Advent Stockings

I finally found a solution to my “lack of advent calendar” woes. I never seemed to get to it. There are so many different varieties of them, it was hard to nail down what I wanted. Did I want classy? Spiritual? Fun? 1 piece with doors? 24 separate stockings or envelopes? Well, I settled on stockings.

I found an easy little tutorial for felt stockings at MarthaStewart.com.

I followed Martha’s tutorial almost entirely. All you need is felt, ribbon, cardstock, sewing machine and thread.

Here’s what you do:

 Print Martha’s stocking template.  Trace and cut out 48 felt stocking pieces of whatever colors you choose.

I stitched my ribbon to one stocking piece. I didn’t like the idea of it being loose.

Next, I stitched my number circle onto the top stocking. Then, I stitched 2 stocking pieces together, using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Be sure to leave the top open for stashing the goodies. Once they are stitched together, trim them with pinking shears, if you have them. Now, don’t be confused by my pictures. You really must stitch the ribbon and the number on before you stitch the 2 stocking pieces together. I neglected to take pics during the process.

After that, I punched a hole in the back of the stocking and tied some ribbon through it.

Now do that 23 more times. You can read through Martha’s tutorial for a few more details.

I designed the numbers for the stockings to match my color scheme. I decided to share with you. Click the links below, print them (cardstock works best) and cut out how you like.

Numbers 1-12

Numbers 13-24

I’ve decided to hang these on our tree, one at a time, as the month goes on. Each morning the girls will find that day’s stocking, front and center, with some sort of little surprise in it and the previous day’s stocking moved to a new location on the tree. By Christmas, our tree will be covered.

Here’s today’s stocking. The girls found 4 little paper donuts in it.  We ran right out for donuts. Talk about motivation for getting dressed.

Now I just have to figure out what to put in 23 more stockings.

Visit The Thrifty Home for more frugal ideas.

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