What to do with those adorable Christmas stockings if you don’t have a fireplace or mantel? I used a charming, rusty antique ladder and some embellished shower curtain hangers to hang our stockings for Santa this year. A little glitter, some Christmas stockings, and some chippy old wood are the perfect combination for a Country Christmas.
I love the idea of bringing old worn things into the home to bring in warmth and character. The combination of rustic elements alongside more modern decor is just right for our home. When I spotted an awesome 12 foot extension ladder out in my husband’s shop I was on my knees begging him to cut it up for me. It was the perfect worn wood with lovely rusty hardware. I couldn’t stand the thought of having that beauty sitting out in the shed and not having all 24 beautiful feet of it in our house. Well, lets just say that I am loved. Even though me hubby looked at me funny, the ladder is now in 4 pieces, all of which I have used in our home. I don’t believe the hubby was totally thrilled with the idea of cutting up a ladder and couldn’t quite believe that I wanted them in the house, but he likes the end result. I have had one in our living room for about a year and it gives some great architecture to the space. When it came time to hang our Christmas stockings this year the ladders came to mind instantly. We have no fireplace, and never have. I have been using one of those cutesy little wooden novelty stocking hangers. Not this year. No mantel … no problem. I love The look of this antique ladder adorned with our special Christmas stockings.
I just needed a cute way to attach the stockings to the ladder. I didn’t want it to be too complicated, just simple and festive. I had some plain shower curtain hangers laying around the house. I was hanging onto them for no apparent reason. Lucky for me that I did, because the little hooks fit perfectly onto the rungs of the ladder. They make the absolute perfect little stocking hangers.
I decided I should fancy them up for Christmas a little, so I got out the glitter and glue. I painted some craft glue onto the circles and sprinkled them with an opaque glitter. I let it dry and then painted the metal hooks with some bronze acrylic paint so that they would blend in with the ladder a little better. Now these little shower curtain hooks sparkle with all the magic of Christmas.
I was then ready to hang a stocking on each and stand back to admire my new “old” Christmas stocking hanger. I can’t wait for Santa to come and fill those stockings this year. If you ever spot one of those old rusty and crusty ladders at a garage sale or in the trash you better pick it up and take it home. They are a marvelous addition to any home’s decor all year round!
I love this idea. We have no fireplace, and no mantle, so for the past 10 years I’ve been putting our stockings on the computer desk which is in our living room. This means the stockings are either covering up the monitor, or they’re not up at all so people can use the computer. Hmm, this might be an excuse to hit the antigue stores or maybe scrounge around other places looking for an old ladder. Fun.
Glad you like it! I will keep my eyes peeled for ya!