The Stockings Were Hung....

It's Pink Saturday and for the month of December Beverly has asked us to share a response to a weekly theme. This week we are to share a childhood memory of a special holiday.

I suspect that as a child I considered every Christmas a special holiday, but I do remember when I received this pink stocking. I was one of four children, and one of our aunts hand beaded each of us a special Christmas stocking one year. Each was made of felt and adorned with sequins, beads, and little jingle bells.

My stocking was pink with a baby blue cuff, and my name was spelled out in sequins and glass beads. I thought it was the most beautiful Christmas stocking I'd ever seen. I was so excited at the thought that Santa would fill it with goodies just for me.

Santa was even right there on my stocking toting his bag of toys. My aunt had beautifully appliquéd different figures on each stocking, and meticulously outlined each appliqué with shiny glass beads.

The Christmas tree on my stocking was filled with sparkly sequins to represent ornaments and more sequins sprinkled across below and on the little packages under the tree.

On the toe were two shiny jingle bells positioned on a blue strap so they would ring when the stocking moved. We didn't have a fireplace and mantel, but we always hung our stockings somewhere in the living room near our Christmas tree. Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve, and we woke to delights of surprise on Christmas morning. There would always be two or three gifts from Santa for each of us children along with something that we all could share and enjoy as a family. I have vivid memories of rushing into the room on Christmas morning to find my gifts from Santa. One year it was a little red cash register, another my beloved teddy bear, and some years it was a special doll. My stocking would be filled to the top. Santa always filled it with an apple, an orange, nuts, a big peppermint candy cane, other candies, and some special gift. Sometimes there would be coloring books with a new box of crayons, a paint set, or perhaps a book of paper dolls. As the years passed and we became teenagers, Santa continued to fill our stockings. He always knew just what would make us happy! My stocking was my favorite part of Christmas. Today this little pink stocking has lost its luster of my youth, but it will always be special to me. I appreciated the love that went into making this treasure.

My husband and I continue the stocking tradition with a bit of a twist. We don't wrap gifts for each other to have under our tree. Instead we fill each other's stockings with presents. Our stockings are larger than the pink felt stocking of my childhood, but still it is a challenge to find things that fit within these special socks. I often find things through the year and save them for my husband's Christmas stocking. Our tradition requires a bit of creativity as well. Sometimes there might be a clue that leads one of us to something too large to fit within the stocking. One year my stocking was filled with lots of old, costume jewelry, but when I pulled out the last piece it was a beautiful strand of pearls. Wonderful gifts can come in small packages!

Thanks for visiting today. Please leave a comment below to let me know you stopped by.

And a big thank you to our hostess Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound for organizing Pink Saturday each week. Be sure to visit all the other participants who've left a post today sharing a childhood memory about a special holiday.

Don't forget to stop by Anything Goes Here on Monday for more Vintage Christmas.