The Stockings are Hung..

The story of our Christmas stockings begins back when we only had three kids. Christmas Eve was a Sunday and after we got home from church we had many long hours to fill with at least two really excited children. The third was just a baby. Looking for something to fill the time, I suggested to Lauren and Steven that we make some stockings so that they would have something to put out for Santa to fill. I hunted around the house and found some red fleece and various colored felt scraps. Because it was Sunday and we don't shop on that day, we had to make do with what we had. I had enough fleece to cut out four stockings and with the kids help we came up with some ideas to decorate them using the felt. We made an angel, snowman, Christmas tree and candle. The stockings weren't perfect but they were cute and I thought they turned out well for a fast, unplanned project on a Sunday afternoon.

A few years later, the kids were really concerned because there were no longer enough stockings to go around and once again Christmas was fast approaching. To myself, I kept promising that I would make new stockings for everyone. Some that were well planned and beautiful and not just a quick craft project. But I picked up some red fleece one day when I was out shopping and once again, on Christmas Eve we whipped together two more stockings, adding a Santa and some stars.

Several Christmases later, we come to this year, more than a decade after the stockings were first created. It has bothered the kids for several years that we only had six stockings which means that Mom and Dad don't have a stocking and they have asked me each year to make more. I have still been telling myself that I am going to find beautiful fabric and fun ideas and make some lovely stockings to enjoy. But I haven't done it.

Sarah took it upon herself this year to add to our stocking collection. She dug through boxes in the basement and found leftover red fleece and scraps of felt. She came up with ideas and created patterns. And now we have a gingerbread man and Christmas presents added to our lineup. Best of all we have a stocking for each person. Hanging in a row over the fireplace, it makes me realize just how many of us there are in this family.

I know why I have never remade our stockings. Because after so many years, these are our tradition. They started out as a quick craft project but my little kids helped me design them and create them. Every stitch sewed in a little of the excitement and anticipation that they were feeling. When we pull the stocking out of the storage box every year, the kids are once again excited and full of anticipation. To them, they were never a temporary craft project but works of art. Now that Sarah has completed the collection, I really have no reason to remake them. They will be a part of our tradition for many more years.