Vintage Inspired Shabby Stocking Garland

Hello everyone and welcome to my very first project as a Hybrid Chick!  I’m so very excited to be designing for THC and am in the company of some very talented paper crafters!

My absolute favorite time of the year is Christmas … I still believe in all the magic and wonder of the season!  I am a shabby girl and love anything vintage and antique, so I had such a wonderful time designing with some amazing vintage goodies from the Digichick Shop!

Ready, set … here we go!

I was inspired to create a vintage and shabby stocking garland when I spied this set of chipboard stockings from Kaisercraft while doing some shopping … too cute!

The set even included the ruffly cuffs for the top of the stockings – love it!  If you don’t have a chipboard set like this one, you can still make this darling stocking garland by simply free hand drawing some stockings onto cardboard and cutting out.

I selected papers from Mari Koegelenberg’s A Vintage Christmas Kit … they are so absolutely soft, beautiful, vintage  and delicious – YUM!

Print out all the papers that you’d like to include on your stockings onto cardstock (there are so many gorgeous patterns included with this set!) and then trace the stocking and cuff shapes onto the back of the designer papers.

Cut out with scissors, spray the chipboard pieces with adhesive and adhere the papers; let dry.  (If you don’t have spray adhesive, you can use Mod Podge).

Next I printed out some sentiment circles, stars, ribbons and jingle bells from the Vintage Christmas Kit and some letters from the Vintage Alpha Pack.  I used the Doilie Shapes Set 1 Cut Files and Paper Roses Cut Files and cut a set of each of these out with my Cricut.  I used Vintage Cream cardstock for the doilies and patterned papers from the Vintage Christmas Kit  for the Roses. 

Next, I spritzed the doilie shapes and circle sentiments with a couple different shades of Glimmer Mist to give them an old and tattered look.

I free hand drew some patches for the toe and heel of the stockings and cut them out of the patterned papers.  To make your stocking garland look old and shabby, use sand paper to sand off and rough up the edges of all pieces and then lightly ink all edges with a brown ink and sponge.

Adhere the toe and heel paper pieces with tape runner adhesive; adhere the cuffs to the stockings with a strong adhesive like hot glue.  (Make sure to match up the holes so you can thread ribbon through at the end!)

Now comes the FUN part … decorating the stockings!  I adhered lace to the cuffs (before I glued them onto the stocking bases).  Adhere the circle sentiments onto the paper doilies.  Cut out the Alpha letters to match the sentiments you choose, glitter them (I used gold glass glitter) and then adhere onto the circle sentiments and attach to stocking base.

The nose gays I designed to adorn each pretty little stocking consist of gorgeous yummies like glittered & sugared berries, seam binding bows, paper roses, glittered paper stars …

… twiggy sprigs, paper bows & jingle bells …

… buttons, twine, holly leaves and satin ribbon!

I combed through my treasure baskets to find just the right bobbles to adorn these little pretties and picked up a few new things from my local craft store.

When you are done decorating the stockings, you’ll feed some light weight ribbon through the holes from back to front to create another nose gay adornment (I used Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding) and then glue a satin ribbon flower to the middle of each bow.

For the final step, lay out some 3/4″ cream satin ribbon flat on your work table and place each stocking on top of the ribbon near the cuffs.  Leave enough ribbon on each end to create a loop for hanging.

When you are happy with the placement of all the stockings, hot glue the stockings to the satin ribbon from the back side.

Tie a loop for hanging onto each end and Violá! … you’re done!

You’ve created a vintage inspired shabby stocking garland that will be a treasured keepsake for many years to come.  This will also make a beautiful holiday gift for that special someone on your list!

Not into vintage? There are so many adorable digi kits available in the shop … you can adjust the theme to suit your home decor. 

How about using a snowman theme? Then you can keep this sweet creation up past Christmas and into the new year!

Thanks for peeking!  Until next time, happy crafting

Other Articles by Shabby Girl:

• School Theme Shabby Chalkboard - August 26th, 2011
• Polka Dot Birthday Party! - July 29th, 2011
• Sweet Celebration Birthday Set! - June 20th, 2011
• Dream With Me - 50th Anniversary! - May 26th, 2011
• A Very Vintage Easter! - April 13th, 2011