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 

Think they're telling me something?

It's December.  How in the world did that happen so quickly?  Somehow, while I've been super busy substitute teaching, soccer and basketball practice shuttling, school project assisting, sibling fight refereeing and just general busy mom-ming, the days, weeks and months have been flying by.

 New posts will be coming.  Our Elf on the Shelf returned this week.  I figured out a cool (and super simple ) way to preserve puzzles, discovered  a yummy make-your-own hot chocolate mix, and I have some gift ideas that might be helpful if you're looking for some non-electronic ideas for your elementary schooler.  There are probably even more posts that I've taken pictures for or have in drafts that just got pushed to the side for now (gosh, working out of the home almost full time takes a lot of you).

Anyway, I didn't have to worry that I hadn't taken any of the Christmas decorations down out of the attic yet.  The girls decided to decorate the mantle on their own the other day.  While I do have a nice garland, the stockings and some other decorations that I can put up, their homemade snowflakes hung up with scotch tape and yarn will hold us over for another few days.

 

Oh, and they even made a sign reminding us that it's the North Pole...

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's been swept up in the busy-ness of life.  Are you all equally crazy and busy too?  How do you juggle everything ~ whether you're busy working at home or out of the home?

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!!)