Christmas in September: Paper Stockings

After a four-month hiatus from my Christmas in [Insert Month Here] series, I am returning to it with a very fun project creating paper Christmas stockings.  These can be used as decorations, as package toppers, or as gift card holders.

The idea comes from Volume 8 of Handcrafted, a Stampington & Company publication from 2012.  I made several changes to Catherine Matthews-Scanlon's techniques:  First, I chose to keep the edges of my stockings straight rather than using pinking shears, simply because I liked the look of it.  Second, I used paper exclusively, rather than bonding fabric to paper using a product called Heat 'n Bond Lite, because I wanted to use what I already had rather than purchasing any new materials.  And finally, I created ribbon loops for hanging the stockings, rather than using wire, because I thought the wire would surely tear my paper creations.

The first thing I did was create a stocking template from white cardstock.  You can use online inspiration for the shape of your stockings; just do a search for "Christmas stocking templates."  I then used the template to cut paper stocking shapes from various old books, including musical scores, a typography book, and, appropriately, an old Christmas publication.

Then the creative and fun part begins:  determining embellishments for the front of the stockings!  I chose ribbons, lace, and buttons as my embellishments, and used a combination of Fabric Fusion, gel medium, and stitching for adhering items into place.  Here are a couple "work-in-progress" shots of my tabletop:

After I have the embellishments in place, I take the front and back of the stocking over to my sewing machine, and stitch around the edges, leaving an opening at the top, of course.

An evening of playtime has given me six fun Christmas stocking creations to use when the holidays roll around.

Now that it's just about October, we all know that Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye!

This project made a delightful mess in my art space.  I thought I would show you the un-retouched mayhem of my table when I finished these six stocking last night:

It only took about five or ten minutes of tidying to return my table to its normal state:  workspace open in the middle, controlled chaos on the outside perimeter:

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Have you gotten your holiday preparations underway?  What is the first thing you try to take care of?  Share with us in the comments.  And take a moment to visit Patty, over at Patty's Pretty Things, who has managed to keep up with her All-Year Holiday preparations much more diligently than I.  She's been posting some wonderful Christmas crafts every month this year!

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To see previous Christmas in [Insert Month Here] posts, check out these links:

January:  Recycling Christmas Cards

February:  Book Ornaments

March:  Book Page Ornaments

April:  Confetti Tags