I don't put up the stockings until Christmas Eve since we use the fireplace before Christmas. I have a wooden mantle. The stockings are attached to the mantle with thumbtacks that I keep up year round. They are at the very back of the mantle so they aren't noticeable. The stockings have a cloth loop sewn on them. I have tied a thick neutral colored yarn through the loop. That yarn gets placed around the thumbtack. As long as the thumbtack is hammered into place, all is well.