It’s December and if you are an Elf on the Shelf fan you have probably woken up in a cold sweat at least once realizing you forgot to move that little sucker! I thought I would share some Elf memories and maybe give you a few fun, simple ideas that will make your kidos scream with JOY but also let you get some sleep!
I did a little research and found out the Elf on the Shelf made it’s debut in 2005. Thank goodness we didn’t find out about the little sucker until probably about 2010. The Elf and I had a love hate relationship. I loved the magic that arrived with the Elf but even when I had a slew of great ideas, there were days when the elf was not met with rave reviews (like when he didn’t MOVE).
Right after Thanksgiving Carly Jo began asking questions and decided she understood about the elf. I was so relieved friends! Now here we are I’m kind of missing the little guy. There is just something precious and sweet about that last little believer in the house! Carly has now requested the elf come for a visit even with the knowledge! So we took a little walk down memory lane and thought we would share how the elf kind of evolved over the 5 years he was with us.
We of course started small with a very basic elf who really did just move from place to place. No funny antics, just new hiding places. The kids had fun finding BJ (it’s short for Billy Jo and don’t think I haven’t caught heck) and we had fun reminding them the elf was watching and reporting to Santa. Carly would get so worked up and start screaming at him to stop watching her. So fun!
Year 2 I decided to up my game because i’m a fun mom like that Pinterest. There were lots of antics and one morning when the kids could not find him we headed out to the car to find it parked horizontal across my driveway with BJ buckled in the front seat! It was seriously one of the most talked about moves by BJ the Elf. It was also easy peasy.
As we were leaving for Thanksgiving I ran back into the house to grab something I “forgot” and staged this for BJ’s return. This was so easy and could be used at anytime.
I seriously think this may be one of my all time faves! All you need is a dryer, some painters tape or masking tape and a few barbie friends for some rollercoaster fun! Bonus…YOU get the day off of laundry duty.
All you need is a kitchen for these ideas. Admittedly the silverware drawer is a little creepy! Who says if your kids can’t find the elf that is your problem? I mean maybe he got scared by their bad behavior and had to have an extra night away. Totally guilty of letting a day go before helping my kids find him a time or two when they were a bit older.
In 2014 I must have been feeling really motivated because I was extremely intentional about planning out the daily elf moves and even created some little cards for each day with a message. This one is SO easy y’all and the kids thought it was hilarious.
More easy fun! The little sick elf also works well when you forget to move him one day and it’s an easy explanation…..he was sick!
One of my personal favorites! I ran a half marathon in 2014 and loved leaving this for my family to find before they came to cheer me on. All moms rock so this is an easy win for any day! Obviously you can spell anything with cheerios and m&ms.
One of my all time favorites and as you can see Carly Jo thought it was pretty great too! Also…easy…except it may have been December 23rd before I got around to cleaning the marker off the toilet!
Last year I really wasn’t sure whether or not Carly would still be waiting for BJ so I held off. Day after day she would wonder when he was returning and I knew I had to make it a big year! So while these ideas are not super easy, with a little thoughtful planning we were able to turn our mischievous elf into a random acts of kindness elf!
I worked with Carly’s 4th grade teacher and we set this up the night before. It was such a fun day for her and her friends. One of her friends even wrote a letter to BJ!! The kids wrote notes and passed out candy canes to their favorite staff members around school and I loved receiving the pictures at the end of the day!
I worked to incorporate all the things we already do each year into the daily elf moves; donating blankets, handing out goodies to the sanitary workers and then of course you have to give yourself a toast every now and then!
Kids always have field trips this time of year so BJ left a lottery ticket for the kids to give to their bus driver.
I mean…seriously….smiles all around y’all!
Where was this when I needed it? This is the latest in Elf marketing so if you are a mom who likes the excitement but needs the ease of a one stop shop, you might want to pick up Elves at Play. I’d like to say if I was not too lazy this would have been marketed my my friend Holly and I. In 2014 we came up with the slogan Unshelf Yo Elf and totally had this idea but obviously not the gumption to carry through. Ha! You can see all the past years of elfing fun on instagram by checking out these hashtags or follow my friend Holly on instagram because the magic at her house is still alive and well. #unshelfyoelf2014 #unshelfyoelf2015 #unshelfyoelf2016.
