Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Hi Everyone,

Well, last year I was not very active on my blog during this time of year. You know how the holidays go....

Anyway, my boys had an Elf assigned to them by the Big Man in the Red Suit. He was not an official "Elf on the Shelf" but he was much cheaper and my boys like getting a new Elf each year and that just wouldn't be practical with the $30+ OFFICIAL elf. :)

Okay, so I wanted to share the elf antics that our Elf, Tom, was up to last year. He was discovered each morning, having been up to something. Sometimes it was just fun, sometimes it was down right creative!! :)

We do not have the "no touch" rule like the official elf does, I just know if it were me, I couldn't resist touching as a kid. Here are his adventures, one for each day from December 1st through December 24th.

And now, onto the Antics. :)

Day 1: He made a pumpkin snowman out of those little decorative pumpkins. It was held together with toothpicks and decorated with buttons. 

Day 2: He toilet papered the Christmas tree. My boys thought this one was so funny!

Day 3: Tom set up a train under the Christmas tree. We caught him riding on the train.

Day 4: Tom was watching the movie Elf on the couch, he even popped some microwave popcorn.

Day 5: My boy's behavior wasn't wonderful the day before, so on day 5, Tom brought a letter from Santa instead of fun. 

Day 6: Tom was caught in the middle of a card game with a couple other stuffed toys.

Day 7: He gift wrapped up all the breakfast foods for the boys... including spoons, bowls, vitamins and the box of cereal. :)

Day 8: Tom decorated our bathroom!! It was all decked out with lights, snowflakes, a little Christmas tree and a wintery new shower curtain. 

Day 9: My boys LOVE Legos, so on Day 9, Tom brought them the book, "The Christmas Story" told in Lego Bricks and Minifigs. They loved it. :) Tom even had reading glasses on.

 

Day 10: Keeping with the Lego theme, we woke up to find Tom sleeping in a Lego bedroom he'd constructed, complete with nightstand, bed and Christmas tree, he even had legos scattered under his bed like my boys usually do. His blanket was a piece of wrapping paper.

Day 11: Tom delivered bookmarks with the story of the candy cane, a real candy cane and a set of Santa placemats.

Day 12: Tom brought the boys a cute little Santa toy/shelf sitter. He wanted to introduce his old friend and told the story of how Santa got started (the story of St. Nicolas).

Day 13: We were surprised with Tom sitting on the table with a Holiday Funfetti Cake mix, frosting, cupcake liners and a letter from Santa. The letter also included ticket to ride "The Polar Express" and elf-themed jokes and games for the boys to play on the drive to the train station (it was about an hour from us).

Day 14: Apparently Tom missed the North Pole and all the winter snow (we didn't get any last year) so he constructed himself a snowglobe home, complete with snow. All our other snowglobes were set up around Tom's new home.

Day 15: My youngest son loves Angry Birds and received a couple sets of the block toy for his birthday. On day 15, we found Tom in the middle of a game on our dining room table. 

Day 16: Tom was found on the end table, using a candy cane fishing pole to fish for gold fish out of a cup. He even brought his fishing vest and fish basket. 

Day 17: Tom set up a zip-line to ride from the kitchen and across the living room, landing on the Christmas Tree. The boys loved this one so much they made a video. It's on Youtube. :)

Day 18: In honor of the real meaning of Christmas, Tom set up a wall mounted, nativity display. 

Day 19: We found Tom in a heated snowball fight in the kitchen. There were mini marshmallows everywhere. We found lots of "snowballs" mid-flight, strung from the kitchen ceiling. 

Day 20: Tom set up a tire swing. He was riding when we found him, but there was a line of toys waiting for their turn.

Day 21: "Super Tom"! Tom sure was busy! on Day 21, he arrived wearing a cape, mask and under-roos.... Super Tom was there. :)

Day 22: Apparently Tom wasn't cut out to be a super hero.... on Day 22 he was covered with band-aids with a hot water bottle on his head. :(

Day 23: Tom wrapped the boy's door-ways with wrapping paper, essentially sealing them into their bedrooms.  He even remembered to add the bows. :)

Day 24: Tom gave the boys a photo album with pictures of all of his elf adventures during the time he was here visiting. It included a note explaining how Santa will pick him up tonight while he was dropping off the presents, and thanking us for a fun Christmas season. Before we left, we found pics of Tom setting up a camera and tripod on our coffee table. Then we found pics of Santa leaving presents under our tree!! The boys were so amazed!!

This was by far the most fun I've had with the boys, thinking of each of the Elf's adventures. My Facebook friends loved it too, I received lots of feedback when I posted "Adventures of Tom the Elf" each morning. :)

And here is the video of the zip-line: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=499286676769503&set=vb.100000645246176&type=3&theater

Enjoy your Elf this year, whenever he/she gets there, the Elf is a blessing. I love how the Elf Antics thrilled my boys and just set their imagination on fire! :)

In case you'd like to adopt your own Elf, here is a link to my printable Santa Letters and Elf Passport.