Are We Creative Enough To Do This For a Month?

I swore up and down that I would never do the whole Elf on the Shelf thing.  Sometimes, however, circumstances make you go back on your word.

My mother-in-law sent home an Elf on the Shelf before Thanksgiving.  So now, we’re in it to win it.  Ok, we’ll do the best we can to make it happen!

The story (as I’ve heard it) behind this whole thing is that some kids wondered how Santa could know how kids were bad or good.  The answer?  He sends these “scouting” elves to the homes of children to watch them.  At bedtime, they go back to the North Pole and report to Santa.  They return before morning and find a different place to keep an eye on the children. The child cannot touch the elf, or it loses its magic and may not return.  This could easily get them on the naughty list! 

As a parent, it’s our job to find a creative place to place the elf every night.  You have no doubt seen many of the humorous things people have come up with.  Some are not very kid friendly.

The story says that once the child names their elf, they get their magic and officially become part of the family.  After some discussion Ella passed on Snowflake and instead decided on Twinkle (which has since become Twinkles).

A buddy of mine noted that from far away, you can’t really tell if the elf is a boy or a girl. Close up you can see ours is a girl.

And for those who still want to question it … it says she is a girl right on the box!

Anyway, we watched a short movie on Netflix with Ella and Andrew, read the book that told the story, and then they were off to bed. Day 1 was a simple one. Right above the fireplace on the mantle.

Day 2’s idea was found in the internet. We grabbed one of her mini Nana blankets to make it work. Twinkles camped out in the fridge.

Sam worked the next night, so it was up to me to think of what to do. This may or may not have been influenced by an action movie or two. Twinkles was zip lining to the Christmas tree.

For day 4, I wanted to have her hanging from the ceiling fan, but the bucket/cup I put her in kept tipping and she’d fall out. Instead, I used the cup and hung her from the magnetic clip on the side door. It kinda looks like the hot air balloon ride went wrong and she crash landed on the clip.

This morning, on Facebook, my friends Matt and Tricia posted that they got an elf for their son. I immediately commented and told them I was glad that there would be someone I could steal ideas from!

The elf goes “home” Christmas Eve … feel free to share your ideas, too!! Kid friendly, of course.