12/10/2019: UPDATED! – Updated pics from this year at the end!! SCROLL DOWN!
Disclaimer: If you haven’t already started this tradition, I recommend waiting as long as humanly possible. 🤪 We started by default, because when you’re the second household to a little one who has an elf at his mom’s…. you get an elf!!… lol.
I’ve seen people get pretty crazy with these elves. Now, I am all about getting creative… but let me tell you, I have enough messes to clean without creating my own. You won’t be seeing any flour snow angels here! I also think it is fun for little trinkets to arrive from the North Pole, but we aren’t busting out the big gifts from these little guys. I’m going to detail a few of the things our elf does traditionally, and then I will update it as the season goes on with some new ideas! I try to keep it to about 2-3 fun things per week… but again… I don’t go too crazy with it… plenty of times, they are just up on a damn shelf! Anddd…. I have totally forgotten to move them. We frequently wake up at 5am in a panic this time of year to run downstairs and move the elves before any little footsteps go hunting. So… just because I can write a blog post about all the cute things our elf does… doesn’t mean I have my shit together. Just remember that. Also remember… sometimes the elves are scared of dogs, vacuums, washing machines, dishwashers, the dark etc… and they just get too scared to move!
SO anyway… We started with one elf, and two years ago after Taylor was born he brought a friend… mostly because my MIL found a girl version, and also because I was running out of ideas for one. 🤣🤷🏼♀️ Their names are Shaggy and Rosie.
Here are a few things our Elves bring every year, spread out over the season from the night after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve!
1) Our Christmas Pajamas! – This year the elves plan on hanging a clothes line made out of Christmas ribbon across the living room to display these!
2) Our gingerbread kit! – I already grabbed one, but then @emplusthem showed an Oreo version in her stories and I may need to find that….
3) Christmas Decorations! – One year our elf brought tabletop Christmas trees for the boy’s bedrooms, and we love to put these out evey year now when we decorate. Decorating the kids rooms is also a fun way to incorporate the elves – have them throw some lights up while your little ones are sleeping if they are heavy enough sleepers for it!
4) Arts & Crafts! We love holiday crafts, so the more the better! Sometimes, the elves even go through our craft bins and mysteriously come up with supplies we already have for a new project… go figure!
5) Our advent calendars! The last couple of years my MIL has found LEGO ones that the kids LOVE!
More creative ideas! – Use things you already have!! Pinterest has tons of ideas, but one thing I have always noticed is that the kids get so excited when the Elves are using something they love. For example: our elves drive around in Mason’s favorite trucks, cuddle up with his stuffed animals, and cook in the play kitchen! I also use Christmas ribbon and other wrapping supplies to create ziplines for candy cane adventures, and wrapping-paper airplanes so they can soar around the room in style!
One of my biggest struggles with these guys is finding places where Taylor can’t reach, because not only does she not get it, but she also gives zero Fs always 😉 soooo I would love for you to share your ideas!!
I will come back and update this midway through the season to share some of our Elves’ adventures… but I am also going to keep a running tab in my stories on Instagram @clickwithmrsquick so follow along and tag me in your own!!
UPDATES:
