Christmas Books Stocking Hanger – Christmas Finale!

If you love the old classic Christmas books and movies as much as I do, then the final project in my 12 Days of Christmas series may be just what you need!  It’s a Christmas Classics Stocking Hanger, and when you make your own, I guarantee you’ll be the first person you know to have one like it.

Not only is this the final day in my series, but I have a special treat for you as well.   I’ve teamed up once again with the amazing Junkers United group, and you are going to be amazed at all the festive Christmas things that can be done with JUNK!   We have 14 feature projects to share with you, that’ll knock your Christmas stockings off!

Let’s get started!

DIY Christmas Books Stocking Hangers

For my project, I searched through the mountain of “junk” in my workshop, looking to see what inspired me, and my eyes landed on a battered old set of encyclopedias from the early 1900’s.  I remembered back to the old books coat rack that I’d created for a previous Junkers United event, and it was like someone flipped the switch and lit up the Christmas tree, because I immediately envisioned my stack of old books becoming the coolest old-fashioned Christmas stocking hanger, inspired by some of the most famous Christmas books of all time.

To make this project, you’ll need:

*discarded books

paint (I used homemade chalky paint)

*narrow coat hooks

*image transfer medium

*screws & E600 glue

1.  Select some discarded books.   Pick books that are wide enough to hold coat hooks and heavy enough to support the weight once you fill the stockings.  Your books don’t have to match, you’ll need as many books as the number of stockings you’ll be hanging + a few extras.  Here are the books I used.

2.  Paint your books.  I had previously painted a few of these books (seen here), but I gave them a fresh coat so that they would match the books that hadn’t been painted yet.  I gave the unpainted books 2 coats of paint.  Also paint a few smaller books, to act as spacers between the larger books.

3.  Create & print your book titles, or use mine below.  We have 6 people in our family, so I made two printables, with the titles of 6 classic Christmas books, including the author’s name – just like a book spine would have.  I printed the images in reverse, so they would be the correct direction when transferred onto the books.

{CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE, SAVE ,AND PRINT}

4.  Apply transfer medium.  Cut out each book title, and squirt some image transfer medium onto the front of them, then use a foam brush to spread the medium around.  It should be thick enough that you can’t see the words through the medium, but not too thick.  Use care not to get any of the medium on the back side, or the images won’t transfer where the medium is.  If you do get some on the back side, immediately wipe it away with a lightly damp rag.

(Tip – after doing the first 2 books, I realized it’s better to cut the title and the author name as 2 pieces, and put the transfer medium on them individually.) 

5.  Put the page on your book spine.  Flip the paper over, and adhere it to the spine of your book,.  Quickly position it in place, then firmly rub it down.  If excess medium squeezes out from under the page, wipe it off with a damp rag, again using care to wipe away from the paper, so none gets on the back side.  Allow it to dry completely, or use a blow dryer to speed up the process.

6.  Remove the paper to reveal the book titles.  Use a wet rag to completely dampen the back side of the paper, and begin gently rubbing to remove the paper.  Once you have all the paper off, the book title will be adhered to the book spine, like this.

7.  Distress book spines.  I used my palm sander  to distress the spine.  Use care around the words, so they don’t get sanded off.

8.  Connect the Christmas books.  To give the books stability, glue them together with strong glue (like E600).  For extra stability, you can also open the covers of each book, and put a long screw going all the way through the book, and into the adjoining book.  By only connecting 2 books together, instead of all 6 of them, it makes them easier to store and lighter to lift, and you can rearrange the order of the books, or add other books later, if desired.  The glue helps keeps the book covers from shifting, and the screws keep the books sturdily connected.

9.  Attach coat hooks.  Screw your coat hooks into the book spines.  You may need to slip a thin piece of wood (like a paint stir stick) inside the spine, from the top of the book, to give your screws more to “grab” onto, but my books were thick and tightly bound, so I didn’t need to.  I staggered my coat hooks a little, because I knew I’d never get them all aligned straight on the Christmas books!

I wanted to make sure that the books wouldn’t flip over once there is weight in the stockings, so I filled 2 of the stockings hanging from the books with about 2.5 pounds of canned goods in each one.   As long as the full length of the book is supported by shelf or mantel, they had no problem at all.

I’ll actually be using these stocking hangers on top of my antique piano that we turned into a desk, and they work great sitting at the front edge of it.

SHOP FOR CHRISTMAS BOOKS HERE

Well, that’s a wrap of my 12 Days of Christmas!  I hope you enjoyed them, and found a project idea that inspired you to break out the paper, paint and glitter, and get crafting for Christmas this year.

{Click HERE to see any projects that you may have missed!}

{Click HERE to see even MORE Christmas projects and printables!}

Now, take a look at what the rest of the Junkers United Team did with their junk for this event!  You’re going to love them all!

Donna – Funky Junk

Susan – Homeroad

Bliss – Bliss Ranch

Becky – Beyond the Picket Fence

Beth – Unskinny Boppy

Carlene – Organized Clutter

Laurel – Chipping with Charm

Breida – Breida with a B

Brian – Gadget Sponge

Marianne – Songbird

KariAnne – Thistlewood Farms

Pauline – My Altered State

Disclosure – This post contains Amazon affiliate links, for which I receive a small commission.