3 Christmas Stocking Hanging Ideas If You Don’t Have a Mantel

No fireplace? No problem! There are plenty of places to hang stockings if you don’t have a mantel to work with. Let these stocking-hanging ideas from us at Pottery Barn Kids inspire you to new creative heights this holiday season.

A Makeshift Mantel

Your home might not currently have a mantelpiece, but that doesn’t mean you can’t easily whip one up over the course of an afternoon. All this approach requires is a bit of creativity and the right supplies. A mantelpiece is essentially a shelf over a fireplace. You can recreate this look using a cardboard box, craft paints, some flickering LED candles and flame-colored tissue paper, plus a wall shelf and your family’s stockings.

Pick an open area in your living room near the Christmas tree or in your kids’ playroom to set up your temporary fireplace. Snip the flaps off the box and set it on its side. The kids can help you use craft paint or markers to decorate and paint a brick pattern on the sides and interior of the box, making it look like a small fireplace. Once that’s dry, set the box against the wall. Install the wall shelf overhead, leaving room for the stockings to hang down. Then, place your LED candles inside the fireplace and use the tissue paper to create faux flames in front. It’s a whimsical way to achieve the classic holiday decor look in an afternoon.

Bedroom Door Decor Galore

Decorating the front door of your house is a fun part of the holidays, but why leave all the fun outside? Turn your kids’ bedroom doors into warm winter portals using garlands, string lights and other classic holiday decorations. From paper snowflakes to real evergreen boughs, you and your children can have fun creating a unique display for each family member’s bedroom door. Leave room in the center of each door where you can use a removable wall hook to hang a stocking with care. If your children normally have name plates on their doors, place a personalized stocking in its place for a fun seasonal substitute.

This especially festive strategy is a two-in-one solution to decking the halls and providing a solution for where to hang stockings in a personal and prominent way. Allow the stockings to hang low enough, so everyone can easily reach theirs on Christmas morning. Younger children may require a lower-hanging stocking, so they can reach without assistance.

Stockings as Festive Wall Decor

The question of how to hang a Christmas stocking is easy to answer. A simple set of wall hooks, or wall hooks mounted on a wooden board, work when you don’t have a go-to mantelpiece hanging spot. Choose any open wall in your home that’s near a central gathering place. Choose one that’s near other elements of holiday decor so you can use the stockings to add even more color and brightness. Install your stocking hook set lower on the wall than you normally would if you were going to use it to hang coats. This puts the stockings within reach and also resembles a solid wooden mantelpiece.

You can take this technique to the next level by choosing hooks in a festive blend of colors, such as bright brass hooks on white wood. This is also an easy project to DIY if you’d like to put a more personal spin on your stocking presentation. Pick out a solid back piece that you can hang on a wall. If possible, choose something a half-inch thick or larger. Paint the wood, or cover it in varnish and let dry if desired. Select some hook-like items to provide support for the stockings. This could mean using a rustic unstained wood piece with vintage green glass drawer pulls arranged in a row. Or, you could cover a piece of plywood with plaid flannel fabric and use screws to attach plastic reindeer toys spray-painted white.

There’s lots of room for creativity and individual expression, and you can use the hook set as an opportunity to reflect your overall Christmas decor approach, whether it’s glamorous, whimsical or a little bit of both.