Official 2011 Elf Capades thread :o) Post your ideas here:

[Kanga+2Roos]

First off...thank you, thank you to all of your creative minds for these awesome ideas!

The smiley faces all over the fridge stuff were a huge hit...the elfs were hanging on the door handles to clue them in. We did the ever popular Advent calendars this morning & now we are using a PP's idea to pack their lunch. We currently have one lunchbox filled with pancake mix, syrup, a bag of chocolate chips, & a box of bacon. The other is filled with a box of Cars shaped Kraft macaroni & cheese, a can of baked beans, a bag of marshmallows, and a box of jello. The elfs will be sitting on the appropriate lunchbox--this is going to be great!

Something else that I think I'll play around with for another night is making something on the etch-a-sketch &/or dry erase board. I plan to get busy making tons of paper snowflakes & covering the floor with them too. More to come...

 

[kldmom2000]

Hi all I'm from the uk & until I came on did boards I never knew that there was actual elves you could get with the intentions of doing all this stuff! For the last 3 yrs I have had the elf ( a different one each yr) come by and keep watch on my 3 boys! Our elf always left a few treats but his main purpose was actually to make sure the boys was extra good in the run up to Xmas, we have a reward chart but before we started that we used to have the elf mark off on the door of the advent calendar with a sticker or a cross, for bad days & good days on each child's calendar, they would always get a warning when messing up that the elf is watching( our elf has never shown himself as I didn't know about the whole elf toy thing) and so it really helped with my autistic son getting his good day goals ......the more stickers they got the more Xmas presents Santa sent them! Now that my boys are older 6,6,& 9 I'm worried the 9 yr old like other posters is going to soon stop believing so I'm so pleased I've found this thread as I'm going to start the mischief this yr as well as the treats! I do love all things like this & so because we have done things different I'm going to pinch a PP idea of them being sent a elf in training that way I can intruduce him & the boys will know why other familys and children at their school do not have one many parent around here dont do half the things I do, and even hubby at first thought I was mad till u showed him this thread so we start our of with our normal elf that does not show himself( I'm going out to buy our elf tomorrow!) with him giving the children the home made calendar..... We went everywhere tonight looking for some calendars knowing everywhere was sold out so that it would be more of a surprise when they wake up & find the elf has made one due to us trying to buy one too late! They all went to bed gutted at not having one anyways sorry for long post I get carried away xx

Did you have any luck finding an elf? How did the advent calendar surprise go? Looking forward to hearing about your boys' reaction to their new elf!

 

[kldmom2000]

Last night Charlie and Holly got their hands on my 11 year old DD's ipod touch.... they took tons of pictures of absurd things and some crazy pics of our youngest cat... Holly even took a 2 minute video of Charlie teasing the cat When the girls woke up this morning, there was a note that they were having too much fun playing with the ipod and were hiding so they could have more time with it.... it took my girls about 30 min. to find them

 

[imktdqt810]

I got DS an elf two days ago (thinking if I started it on the 1st I would remember that date to start with each year). My question is...how do you get around the "not touching the elf" part? Our elfs name is Matthew Elf....and the first night I put him in a mug on the table with DS's granola wrapper under his arm (and the granola in a baggie) but this way I could move him and the mug off the table without touching him. This morning he was on top of the tree..so DS would leave him alone while I was at work most of the day. So....how do you all do the set ups of playing uno and games and watching the christmas lights with 3D glasses and getting him moved once your kids find him/her? I was thinking of buying an oven mit at the dollar store and make it a "special elf glove" incase we need to move him. But was just wondering how you guys did it. Thanks!!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

DS NEVER sees him move. He moves by magic and if you touch him he returns to the North Pole. Ours moves around all the time....after we leave the house (sometimes I have to run back in for something, or another family member comes home before us), when DS is in bed, in another room, or sometime while he is just totally engaged in the same room. We are very sneaky and clever. "Bubby" threw DS's underwear at him the other day! "Buddy" sometime has a treat or other item in his hand that I have to remove VERY carefully. DS freaked out when he had his (AKA MY) iphone one night as he thought we were not going to be able to get it back!!!!!

