Elf on the Shelf

[oliv]

This is going to be my first year doing Elf on the Shelf and I'm going to be relying on you ladies for some good ideas!!

 

[Mum21boy1girl]

I am doing it for the first time this year also, would be great to see what other's elf's have done in previous years

 

[sequeena]

This will be our first year too

 

[c1403]

Our second year although we lost the elf half way through December last yea! Luckily my eldest didn't understand, will do it again this year

 

[Missyme123]

Hi i may sound a bit silly.. But can I ask what elf of the shelf is please? Thank you

 

[Phantom]

Apparently my MIL bought us an elf on a shelf so I guess we're doing it this year too.

 

[Mum21boy1girl]

Hi i may sound a bit silly.. But can I ask what elf of the shelf is please? Thank you

Basically its a little elf you can buy (you can get the one that comes with a book, or people on ebay etc sell generic ones)
You put it up so he can watch the kids all day, so he can report back to santa how the kids have behaved, every night when he comes back from telling santa, he is hiding in a different spot in your house, and may have gotten up to something silly in the night (there are lots of ideas on pinterest i've noticed) or he might bring treats for the kids. Also the kids are not meant to touch it otherwise it wont be 'magic' anymore. i hope that made sense lol
People have their own way of doing it, but i am interested to see how you all do it on here

 

[DCS]

We have 2 elves. Last year they ended up stuffed in the toy box and changing bag. They are a bit lazy and don't do much but we did take them to see Santa last year and Santa had a little catch up with them. DS thought it was amazing.

 

[smileyfaces]

I may do it for the first time this year. My 3yr old is at the age now where he would love it and get so excited. Not sure my 5yr old would understand it though (ASD)

 

[happilyhappy]

our elf arrives on the first of December bringing the first advent book and some small christmassy craft type gifts, like make your own tree ornament etc. Then each day he brings the next advent book and sometimes in the night he gets up to stuff but ours is pretty tame he generally has snowball fights with with Buzz or hides in the christmas tree. We don't do any reporting back to santa. Our elf is called peppermint and he is not the traditional elf on the shelf just a cute elf soft toy. DS loves him but this year we have a small issue. DS has a dvd about the elf on the shelf story and in it the elf falls ill on his flight back to santa one night and his friends have to rescue him. DS is petrified of this happening to peppermint and now refuses to let him return to santa. We even had to write a letter to santa in June to ask Peppermint to come home and stay with us forever so now he is resigned to living with all the other soft toys. I hope to still plan some things for him to get up to come december though

 

[happilyhappy]

I also use pinterest a lot for ideas, this is my board if you want to have a look
https://uk.pinterest.com/happily33/elf-in-the-shelf-ideas/

 

[annio84]

Does anyone have an elf that isn't the official one? I think the actual elf on the she elves are super creepy.

 

[DCS]

Does anyone have an elf that isn't the official one? I think the actual elf on the she elves are super creepy.

We have 2 soft elf toys. Someone on here recommended them last year. I think they were about £2 from the card factory. We also have an adorable one from eBay who is just the cutest little guy. When we didn't loose them, the kids liked to take them to bed.

 

[Kate&Lucas]

I love our elf on the shelf. I usually start making a list around early November time of things for him to get up to, then I buy props on eBay or from craft shops to set up little scenes. It's totally all for me to be fair, Lucas prefers it when I just hide him
We have the original elf, I know most people find him creepy but I just love his little face! He's so cute.

Ours is more for fun than the whole surveillance thing. Our story is that there are different types of elves (to account mainly for the different depictions in films/books etc), but the little red elves are the youngest and most mischievous. During December the North Pole is an incredibly busy place and everybody has to work very hard, so the mummy and daddy elves send their little ones to stay with the most well-behaved children on the nice list, so they can learn their manners and learn how to be sensible. It has the same impact on Lucas in terms of his behaviour, because he's so determined to make the elves and Santa proud (bless him).
He normally comes to stay on December 1st but last year he was a day or two late - Father Christmas sent a letter to Lucas to say he was sorry, but he couldn't send such an impressionable young elf to stay with a family who's little boy was so cheeky to his mum. It worked SO well, he was an angel

 

[c1403]

Does anyone have an elf that isn't the official one? I think the actual elf on the she elves are super creepy.

I just found a soft toy elf on Amazon last year.

 

[Cangaroo]

We're doing kindness elves this year. I've never done elf on the shelf before as it didn't appeal. I love the idea of kindness elves much better!

https://thekindnesselves.com

 

[SazzleR]

We have a elf called Tootsie and this will be her 4th year with us. She arrives around 1st Dec (or the closest day that is a day off for me!) She brings a North Pole breakfast with her when she arrives (usually chocolate milk & Krispy Kremes (did you know they have them in the North Pole! ), along with the boys' advent calendars and Christmas bits & bobs to use through December, like the Christmas cups & plates, bedding & a pair of PJs.

She gets up to lots of mischief around the house & with the other toys. Will see if I can find my collage of her pics to post. She also brings the odd treat, like sweets for our annual panto visit. Mid December she does a Progress Report with percentage niceness (in Arthur Christmas style) and areas for improvement. On Christmas Eve morning she's always gone and leaves a letter and the boys' Christmas Eve bag as a goodbye.

DS2 had no clue about it last year so looking forward to him being more aware of it this year. Hoping I have another year or so of DS1 believing it all as well

 

[Missyme123]

Aw wow this is a fantastic idea, I can't believe I have never heard of this.. Thanks for some lovely ideas girls, I'm going to keep my eye on this one

 

[mum22ttc#3]

We have two elves, one is the official and one that looks the same but green we got from eBay last year for about £5.
The kids love them and can't wait for the 1st of December when they arrive with a big North Pole breakfast. I get all my ideas from Pinterest and have about 200 saved

 

[Babybump87]

ohh this sounds dead exciting! !.DD1 would love doing this... Thanks !!. off to look at a few ideas!! xx