The Elf is BACK
- Katty Ann
- Dec 1, 2018
- 6 min read
Updated: Dec 8, 2018
This will be our third year with Boyd, our Elf on the Shelf. In the past this has been a bit of an exercise of futility for me, it hasn't really taken with our daughters, they tend to touch the Elf and not take a great interest in it. I think it this year is going to be the one where the little guy really takes off for our oldest daughter, so I'm planning to try and make this year a great success. We always do an advent calendar and our oldest loves that! I'm excited to share with you the ideas I have listed for the Elf this year. I'll keep adding pictures so you can see how it goes for us. Our Elf returned today, December 1st and will stay through Christmas Eve. The ideas below are listed in no particular order and the ones with the * are marked for weekend ideas, with two parents working some of the ideas need to be set for days when we have time to do them.
Day One: This morning for the kickoff our Elf hid in plain sight on an old ladder in our living room. He brought with him a gift for the girls, their new advent calendar and the book "Elf on a Shelf". The girls were thrilled with the calendar and had fun opening the number 1 box. Then we read the Elf book and oldest had tons of questions about if he is real, etc. She seems a little freaked out by him so we shall see. She then put on a glove and wants so bad to touch him. I guess he will be returning in high places this year so that he doesn't get touched...…
Day Two: The Elf, Boyd, made "breakfast" this morning, he is not into healthy food either. But the girls were so very excited, they had mini Rudolph donuts, fruit Santa's and milk in a leftover jug made into a snowman (check out my Pinterest to see how to make these).
All served up on our cookies for Santa platter with a note saying Boyd reported to Santa and that we need to be sure to leave cookies on the platter for Santa on the "big" night. This afternoon we made a believer out of the four year old, the cat scratched her as she was going down for nap and when she woke up the Elf was holding a Band-Aid with him on it for her scratch. Thank God for Target! LOL... The rest of the evening she has just been starring at the Elf enamored with him. :)
Day Three: Our Elf is a health conscious little guy, he left the girls some Holiday hand sanitizer, it is flu season after all. This will be the first day this season that I'll miss the girls finding him since it's Monday and I'll be at work before they wake up. That is always hard, not because of the Elf, but because I don't even see them until the day is mostly over. But the Elf was a great success today and our oldest woke up wanting to do nothing until she got to find Boyd. He is really catching on. :)
Day Four: Boyd heard our oldest announce that she needed some Chapstick so he provided. Day the old-year old found him first as he was hiding in the Christmas tree. That was a first at our house. :) The Elf Chapsticks were hid in the house and the girls found them pretty quickly, they LOVED them!
Day Five: This is one I have been really excited about and I was thinking that I would miss the girls seeing it because of work, but I was pleasantly surprised that our girls both got up early this morning. That was pretty fun and then the Elf hide in the "nice/naughty" mug, and of course, he is "nice". The girls have been really excited about the felt tree. I highly recommend that everyone with small kids get one, it keeps the kids off the tree and having fun with the decorations.
Day Six: Boyd found our vintage Barbie bathtub and decided to have a little soak with the bathtub treats he brought for our girls. His good friend, Ariel, was kickin' it with him when we found them. The green ball is a bath fizzy and each of the girls will get another one in their stockings compliments of Santa. The Elf has been so much fun for us this year!
Day Seven: The Elf was hard to find today, he was hiding in our dining room in his own winter wonderland. It was a Disney gifting day, the little Daisy's in the cartons are really cute and they stack!
Day Seven 2.0: Boyd snuggled up to our family snowmen, we made them with my sister last year. :) He brought the girls the movie, "The Star. If you haven't seen it yet I would highly recommend it! It is an excellent reminder of The Reason for the Season!
Day Eight: Boyd was on the girls princess table this morning with a Polar Ice kit. We LOVE doing "projects" at our house and this is one that looked like fun. In the bowl we are "growing" our ice so that we can put the Polar in an ice scene. The beaker in the kit is really cute but has nothing to do with the overall project which was disappointing. Honestly, the little kit is clever but thus far not one I would get again. I'll share the grown ice so you can decide for yourself.
Idea list for the Elf:
1) Elf in the bathtub with a bath bomb for the girls. (Extra bath bombs will be in their stockings to connect the Elf and Santa)
2) On the girls little table with pencils that have Elves on them and a note to the girls
3) Next to a Kleenex box with Hand Santitzers for the girls, reminding them to stay healthy.
4) On the bathroom counter with two seasonal chapsticks
5) Next to the felt Christmas tree hung on the wall. (I got ours on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HFNSHWN/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
6) With cut out snowflakes and an Elf bandaid on his arm by the scissors
7) On the kitchen counter with all of the bananas decorated like Minions
8) On the kitchen island making a snow angel in powdered sugar
9) Sliding down our staircase banister on a felt slide with other toys following him
10) Decorating a framed family photo with a dry erase marker
*11) Sitting on top of a gingerbread house kit
*12) On the girls table with an ice making experiment
*13) On the counter with the materials to make pine cone Christmas trees
14) Flying through the air with a superhero cape on
*15) In the kitchen with a basket of supplies to make Christmas cookies
*16) By the TV in Mickey Mouse ears with a Disney movie
17) In a mermaid tail (everything is mermaid at our house right now)
18) At Minnie's BowTique in the girls bathroom
19) On a toilet paper roll swing in a doorway
*20) On a "date" with Barbie with Hot Cocoa supplies
21) Under the Christmas tree with a felt dollhouse for the girls
*22) Surrounded by nail polish for a mani/pedi party
In our house we try to have our ideas tie into a project we can do as a family. We don't do the Elf to try and get the kids to behave, we have found Jesus so our kids know that someone is always watching. We do it for the family fun and because I believe strongly that kids need family traditions to look forward to, to make different seasons special to them.
This could turn into a really expensive month with all the gifts and parties and etc. I hit the seasonal area at Target for a lot of our supplies. They have great stuff for pretty cheap and the Elf is even on a lot of their stuff so that ties in perfectly.
For more ideas follow my board on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/littleladieslife/elf-on-a-shelf/ there are some amazing ideas out there!
Stay tuned for updated pictures here and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/little.ladies.life/
As always please share your ideas and pictures too!
#littleladieslife #familytradition #elfontheshelf #elfontheshelfideas #elfontheshelfusa #christmas #parenting #momblogger #raisingladies
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