Today, on the Fourteenth day of ubu's Christmas competitions, we have been looking for the best Christmas stocking to give us all a festive sparkle. The Christmas stocking custom is thought to come from the legend of the Scandinavian god Odin. Children would hang their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the chimney in their homes for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or sweets. The tradition of the Christmas stocking continues to this day.
Some of the people we serve have been busy coming up with homemade and hand decorated Christmas stockings for our competition. Fiona who is from Middlesbrough says that she loves making things, arts and crafts are one of her favourite hobbies.
Fiona decided to make herself a beautiful Christmas Stocking with stars and a bow to hang up on Christmas Eve with a glass of milk and a mince pie just in case Father Christmas comes by.
Carrie, who is also from Middlesbrough said “I really enjoy keeping busy and I had a lot of fun designing and making my stocking for the competition.” She started with a very plain stocking and added decorations to make it really special and sparkling. Carrie’s stocking is covered in shiny tinsel and a big red bow. “I’m super excited about making my Christmas stocking because my fiancé said he is going to have loads of presents to put in the stocking for me to open up on Christmas Day!”
The winner of our prestigious Christmas stocking competition is Allison who lives in Newcastle, enabled and supported by ubu. Alison handmade her wonderful Christmas stocking from felt and other materials at her arts and crafts class. She goes once a week to meet up with her friends and have some fun and learn new skills. Allison says “I’ve made this Christmas stocking for someone in my family who I think will really love it. It’s going to be a surprise, so I won’t say who it’s for!”
