I need some Elf on the Shelf stories and ideas!

[crazydaisy00]

Until lunch I never knew what these even were! The kids were telling me about them, I have seen these but never paid any attention and even saw pics posted on FB from friends but no details. with 2 older kids it hard to keep the magic of Christmas but we do our best DS 12 and DD 10 ( has one at dance and loves it) and DD 1 is too little to understand but brought a lot of fun back into the Holidays and we get to enjoy Santa all over again! My older ones still love Santa and we always taught them the spirit of Santa will be in all of us no matter how old we are!
So DD is in the Christmas parade tonight and I thought it would be a fun idea to have my mom go pick up the elf on the shelf and come hide it in the tree meet us at the parade and when we get home it will be here! This should be funny for them because they know I didnt know the tradition behind this until today and they will be with me all day so know I didnt get it.

Please share some places your elf hides and what fun things it is doing when everyone wakes up! Im new at this and would love some idea! Yes I know some people think they are a little creepy but Im excited to have fun with the kids and see what we can come up with! I know this will also give them something to look forward to!

 

[FlyingBelle]

You can find a ton of cute ideas on Pinterest!

This is our first year with the elf (DD5, DS1). I've gone on secret missions in her playroom to gather "props" and hid them in my closet so I don't have to panic each night trying to think of what to do.

We've mostly just hide her around the house, but on the weekends she'll do something silly. (like floating in a tupperwear boat in the bathtub or making a mess in the kitchen)

It's been great because it's the only thing that gets DD out of bed in the morning!

 

[teacup princess]

Well DON'T paint their noses red like Rudolf while they're sleeping. I did that one this morning and it was a big bomb. I thought it was a cute idea. Elf then wrote in the mirror with the red lipstick that he used his magic to turn everyone into Rudolf. They all hated it. So I'm stirring the pot. While they're at school, elf decorated the tree with everybody's (clean) underwear. (our elf is very naughty and mischeivious)

 

[foltzy]

This is our first year doing it. Buddy set the table so dad could make pink and blue pancakes (we didn't have red or green). He's had my daughters ponies and was combing and braiding their hair. Had all my sons Skylanders lined up and giving them a pep talk while holding a picture of the bad guy. They got a note because they were holding him all day and so he did nothing that night and so he had no magic to come to life. Pinterest is great for ideas.

By the way my 2 no longer believe but they think the elf is fun anyway.

 

[LCoulter]

You may have a hard time finding an elf, particularly the official one, this late in the season. I looked in 8 different stores before I found an elf that was the right size to use and did not see the official elf on a shelf. You can probably get it by ordering on-line.

I got mine last week at a gift store. It's actually more of a rag doll and is not posable but she has a weighted bottom so she sits nicely.

I found out after I started that the official story says that the child can't touch the elf because it will lose the magic, so decide if that is something that you want to do. I decided it didn't matter to me and let DD play with it.

It is fun and there are a lot of ideas on the internet if you google it. There is also another thead called "The 2012 Official Elf Capades Thread" that you may want to check out.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We still have our elves even though DS is past Santa-age too! He still enjoys looking for them, and I like the creativity of planning stuff.

They have been found in the past couple of days staring into an empty cookie jar, and in a basket of clean laundry with a gift-wrapped package of new undershirts. I think tomorrow they will be trying to stuff chocolate coins into a piggy bank.

I remember once ours had a cotton "snowball" fight. You can also have it make "snow angels" in flour/sugar/baking soda (whichever you are least averse to cleaning up).

The biggest hits here are always when they bring little presents.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Oh, forgot another cute one -

If the baby has a lot of stuffed animals, set them up in a semicircle with the elf "reading" them a book.

 

[crazydaisy00]

We got the elf of the shelf! Target Had it in the movie / book section. Everything worked out and he was here hiding in the tree when we got home. DD found the book under the tree (took long enough) and then discovered the elf up in the tree! They thought it was so cool and have no idea how it got here! Now we just need a name
Im excited to see where he is in the morning
Love hearing the stories and ideas please continue to share!

 

[LCoulter]

We got the elf of the shelf! Target Had it in the movie / book section. Everything worked out and he was here hiding in the tree when we got home. DD found the book under the tree (took long enough) and then discovered the elf up in the tree! They thought it was so cool and have no idea how it got here! Now we just need a name
Im excited to see where he is in the morning
Love hearing the stories and ideas please continue to share!

