Elf on the Shelf Ideas ~ Week One (2012)

The kids have been really excited to see the antics of our Elf on the Shelf this year.   Our Elf isn't super fancy in his adventures, but the kids have fun with it nonetheless.  For TONS of awesome ideas to inspire your Elf, make sure you check out our Elf on the Shelf Party.  There are literally hundreds of different ideas you can use for inspiration ~ some are simple, some more elaborate, some sneaky, and some sweet!

Here's what our Elf has been up to this week...

Day 1 ~ He brought all the fixings for a yummy breakfast!  (more details HERE)

Day 2 ~ He left a message on the bathroom mirror, written in lipstick!  (Since I rarely wear lipstick, the kids asked where he got it.  I proposed that he might have borrowed it from Mrs. Claus and they got a kick out of that idea!)

 Day 3 ~ Our Elf was practicing his fine motor skills by stringing Fruit Loops on a pipe cleaner.  Notice how our smart little Elf picked out all the red and green ones and made them into a pattern !

Day 4 ~ The kids spotted our Elf sitting in the pantry sipping syrup through a straw!

Day 5 ~ He really practiced his camoflaging skills when he hid on the shelf in my son's room, blending in with a red foam finger!

Day 6 ~ We had just picked out our Christmas tree the night before.  It was set up in its stand, but had no decorations yet.  We found him perched on the curtain rod with the perfect vantage point to watch the tree trimming festivities.

 

Day 7 ~ Oops, he's still in the same spot.  My son theorized that he was so busy looking at all the ornaments and lights that he forgot to move.  I told him that was a very likely explanation.  (Not that Mommy was exhausted after a day at an amusement park with the kids and a night of tree trimming and fell asleep ;)  )

What has your Elf been up to?  Has he or she remembered to move every night?  Have there been any funny tricks or cute scenarios set up?   Tell me about your Elf in the comments or share your posts HERE if you've blogged about it.

Elf on the Shelf Breakfast 2012

Last year, our Elf on the Shelf left the ingredients for a special breakfast (see last year's breakfast here).  It was a huge hit with the kids so he did the same thing this year.  Of course, once morning arrived he couldn't actually move to make the breakfast, but he'd set the table for us and left all the ingredients.  All I had to was prepare a simple, but fun, breakfast. 

Check out our special meal...

He left me a box mix for the chocolate peppermint pancakes, so that was simple to mix and make.  A little dollop of whipped cream and some red and green sprinkles made them extra special.  Our Elf also left some fun straws to drink our hot chocolate.  The night before, he made some North Pole Grapes and they were ready and waiting for us in the freezer.  

Check them out...

They were super simple to make.  Our Elf just rinsed the grapes.  While they were still wet from the rinsing, he rolled them in red decorating sugar and stuck them in the freezer.  By the next morning, they were frozen and really yummy!

As I said, it only took a few minutes to put together, not really any longer than breakfast on a regular morning.  However, the addition of the special paper plates, napkins, straws and a little bit of sprinkles really made an impression on the kids!

 Want more ideas to inspire your Elf?  There are dozens of awesome ideas HERE!

Sharing our breakfast at:

The Frugal Girls 

Elf on the Shelf Ideas

It's that time of year ~  The Elf on the Shelf returns!!

For those of you who may be new to this whole phenomenon, the Elf is small figure who comes with a book explaining his story.  You can find it at Target, on Amazon, you can even use any elf figure.  The "magic" happens once the elf is claimed by your family.  Once he or she is adopted, the Elf watches over your house during the day and flies back to the North Pole each evening to report the day's activities to Santa.  The kids are delighted to find that he often finds a new resting spot each morning and sometimes even plays little tricks or leaves little treats.

Now, if your Elf is really creative, he or she will have no problem coming up with new ideas each morning.  However, if your Elf needs a little inspiration (or even little reminders to actually move each night), the following ideas may help!  Some of the ideas are from our Elf here at Come Together Kids and other awesome ideas have been shared in our ongoing Elf link party.

Look at some of the things that our Elf did last year...

