For the past couple Christmases I have been on the hunt for a nice set of matching family stockings.   There are a lot of lovely options out there, but so far I haven’t found anything I have absolutely loved enough to pay $20+ per stocking for.

Every time we head to the Christmas aisle to browse the stockings, my son heads straight to the tackiest screen printed or plush character stockings he can find.  I normally have nothing against character merchandise, but I just can’t wrap my head around paying $10 for an Optimus Prime or Ninja Turtle stocking that is going to stick out like a sore thumb amongst my other Christmas décor and will likely only be used once as his interests change and he’s begs me for something different next Christmas.

I wasn’t planning to make new stockings for my kids, but as my son reached for one of those tacky stockings next to the plain $1 felt stockings in Target, inspiration hit.

“How would you like mommy to make you a Ninja Turtle stocking instead?”

“Yeah!!  That sounds pretty cool.”

“Okay, grab me one of those plain green stockings and I can make it look like a Turtle for you.”

At $1 each, the basic felt stockings seemed like the perfect solution.  Typically you can find them in red, but I was excited to see that Target had a few color options I could easily customize to create unique character stockings at a fraction of the cost.  One quick (ha!) trip to Michael’s to load up on some sheets of felt, fabric paint and hot glue sticks and I was ready to get to work on my creations.

 

Leonardo Ninja Turtle Stocking

Using a bit of blue, white and black felt, this Ninja Turtle stocking couldn’t have been much easier.  I began by tracing the sides of the stocking on plain white paper to make sure my mask template was the right size, and then sketched out a turtle mask.  Once satisfied with my mask design, I used scotch tape to adhere the paper template to the blue felt and then cut around it with a pair of sharp scissors.  I repeated the same process to draw and cut out the mouth pieces and eyes.

Once all my pieces were cut, I simply hot glued them all onto the felt stocking.

Michelangelo is my son’s favorite turtle so I am still not sure why he chose Leonardo for his stocking, but I was happy to oblige since he worked best with the red, blue and green color scheme I have been going for.

 

Mini Turtle Stockings

Once I had the idea to do the big Leonardo stocking for my son, I also spotted the mini version stockings on the store racks.  They came in packs of 2 red and 2 green for $2.00 so I decided to grab two packs and attempt a full set of Turtle’s as part of a gift for my husband’s coworker.

 

They were actually a bit harder to make because of all the tiny felt pieces to cut, but overall I am happy with the final set.  The stockings are a great size to fill with chocolates, gift cards and other small treats.

 

Mini Mario Stocking

Since I already had the small red stockings that came with those I used for the Ninja Turtle set, I decided to make one into a Mario themed stocking for my son.  This was the quickest of the stockings I made and would be cute for any Nintendo lover.  You could even make one of the small green stockings into an accompanying “Luigi”.

I think I have way too many stocking stuffers for my as it is, so Santa may use this one as overflow and put some of the tiny Mario figures into it come Christmas Eve.

 

Frozen Anna Inspired Stocking

I picked up both a pink and blue stocking for my daughter because I still wasn’t sure what I was making for her when we were in the store.  Like every other little girl, she is into Frozen this year and the majority of gifts going under the tree and into her stocking will be Frozen merchandise.  The light blue stocking would have worked well with an Elsa twist, but I know her favorite character is Anna so I decided to use her dress as the inspiration for my stocking.

This stocking was a bit more complex then the Ninja Turtle one because it required fabric paint and a very steady hand to put the floral patterns on the dress.  I used plain white chalk to draw the patterns on before tracing them out using Neon Green, Gold and Grape Tulip brand fabric paint.  After letting the paint set fully overnight, I was able to easily wipe off the remaining chalk lines with a damp cloth.

I hot glued the bodice and toe portion onto the stocking, and then embellished it with some gold beaded trim at the end of the bodice and wrapped a bit of sparkly pink felt around the top of the stocking to represent Anna’s trademark cape.  The finishing touch was an Anna pin that I borrowed from one of the dress-up costumes Santa will be bringing her Christmas morning.  The stocking is a little more figurative, but I think my Frozen fan is still very happy with the end result.  Just wait until she sees what it will be filled with Christmas morning!

 

Mickey and Minnie Stockings

And just in case you missed the Mickey and Minnie stockings I made up last year, I am sharing them again as more inspiration for transforming cheap felt stockings.   I actually made these using old red felt stockings I already had hanging around my house so all they cost me was the price of the sheets of felt!

You can read about how I created my Mickey and Minnie stockings here.  I had actually already hung them up and was happy to use them again this year, but I am glad the kids convinced me to make new ones.

 

All in all my custom stocking took far less time then I was expecting and the end result was two very excited little kids.  My head is already spinning with ideas for future stockings and I still have that pink one I might just try to turn into something Sleeping Beauty or Princess Peach inspired.

These would be cheap and easy gifts to make and fill for the favorite people in your life, and I love that the stockings come in both small and large versions depending on your gift giving needs.  My stockings are just a small glimpse at the infinite possibilities out there if you are creative and willing to do a little cutting and gluing.

Happy Crafting!