I didn't think to look in the book sections of the stores. No wonder I couldn't find the darn thing.

Have fun with him!

 

[mm1971]

Got ours at target in the book/CD section as well. Kids asked why we never saw him before and I told them that you have to name him before you can see him. As soon as they named him Twinkle, they found him hanging from the chandelier in the foyer.

DS likes to look, but DD still believes and finding Twinkle each morning is a must. We hang him from anywhere possible. Caught him putting marshmallows in some hot cocoa, working on DS laptop, listening to Christmas music on the iPod, dropping the decorations off the tree and putting up elf decorations, writing letters, etc... He really does get into everything.

 

[FlyingBelle]

This morning our Snowy was sitting by our fish tank with a fishing pole. After DD found her, I saw her laying down next to the fish tank and the fishing pole on top. I asked DD what happened and if she touched her, and she said "Oh no! Snowy is just tired from the trip from the North Pole so she's taking a nap!"

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

You may have a hard time finding an elf, particularly the official one, this late in the season. I looked in 8 different stores before I found an elf that was the right size to use and did not see the official elf on a shelf. You can probably get it by ordering on-line.

Target had them this morning. On an end of the aisle in the book section. Looked like they had just stocked them because the shelf was full.

I was so tempted, but OMG, this seems like so much work that has to be done just at the time of day when I am totally crashed! DH has always told our kids an elf comes to live in our chimney during December, so we'll jsut stick with that.

 

[crazydaisy00]

I think its more fun than work!! Can be as little or as much that you feel like putting into it each day I was tired last night and looking on pinterest (which have some elf on the shelf pictures) I didnt have much out of DDs room to work with for props. Needless to say our elf still does not have a name DD and DS were arguing over names so they found our elf this morning on the table with a bottle of aleve with a group of dinosaurs that all had tootsie rolls in front of them and the etch a sketch saying he had a headach from them arguing so he decided to train the dinosaurs to attack if they continue to argue over his name! He would like to give the North Pole good reports so he can bring back some small gifts for them and have some fun while he is here! They were all morning and enjoyed just looking fwd to what hes going to do tonight.
I m looking fwd to setting up something fun tonight when they go to bed, just not sure what it is yet! I have heard some great ideas on here and pinterest so excited to see what they name him and if they agree a little more easily!

 

[crazydaisy00]

Can I post pictures on here? Either from pinterest or ones I have taken?

 

[FlyingBelle]

Can I post pictures on here? Either from pinterest or ones I have taken?

You'll have to use something like photobucket to post pictures. There's a thread somewhere on how to do it.

 

[magchavez]

I saw the Elf on the Shelf at Barnes and Noble tonight. This is our 4th year with him. It's getting really hard to come up with new ideas. Here's an album I created with some of the things Rudolph has done at our house. My kids are 11 and 9 and they still get so excited to find him every morning!

http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a343/ChavezMaggie/Rudolph/

Maggie

 

[crazydaisy00]

Im going to try and get some pics uploaded on my photobucket album. Love the pics of Rudolph, thank you for sharing!!

 

[crazydaisy00]

Kids woke up to our elf on the beam with toilet paper hanging down and he tp'd the tree, wrote on the tp name me...... they still havent came up with a name! They def are enjoying this and it has brought a lot of fun back to Christmas for them!

 

[disneyjes]

Elf on the Shelf is SO much fun! Last year was our first year doing it and we had a blast. Last year we made it so our son couldn't touch the elf and it worked fine but he was so sad he couldn't hug him! This year Santa wrote a note saying he took the magic off Sprinkles (our elf) so that our son could touch him. He was thrilled! Sometimes he leaves him alone...others he carries him all over the place. It actually really helped when he had to go to the dentist to have his front two teeth pulled. (Adult teeth pushing on the baby ones. Poor kid was in pain!)

As for ideas...I echo pinterest. It's amazing and the hub station of awesome ideas. This year Sprinkles has bungee jumped with a slinky, hid in a stocking, hugged the star on the tree, read a story to all his toys, made a sugar angel, brushed his teeth, etc etc. It's a lot of fun so I highly recommend it!

 

[disneyjes]

Kids woke up to our elf on the beam with toilet paper hanging down and he tp'd the tree, wrote on the tp name me...... they still havent came up with a name! They def are enjoying this and it has brought a lot of fun back to Christmas for them!

Love that idea!