So all this to say, friends, whether you do the elf or not embracing the season and finding ways to share the Christmas magic with your kids is special. They are only little once and I promise it won’t be long and you will sleeping in on Saturday and they will no longer think you are so cool. (Don’t worry, they start to think you are cool again when they move out!)
I hope this brought you a few helpful ideas! Relax and remember, they are not going to remember whether you moved the elf or not but instead will remember the joy you brought into your house.
Happy Friday and Merry Christmas!
The links in this post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on the link(s) and purchase an item (at no additional cost to you), I may earn a small commission. Thank you for helping to support me and The Queen in Between blog
Let’s Get Social
Related
Bha ha ha, boy did I get my Friday giggles outta this post!!! You are so creative..the toilet ones, the sick in the Kleenex box…I love them all. Your creativity is brilliant!! Happy festive weekend beautiful lady!!
My boys were too old for the elf by the time I heard about it, but it looks like so much fun (and a lot of work). I really enjoy seeing what everyone does with their elf, it's fun to live vicariously through so many creative women!
I never did see the fun in having to remember that much during month when I would forget everything anyway! But I see the fun when my great-nieces have Lucky at our Christmas Party (to watch over them to keep them from being too naughty) I am just so thankful that this came out when my kids were too old!
I love these ideas!!! You have motivated to me to step up my Elf game. I think my favorites are the pooping elf, the elf drinking the syrup, and the one eating dog treats! I am for sure ordering the prop kit for next year.
Such a fun tradition! I love these ideas.
Mary
http://www.marymurnane.com
These are all so stinking cute! We are going to start doing more fun things with our Elf now that the kids are older, so it's nice to have some ideas!
We got out elf, Jack, in 2008 when Alise was three. He just came back last weekend and I swear she still looks for him every. stinking. morning.
I found about the Elf a little too late and missed out on it with my daughter. I love all of your fun ideas!
Jill
Doused In Pink
We've had that darn elf since it debuted in 2005 and all three of my boys still believe… the first few years he just moved from place to place… then we had elaborate years where he tp'd our Chrismas tree and swapped our stockings with underwear… now he's back to just moving from place to place because my kids now to go bed at just about the same time as I do!
Oh my goodness! You are such a fun mom and you did such great fun and relatively easy things with your elf. We don't do the elf on the shelf because I know me and I would get obsessed and literally have no time for anything other than planning the next elaborate thing the elf would do…but you did it great! So much fun.
THis post his awesome! Not only did you get me some good ideas you gave a special reminder to us mamas that even when they catch on the fun is still there. Love ya friend!
These are so funny. Ur mom rocks… totally stealing that one!
Our elf "Rocky James" is strictly a spectator this year, perched on our mantle. I love all your creative ideas, and you could have made a mint if you had marketed them like the kit at the end of the post. Hope you had a good weekend!
I LOVE your elf name!!
Cause we all do right Beth?!!
So true Amanda! Heck, I still want the fun! Hope you are having a great start to the week.
You would be perfect for it Sarah…but you would spend months ahead of time coming up with the entire calendar and lining out all the little stunts just perfectly. 🙂
That is really when it got hard when my daughter started staying up later. It was so fun while it lasted and I seriously cannot wait to buy one for my grandchildren someday…just because my oldest two think it's so creepy! haha
My oldest two kids missed this….and they were not sad about it. haha They think he is freaky. 🙂
Carly Jo really did love it so much and Dillon too when he was younger. I'm not gonna lie I enjoyed it too but, hey, all great things come to an end right? lol
It really was so fun because my kids loved going to school and telling their friends all about their elf and his antics.
Thanks Mary! It was a fun tradition and I'm a teeny bit sad to see it be over.
All so easy! And I promise they will laugh their heads off AND go tell all their friends about their awesome elf!
I am totally not so creative Kellyann…but I can copy the heck out of other ideas or take a little piece from something else and make it my own. It was time for this little tradition to be over and I'm a teeny bit sad…but mostly getting more sleep. haha
It was so fun Andrea. To see how excited my kids would get over the elf's silly antics was just the best!
Obviously I'm uber behind on blog reading but I absolutely LOVED this trip down memory lane!!! You know my deep love for all things Elf on the Shelf! Great post!!!
I'd be lying if I said I haven't missed the little booger just a tad this year.