 

[kldmom2000]

I got DS an elf two days ago (thinking if I started it on the 1st I would remember that date to start with each year). My question is...how do you get around the "not touching the elf" part? Our elfs name is Matthew Elf....and the first night I put him in a mug on the table with DS's granola wrapper under his arm (and the granola in a baggie) but this way I could move him and the mug off the table without touching him. This morning he was on top of the tree..so DS would leave him alone while I was at work most of the day. So....how do you all do the set ups of playing uno and games and watching the christmas lights with 3D glasses and getting him moved once your kids find him/her? I was thinking of buying an oven mit at the dollar store and make it a "special elf glove" incase we need to move him. But was just wondering how you guys did it. Thanks!!!

We don't follow the Elf on the Shelf rules.... that would have been far too difficult! Our elves are pictured on page 1 of this thread-got them from Amazon.com and my girls are allowed to hold them, etc...

 

[Kanga+2Roos]

I cut a ton of all sizes/shapes of snowflakes & covered the boys beds with them--then had the elfs staged with a pair of scissors & all the pieces that were cut out. Huge hit as was the packed lunchboxes. This AM the elfs were found with one trapped in a plastic basket while the other sat on the book covering the top. Very cute!

I'm playing around with making some antlers out of pipe cleaners & maybe putting them on some of the stuffed animals--does anyone else have any ideas to take this to the next level? Thought we could do something cute with this...pipe cleaners are certainly cheap enough for a big bag!

Tonights project is going to be coloring what's left of the milk jug green..had to wait until I had an almost empty container because I am not dealing with green milk for more than 1/2 a day!

 

[Becc1]

Kringle turned our milk green last night, it wasn't until this morning that I realized I should have waited until the milk was almost gone, we had green tinted biscuits and mashed potatoes tonight

 

[southern_redhead]

Our elf, Gumdrop, arrived Friday evening. This is our first year with an elf, so the kids are a little unsure so far. Friday we came home to find him sitting on top of our fire screen with a letter from Santa saying we'd been picked to host an elf, that he formerly worked on the toy line but has begged to go "out in the field" and Santa hopes he behaves himself (ha ha!) He also brought us the Prep and Landing movie. Last night, he apparently played XBOX in ODS's room. This morning, we found him sitting on the nightstand and holding a controller. I think tonight he will probably do something in the dining room. Not sure what........

 

[summerrluvv]

So happy to have found this thread. Love the pictures! This is our 3rd year with Sprinkles, and I'm running out of ideas!! He hasn't made his appearance yet because I don't think I have 24 ideas I am venturing out today to find an elf friend that he is going to bring this year. Thrift store is a good idea!

 

[kldmom2000]

Last night, Charlie somehow got himself stuck in the Zhu-Zhu pet hamster ball and our cat had a field day whacking it around the house He was finally freed by my girls this morning when they woke up....

 

[leadfootlevi]

This is Ghosty's 2nd year with us. So far:

Advent Calendar
Lipstick message on the mirror
Candy coma (candy was all over the counter and Ghosty was face down)
He traveled all the way to Ma and Pa's to scope the place out so he could tell Santa where we'd be for Christmas. We had sent Ghosty in November to their house so they could take pictures.
Ghosty was reading a story to all of DS's stuffed animals
We made homemade snowglobes for some gifts and the next morning Ghosty had stuffed himself into a jar as well!

Tonight is going to be good. We had snow recently. I'm going to fill water balloons with colored water and bomb the back yard. Can't wait for this one.

Ghosty will bake a Birthday cake for Jesus. He will be found in the freezer with some peppermint ice cream. He will make DS a card and cover himself with stickers. Color the milk and bring a box of Christmas-themed cereal. Hang from the ceiling fan. Attach one of DS's stuffies to the RC car and "drive" it around. Wrap DS's bedroom door. Tie our shoelaces together. Play candyland with the other stuffies.

I love the lunch box idea. And the decorating ideas - snowflakes, lights, peppermints. I wish I could pull this off in DS's room, but I don't think I could without waking him. I guess the bathroom would be the next best thing (I could wrap the toilet paper, toothpaste, etc). Or I could let DS sleep with us one night and decorate his room then.

Thanks for the great ideas everyone.

