How to Personalize a Christmas Stocking

Posted on January 1st, 2009 by monsterguide

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Christmas is here again, and while everyone loves the traditional affair of Christmas trees and Christmas gifts, people also love their own Christmas traditions. One great Christmas tradition is to hang up personalized stockings for each member of the family. Making personalized stockings together is also a fun thing for the family to do together. Here are some tips for making a personalized Christmas stocking.

Get Supplies

Go to your nearest arts and crafts store with your family. There are many items you can choose from, although there are certain art supplies that you should keep an eye out for.

Stockings - While the usual red stocking with a fluffy white lining looks great and is very traditional, allow each family member to choose a stocking of their own. Each stocking should represent its owner, so don’t be afraid to choose some that aren’t typical.
Iron-on letters - Christmas shops sometimes offer stockings with a complete set of iron-on letters for a quick and easy personalized stocking.
Glitter and glue - Alternatives to iron-on letters, plus they can also be great for decorating your stockings. Glitter glue tubes are available in most arts and crafts shops, although manually mixing glitter and glue will also yield good results. You can also use a glue gun when decorating your Christmas stocking.
Small decorative items - These can be glued easily to the Christmas stocking. They can either be beads, small Christmas decorations or even small toys.
Sewing needles and thread - Make sure they’re the same color as the stocking. Use them for sewing the embellishments like the beads and ornaments. Sewing is a neater and more secure way of attaching decorations to your stocking.

Decorating Practice

To make sure that you get the best results with your stocking, a little practice won’t hurt. Practicing can help decide on how to decorate your stocking and make sure that you use your art materials properly.

To practice making your personalized stocking, outline your stocking on a big piece of paper and cut it out. Using crayons or colored pens, draw the different ornaments and embellishment on the paper stocking to see how everything will work out. Or, you can place the items on top of the paper stocking to see how to lay them out.

Make sure that your iron-on letters are placed properly on the paper stocking. The key to making your name look best on the stocking is by making sure that all the letters are placed evenly and in a straight row. Symmetry is the key, so if you’re planning on writing out your name using glue, you can also practice writing on the paper stocking.

Make Your Personalized Stocking

If you are using iron-on letters, iron them on first before anything else for a really smooth finish.
If you are writing out your name in glue and glitter, make an outline. Use a pencil if your background is a light color, and chalk if the background is dark. Letters with loops such as “l,” “a” or “e,” should be written with little gaps where the loops are supposed to intersect, so as not to have a big blob in the middle of each letter.
So that the glue does not snag and make a mess, make sure that the glue tip is very clean, as dried glue on the tips can catch on the threads of the stocking. You should also keep the tip a bit away from the surface of the stocking and apply an even pressure on the glue bottle all throughout for an even spread of glue letters.
Using Elmer’s paper glue is a great way to “erase” your mistakes. If you think you want to redo the lettering, simply submerge the stocking in cold water until the glue dissolves. Do not rub while it is in the water, to prevent damaging the fabric.
Once you have done the lettering and other designs with glue, sprinkle the desired color of glitter over the design and letters (unless you have already used glitter glue). Check your glue bottle for the amount of time it requires to dry. Once the glue is dry, turn the stocking over to shake off the excess glitter.
Sew or glue additional ornaments, designs and embellishments as you please.

Hang up the Christmas stockings and you’re done!