10 Creative Ways to Hang Christmas Stockings

The tradition of hanging Christmas stockings from the fireplace mantel has been around for centuries. After all, when old St. Nick shimmies down the chimney on Christmas Eve, we must ensure it’s easy for him to leave us our well-deserved treats and presents. However, for those without a fireplace, this tradition is impossible to carry out — or is it?

At MerryStockings, we believe in putting our own personal stamp on Christmas traditions. So, if you don’t have a fireplace in you home, all you need is a little creativity to design the perfect Christmas stocking display.

To fuel your creativity, below you’ll find some of our favorite ways and places to hang Christmas stockings in your home or apartment.

1. DIY a Rustic Christmas Stocking Holder

For those of you who love rustic decor and crafting, this DIY stocking holder project courtesy of Imperfectly Polished is for you.

The good news? This easy Christmas craft requires just a handful of materials and supplies: pine boards, paint color of your choice, nails, nail gun, hangers, saw, and a drill.

The better news? Jessie at Imperfectly Polished walks you through how to get it done in about 30 minutes.

In addition, the finished product can be rested against a wall like shown or hung.

(Image Credit: Imperfectly Polished)

2. Transform Your Staircase Railing into a Stocking Showstopper

If you want to create a showstopping focal point in your home and find a practical resting place for your Christmas stockings, utilize your staircase railing or banister.

This beautifully decorated staircase comes from home improvement chain Lowe’s. We love it because It combines classic decor with pops of more contemporary blue and turquoise colors.

In addition, the surrounding gifts and other seasonal knick knacks add more elegance and creativity to the scene.

(Image Credit: Lowe’s via Pinterest)

3. Upcycle a Wooden Ladder for a Farmhouse-Traditional Look

Perhaps one of the most popular alternatives for hanging Christmas stockings is the stocking ladder.

Upcycling an old or vintage ladder can provide the perfect mix of function and style, allowing you to create a simple or ornate stocking display anywhere in your home.

Our featured example comes from Kelly Elko’s eclectic French country cottage-inspired Christmas post.

What we love most about this example is its sweet simplicity, and the incorporation of the wreath topper and sprigs of evergreen over the stockings.

(Image Credit: Kelly Elko, Love Where You Live)

4. Welcome Guests with an Entryway Stocking Display

If you live in a small home or apartment unit, make the most of your space by utilizing the entryway as your Christmas stocking headquarters.

In this gorgeous example from Paint Me Pink, the Christmas stockings are accompanied by traditional Christmas decorations with a twist, including: a small Christmas tree, a chalkboard sign reading “Let It Snow,” a basket of ornaments, and a candy-cane striped scarf.

(Image Credit: Paint Me Pink)

5. Put the Christmas Stockings to Bed

Your headboard, footboards, and bed posts all present easy and cute options for hanging your Christmas stockings.

If you have kids, this is an especially excellent idea. Let’s face it. When they wake up on Christmas morning, the first place they’re heading is your bedroom to rouse you from a deep slumber. So, why not start the Christmas Day festivities watching your kiddos open their Santa goodies from the comfort of your bed?

As for how to pull off the look, you can go bold or neutral. While we love bright and traditional colors in holiday decor, we can’t help but admire this bedroom Christmas stocking display example from Country Living featuring a mix of calming neutral colors.

(Image Credit: Country Living)

6. Leverage an Existing Shelf at the Center of Your Home

We’re willing to bet that your walls are already home to a shelf or two. So, why not take advantage of what you already have to hang your Christmas stockings?

This Christmas stocking shelf display courtesy of Tidbits is creative, rustic, and relatively easy to pull off.

What we really love about this idea is that it’s set over the family room couch — one of the most important areas in the house for sitting back and enjoying the holiday season.

(Image Credit: Tidbits)

7. Use a Branch to Create a Rustic Wall Display

If you’re looking for a simple, minimalistic, and rustic look for your Christmas stocking hanging display, this branch holder may be the best idea for you.

As you can see from this example from POPSUGAR — in a post sponsored by everyone’s favorite retailer Target — it’s pretty darn easy to achieve this look.

Scavenge the outdoors for the perfect branch, use a couple nails or hooks to hang, and then hang your stockings. Easy peasy.

(Image Credit: POPSUGAR)

8. Use the Back of a Dining Room Chair

There may be no simpler way to create a Christmas stocking display than using your dining room chair backs as a hook.

While hanging your stockings on chair backs needs no special instruction, we would recommend making an effort to tie your dining room table top into the decor. After all, you don’t want the stockings to look out of place.

As you can see in our example from Remodelando la Casa, consider using an eclectic mix of decor items such as pine cones, ornament bulbs, sprigs of holly, holiday dishes, and so on to create a custom look.

(Image Credit: Remodelando la Casa)

9. Design a Faux Mantel in Any Room

While you may not have a fireplace, you can recreate the look of a fireplace mantel using your existing furniture.

This festive and unique example comes from The Faux Martha through a post that was sponsored by the one and only Pottery Barn. In the case of the author, Melissa, this display was set in her dining room and the stockings are hung from from the storage doors.

But, from our perspective, we think something similar could find a place in your living room, family room, loft or home office.

(Image Credit: The Faux Martha)

10. Liven Up Your TV Stand

Add some color, flair, and tradition to your television viewing area by using traditional Christmas stocking holders to hang stockings from the TV stand’s ledge.

In our example from Honey We’re Home, the stockings are accompanied by some additional decor to tie everything together.

(Image Credit: Honey We’re Home)

No Mantel, No Problem

As you can see from these beautiful examples, you don’t need a fireplace to create a stunning and functional Christmas stocking hanging display. You just need a little imagination.