"The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care"

Legend has it that once upon a time in Old England, there were three young, but poor, maidens. Too poor to be married since they had no dowry. One year, Father Christmas, knowing of their plight, decided to help. He dropped three bags of gold coins down the fireplace chimney. The bags landed into the stockings the sisters had hanging from the mantel to help them dry. The women were able to get married and live happily ever after thanks to St. Nick giving them their dowry.

Years later, in 1823, in Clement C. Moore's infamous "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas), he, too, mentioned that tradition (The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...) and the custom was embraced by Americans and has lived on ever since.

It's a great tradition if you have a fireplace and mantel, but what can you do if you don't? Here are a few ideas to help you stick your stocking in a place Santa is sure to find it.

• Hang your stocking from your bedpost

• Take an over-the-door hook and hang each person's stocking on their bedroom door

• Weave a curtain rod through the stocking loops and use it to create a valance for your drapes.

• Buy free-standing, decorative hooks meant for displaying stockings from a mantle and hang the stockings from a bookcase, shelf or table's edge instead.

• String the stocking's loops through a ribbon, cord or wire or hang with clothespins and suspend the line from wall hooks.

• Use vacuum or suction cup hooks and hang the stockings from a glass door or window.

• Suspend the stockings from door and/or cabinet knobs.

• Get magnetized hooks and hang the stockings on a refrigerator door.

• Tie the stockings to a tree's branches

• Hang the stockings from cup hooks you've inserted into the underside of a shelf.

• Attach the stockings to a stair bannister.
   

In America, it's traditional for presents to be opened on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. In England, however, stockings' contents aren't opened until the afternoon.

In Italy, it is said that La Befana, who refused the Three Wise Men food or shelter on their way to meet the Baby Jesus, then changed her mind. And now she spends her time searching for the Baby to bring him presents. While she travels, she leaves gifts in the stockings of good children and a lump of coal for those who were naughty. The Russians have a similar tale with their legend of Babouschka.

However, Italian and Russian children's stockings are not opened until January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany when the Wise Men met Baby Jesus.

Spanish children don't put out their stockings. Instead they fill their shoes with carrots and hay for the Wise Men's horses and leave it on a window sill. Balthazar, one of the Wise Men, in turn, leaves candy and small gifts for the children in their shoes to say thanks.

In Belgium, gifts are brought by Father Christmas on St. Nicholas Day on December 6th. But on Christmas morning, children find small gifts in their stockings as well.

Stockings were made from a variety of materials including velvet, burlap, satin, needlepoint, tapestry, wool, linen and felt depending on family economics and custom. While stockings are still made from a variety of materials, there is now an assortment of styles to choose from or make.

• Stockings may come in the traditional boot shape, but they may also resemble a snowman, reindeer, Santa or other holiday design.

• Personalization is an additional trend as well. No longer is a stocking limited to having a person's name embroidered, stitched, written or painted. Think about adding embellishments to make them truly individual. Consider buttons, beads, trinkets and other adornments which suggest the interests of a stocking's owner.

For instance, for a teen girl named Lisa who is a cheerleader, likes rock and roll, loves to shop and whose favorite food is ice cream and favorite color is purple, you would see embellishments featuring a megaphone, ice cream cone, music note and mini shopping bag with her name stitched in purple thread.

Likewise for young Don, whose interests include playing the guitar, race cars, boating and his computer, you're likely to see embellishments which feature those items.

• Stockings are also no longer limited to shades of red and green either. Feel free to choose a design, pattern and/or color that catches your fancy or matches your decor.

• How about quilting a stocking using bits and pieces of fabrics from favorite, but no longer used, clothes or materials you've used in your home's design. It will then truly become an heirloom.

• Or, if you have a collection of photos from past Christmases, reproduce the images on specially treated paper which can be ironed thereby transferring the photos onto the stocking. Then each year, add another photo from the previous celebration. You may also select whatever photos you wish such as class photos, birthdays, vacations, sports...the choice is endless.