Christmas Stocking Posts

     Several years ago, I found myself in need of a place to hang my Christmas stockings. I asked my mother for any ideas and she told me that she had been looking at stocking hangers but hasn't found the right one.  Like all her previous projects, if my mom can't find something she needs, she makes it. My mother is a vary handy person. I often tell people that I don't have a "handy man," but I have a "handy mom." So off we went to the home improvement store. She bought a couple of 4x4x8 posts, 18x12x1 boards (for the base), screws (not sure which kind), and white paint.

    When attaching the base to the post, you will want to countersink the screws. The screws will then be inset in the wood and your post will be sturdy and not wobbly.

    After assembling the wood and painting them white, we were left with the task of putting a design on them. I had several Christmas window clings laying around so I decided to give it a try. I glued them on the posts and then sprayed a sealent over the tops of them. We then went to various stores to find a topper.

    My mom found a pepperment striped tree, and a glass lantern. She added some fairy lights to it and wrapped a piece of garland and a bow at the base. The post has snowmen, a Christmas tree, and Santa on it. 

    My stocking post has snowmen on it. I bought a silver lantern for the top and placed a snowman inside. I also included white fairy lights and blue snowflake lights. The battery packs for the string lights are velcroed to the back of the post. We used 4 screw hooks on each post to hold up to 4 stockings.

    After making the snowman one for my family, I decided to make one for my pets. I used dog and cat window clings. I found a jar at a craft store and placed a dog and cat ornament inside along with the fairy lights.

    These were so much fun to design and create. The cost wasn't too bad. Most of the money was spent on making the toppers. The wood for two stocking posts was around $30 dollars. My mother spent about $15 on her topper all together. I spent about $30 on the snowman one. The pet one only cost about $12. I am sure many people have made similar stocking posts, but we are very happy with the ones we made. I hope this article is helpful to anyone who wants to make one for themselves.