Where are my stocking holders?!

So I have been holding off on completing the mantle above my fireplace because 3 of my boxes were still in the attic and I couldn't find my stocking holders.

Between work and traveling, hubby just got around to getting the last 3 boxes down from the attic yesterday.

So I started getting out my Spode Christmas dishes (woo hoo!!) and some other various decorations that were thrown in these boxes and the whole time I'm saying to myself "ok, well.. I guess they must be in THAT box".

And then I ran out of boxes.

All of a sudden it hits me.... I don't use stocking holders. I actually haven't in 2 years.
Clearly all the travel and hustle and bustle of Christmas has made me lose my mind.

2 years ago I had stocking holders that said J, O, Y which is fine and dandy, but I like to split my stockings on either side of the fireplace so we had:

J    O                                                   Y

They got donated.

We also had inherited some stocking holders from my mother-in-law, but they were kinda bulky and didn't match the rest of my mantle decor. So those, too, got donated.

** Side note, as I told hubby this story yesterday he pointed out that with 2 little ones running around pulling on things... having huge 3lb chunks of ceramic holding up a stocking was not the thing we wanted to come smashing down on their heads **

Instead, I use large clear packaging tape to hold up the stockings. AND if I have actually looked at my pictures from last year, I would have seen the lack of holders.



Mantle 2010

A little closer at Mantel 2010

Yes, I take pictures of the before and after of my decorations so (a) I know where to put the original stuff back after Christmas and (b) so I know what decorations go where year to year.

Time to go decorate the mantle!