did the stocking thing, but since my mom did (and does) all the Christmas shopping and wrapping and planning herself, I think she was very happy to phase it out. When we did them, they were hung from some bookcases built-in beside the fireplace, and they were homemade — by my mom, if I remember correctly. In a year or two we might get back into it, if only just for my nephew, even though he’ll be getting a stocking at his house, too.
All five of us have stockings, hung on the mantle. They are store bought, but I have mine that we used when I was a child, knitted by a dear family friend. I honestly think the bulk of my fond memories of Christmas are about the stockings. I was just so thrilled to wake up and know that santa had been there. My mom always hung them on each side of a window in out house (even thoug we had a fireplace). I am mostly the one who picks up stocking stuffers (even for myself) but hubby and I both help santa fill the sockings on Christmas Eve after the kids have gone to bed.
[…] As a tie-in to today’s Question of the Day over at my regular blog, I thought I’d post a picture of our stockings. I love these, and I love my stocking holders. Tim went on a business trip a few years ago and brought these home for me as a surprise. I was so impressed that he went to a Crate and Barrel and picked these snowflake holders out for us. I love them, they’re nice and heavy and I love the way they look! The stockings sort of match our tree skirt, and they also coordinate with the stuff in my living room more than a regular Christmas red one would. If you know me in real life, you probably know I have a “thing” for snowmen. So the one on the right with the snowman is obviously mine! […]
I was a big cross sticher for years, so I used to cross stich people names on stockings as gifts. The first year Michael and I were dating 19 years ago I cross stiched him a stocking and filled it with things, he still uses that stocking to this day.
One time we had his entire family over for Christmas, and I made 7 stockings- but for his parents I used Mom & Dad so I could also hang them when my parents come for Christmas. Which they are this Christmas season.
So Currently we have 4 stockings up on the mantle- Michael’s, Mom, Dad and mine which has yet to be cross stiched. I think we used to have a small one with Sam’s (our cat) name on it, but not sure where that got to.
I like to put a toy in each one, and then just some candy (however Michael gets the fun stuff like socks and stuff).
We don’t have a mantle for hanging stockings : ( We have this wall hanging thing-a-ma-jiggy that the kids hang their stockings on. The rest of ours generally end up on the floor.
Sometimes, I think stockings are my least favorite part of the whole experience. Actually, I love them, but it can get really hard to find enough “stuffers”. Not only do I fill the kids, but also my husbands, and each of my parents, and my brothers. (They always spend Christmas with us.) Then on top of that, we have this tradition on Christmas eve of opening “mittens”. These are huge crocheted mittens filled with goodies…essentially a stocking in different form. So I have to fill 2 stockings each for 7 different people. (Rich fills both my stocking and mitten.)
And all stockings, and mittens, are handmade by me.
Cute QOTD. We never really did stockings when we were kids. I think later, when we were in college, my mom started. Then when we got married, she continued the tradition but they were always filled with samples or travel-sized stuff – toothpaste, mouthwash, and they just piled up from year to year so one year I just told her it was a waste! 🙁
But Mike and I have done stockings for most years of our marriage. We hang them on the bookshelf – it’s really the only place for them. He is good about filling mine, usually with little cute stuff. Got a can of olives in there one year. Never any pricey gifts in them but fun stuff.
I don’t do stockings for the animals – too much “stuff” – cluttery! We usually do get the dog a few new toys though.
We have a stocking for both of the kids hanging on the mantle. Santa fills them (with help from me), and the kids open their stockings first on Christmas morning. I always put an orange in the toe to make it look full. My mom did this also, so I guess it is a tradition!
I’ve done stockings for both of my daughters since they were little and both of them look more forward to opening their stockings than anything else because I make them “extra special” lol!
I bought our stockings last year at Target. They have our initials on them, and his is green and mine is red. I also bought some blank ones, in case we ever have children. Or maybe Max and the kitties should have stockings, too. 🙂
When my mom and step dad first got married ten years ago, my mom made everyone (me, my sister, my two step brothers and spouses) velvet stockings with their names on them. Since then there are so many grandchildren that it got out of control, and we’re not all together any more either. But I thought it was a neat idea while it lasted.
I LOVE stockings and doing them! We’ve always had one for each of us, kids and parents, so six in all! I only have 4 this year b/c the 2 big kids won’t be here christmas morning and they’re doing their own now. They are probably gonna freak when they see I’ve got new ones, shhhh!
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