DIY Stocking Holders

Make DIY stocking holders for FREE with scrap wood! These are easy to make. Perfect for your mantel or a handmade gift that looks like you spent more!

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Here’s how this project got started… Last year I built this mantel for my electric fireplace. As I was building the mantel, I was thinking how adorable it would look with Christmas stockings hanging from it.

Just like my workshop, my living room is small and so is the scale of this DIY electric fireplace. On a recent trip to Target I found these stockings. They are perfectly scaled to the size of my fireplace. I got them home, put them up to the fireplace and thought… “oh yeah, how am I gonna hang these things?”

If you’ve been following the blog for a bit, you know “I don’t buy, I build.” Where do you go when you need some DIY inspiration? Pinterest of course! I searched for stocking holder ideas I could make myself, but after I scrolled for a bit I thought… “wait a minute, why don’t I just design my own holder?” I liked the idea of a house or village. Then I googled “house stocking holder” and immediately found my inspiration. The search led me to this metal house stocking holder from West Elm.

I liked the clean, metal look. But the random placement of the windows made me twitch! I would need to fix that for my stocking holder design. My design would also need to fit with the scale of my fireplace.

Here’s what I came up with. It’s not an exact replica of the West Elm stocking holder, it’s more of a metal look silhouette. I used a metallic paint to approximate the look of the West Elm version.

These are really quick to put together, and like I said, the best part is they were made entirely with scraps I found in my workshop! I love FREE!

Unlike the single house West Elm version, my collection includes four buildings. The first is the cottage…

The saltbox…

The manor…

And the church…

Make one or all four…

I used a few gallery rail spindles to hang the stockings. Oh, gallery rail spindles? Ya know how some kitchen cabinets have those little spindles running along the top of the cabinet? Those are gallery rail spindles.

My aunt had given me a bunch of them in all different shapes and sizes. If you don’t have any gallery rail spindles (you probably don’t, they’re kind of an odd thing to have) you could use small cabinet knobs or cup hooks to hang your stockings.

Store-bought stocking holders are available if you don’t have the tools or time to make one. Here are a few options you can buy online and have sent to your home.

West Elm Inspired Stocking Holders Plans

Supplies
Scraps of 1×2, 1×3 and 1×4
1-1/4″ wood screws
knobs or hooks to hang stockings
Flat black spray paint
Silver metallic paint
Paint brush

Tools
Hitachi Miter Saw
DEWALT Drill
Countersink drill bit

Step 1. Cut Bases. Cut 4 pieces of 1×4 to 3-1/2″. Layout locations for screws and use countersink drill bit to predrill the holes.

Step 2. Cut Buildings. Use these buildings or create your own. The church is made from a 1×3 and a 1×2. After you cut the top and bottom of the church, apply glue and clamp. Note: These pieces are small. Please use caution when cutting and work safely. Cut the angles first and then cut to length.

Step 3. Pre-Assembly. Mark the location of the buildings on the base. The buildings set in 1″ from the front of the base and 1/2″ on each side of the base. If you have a bench vise, put the base in your vice, put the building on the bench and align with the marks you just made. Using the countersink bit, pre-drill into the building. Attach using 1-1/4″ wood screws. Note: I dissembled mine, painted and then reassembled. If you choose to do it this way, label the pieces, so you can reassemble after painting.

If you have a bench vise, put the base in your vice, put the building on the bench and align with the marks you just made.

Using the countersink bit pre-drill into the building.

Attach using 1-1/4″ wood screws.

Note: I dissembled mine, painted and then reassembled. If you choose to do it this way, label the pieces, so you can reassemble after painting.

Step 4. Paint the pieces. To give the holders a metal look and a little texture, I used a two step paint process.

First I sprayed them with flat black spray paint.

Once that was dry I brushed on a metallic paint allowing some of the black to show through.

Step 5. Final Assembly. Apply a dab of glue to bottom of building, center building on base over the holes drilled in Step 1 and attach using 1-1/4″ wood screws.

All that’s left is to place them on the mantle and hang your stockings with care 🙂