Day 1, he served a special Elf on the Shelf Breakfast
Day 2,  he made a cute snowflake out of q-tips
Day 3,  he was found on the shelf in my son's bedroom
Day 4,  he was snacking on chocolate chips in the pantry
Day 5,  he did a bit of graffiti on our calendar
Day 6,  he switched the shower curtain to our winter one and took a shower
Day 7,  he gave himself an elf mani/pedi in the girls' room
Day 8,  he left us a candycane garden kit  (more details here)
Day 9,  unfortunately, he only left a note to improve their behavior
Day 10,  the candycane seeds grew into a special treat
Day 11,  we found him on our front door
Day 12,  he left some yummy cookies for the kids
Day 13,  he went for a ride in Barbie's car in the playroom
Day 14,  he was hiding out in the fridge next to Mommy's peppermint coffee cream
Day 15,  he left the ingredients and directions to make some yummy Christmas trees (details here)
Day 16,  he played dress up in the doll house


Want tons more inspiration?  Check out these great ideas linked up to our Elf on the Shelf link party.  Lots of the links have multiple ideas, so make sure to click through and for tons of suggestions.  It's ongoing, so please add the antics of your Elf.  (We busy parents can use all the inspiration we can get!!)

Capture a Video of Santa Claus at your House!

I originally posted about the TheSantaVideo.com in my Five Fun Ideas for Holiday Magic  post. Now, I just wanted to share it again since Santa will be arriving in a few days and you might want to make sure the elves have everything they need to record Santa's visit.  ;)

Because it only takes a few minutes to do and I'll get my video emailed to me instantly, I'm going to wait until our living room is all set up on Christmas Eve. Then, while I sleep, the elves will video Santa visiting our house. On Christmas Day, our Elf on the Shelf will leave a message showing the kids the video evidence of Santa in our living room. (It will be the last thing our Elf does before his magic ends for the year).

UPDATE: I did this last night (we get our gifts from Santa a day early so we can travel) and it was a huge hit.  Super easy to do and the kids LOVED it.   

I think this link should take you to our video. (Ignore the clutter in my living room, Santa never seems to send his cleaning elves to help me out!)

I can't wait to see the kids' reactions when they see Santa walking through our house!!

.  

Oh, and on the homepage for TheSantaVideo.com there's a link for you to go to their Facebook page and save $4!

Elf on the Shelf Ideas ~ Week 2

The fun with our Elf is continuing...  (see his antics earlier this month)

Day 11 ~ He put up our Christmas wreath on the door

and then kept watch over the front yard.

Day 12 ~ He made a batch of 
yummy Christmas tree cookies for 

the kids to take to school.

Day 13 ~ Going for a joy ride in the playroom!

Day 14 ~ The kids were surprised to find him in the fridge next to Mommy's coffee cream!

Day 15 ~ The Elf left us the ingredients and directions to make some yummy Christmas Tree desserts.

Busy decorating...

... and then busy enjoying their desserts!

. 

Day 16 ~ The kids thought this was hysterical!

(Mommy thinks it's good there's only 9 days until Christmas

if the elf has resorted to cross-dressing ;)  )

Hope your elves are having fun too!

Make sure to check out 

our Elf Ideas party for even more inspiration.

Elf on the Shelf Ideas ~ Week One

Last week, I shared our fun  

Elf on the Shelf Breakfast 

that our Elf planned for us to start 

the month of December.  

Here's what he's been up to since December 1st...

 Day 2 ~ Caught in the corner of the living room making Q-tip snowflakes.

 Day 3 ~ Found sitting on the shelf in my son's room.

 Day 4 ~ Sneaking chocolate chips in the pantry.

 Day 5 ~ Left us a message on our dry erase calendar

 Day 6 ~ He switched our shower curtain to our Winter Snowflake one,

then took a shower himself.

 Day 7 ~ Taking a little break for an Elf mani/pedi 

in the girls' room.

Day 8 ~ He left us a cute 

Candycane Garden Planting Kit.

Day 9 ~ Unfortunately, he could only leave us a note and no special candy canes grew :(

Day 10 ~ Luckily the next day was better 

and some M&M-filled candy canes 

grew in the Candycane Garden.

The fun continued the following week ~ check it out HERE!

Have your elves been having fun?

Make sure to visit our Elf on the Shelf Idea party for some North Pole inspiration.