 

[southern_redhead]

Gumdrop has been busy. After bringing the movie and playing the XBOX he: Built a tree out of cans on the dining room table, played salon with DD's Samantha doll, and hid in the fridge with the lunchboxes. YDS is standing on his head, wanting Gumdrop to create some mischief in HIS room! LOL So, tonight, Gumdrop has to do something fun in there. He has some elf sized toy motorcycles, so I'm thinking Gumdrop may drag out the Candyland board and "ride" the motorcycle on the candylane Or he might TP the bedroom. That would be right up YDS's alley

 

[minniebeth]

I posted on the second page of this thread about how my DD's elves were accidently discovered and brought attention to by my DH. We had a lot of damage control to do but DD9 is loving her elves. They came at the same time as two of her friends' elves did, the moms and I did a little coordinating to make some magic for the 3 girls (all 4th graders).

We have a lot of Chrismas books, so last night, while DD was out at basketball practice, the books made their way upstairs to DD's bed with the elves. The books were spread out all over her bed, many opened, and the elves (we have several from my older two as well) were reading them. It was really cute! The other loved elf activity that was adored was when the elves packed my kids' lunches, compliments of the great ideas here!

 

[TannersRfans]

Love all the ideas - we've had an elf for three years - this is the fourth. He hasn't done much but my son has started asking every morning if Jingle did anything last night. So I think he's up for some fun now.

Here's my question - anyone have ideas on what to do in WDW with the elf? We leave tomorrow and I didn't have anything planned - just taking the elf with us. But not I feel like he needs to do something while we're gone.

Any ideas or thoughts? some easy stuff - nothing that requires me packing another bag - we're tapped out on luggage right now lol

 

[100AcreWood]

I posted on the second page of this thread about how my DD's elves were accidently discovered and brought attention to by my DH. We had a lot of damage control to do but DD9 is loving her elves. They came at the same time as two of her friends' elves did, the moms and I did a little coordinating to make some magic for the 3 girls (all 4th graders).

We have a lot of Chrismas books, so last night, while DD was out at basketball practice, the books made their way upstairs to DD's bed with the elves. The books were spread out all over her bed, many opened, and the elves (we have several from my older two as well) were reading them. It was really cute! The other loved elf activity that was adored was when the elves packed my kids' lunches, compliments of the great ideas here!

I can definitely relate. I have a 4th grader as well and we're so hoping to keep the magic going this year! They grow up so fast.

 

[noahdove]

Our Elf, Buddy my almost 3 year DGS a note regarding his need to poo in the toilet or on the potty chair, so what did he do yesterday? He said he shot Buddy when he was shooting deer!!! So, now I have to write him a note from Buddy regarding that...He knows not to shoot people or even at them, so, why did he shoot Buddy? I guess because he didn't want any naughty notes left...BYW, he still didn't poo in the potty or toilet

 

[mdurette]

I got DS an elf two days ago (thinking if I started it on the 1st I would remember that date to start with each year). My question is...how do you get around the "not touching the elf" part? Our elfs name is Matthew Elf....and the first night I put him in a mug on the table with DS's granola wrapper under his arm (and the granola in a baggie) but this way I could move him and the mug off the table without touching him. This morning he was on top of the tree..so DS would leave him alone while I was at work most of the day. So....how do you all do the set ups of playing uno and games and watching the christmas lights with 3D glasses and getting him moved once your kids find him/her? I was thinking of buying an oven mit at the dollar store and make it a "special elf glove" incase we need to move him. But was just wondering how you guys did it. Thanks!!!

There reall is no written rule about elf touching. I think it all comes down to the story YOU want to tell your child. The Elf on the Shelf I believe comes with the whole notion of not touching and the elf keeping an eye on the kids to report back to Santa.

We purchased our elf from Elf-Magic (the elf on the shelf was just too creepy looking for me). We allow DD to play with her - bring her places - she is also an elf that causes a bit of mischief in the night.

So....do what YOU want....make your own story - your own tradition!

 

[ColleenG]

Our elves arrived 2 nights ago. So glad to find this thread. I think this is our fourth year and I am running low on ideas. I love the lunch box idea. Definately will do that. Last night they colored a Christmas coloring book. I think tonight will be green milk. It'll look great on their cereal in the morning.

 

[mdurette]

Eve finally arrived this past Sunday. (that is all my 5YO has been asking for - no special toy - just Eve). Eve sent her a letter last week letting her know she was on her way soon. She just had to finish wrapping presents for Santa. (She also mentioned she found one with my DD name on it and put some extra bows on it).

So others can have ideas - this is what we have done so far.
1. Arrival - red and white streamers all over the house. She was caught up in the middle of them hanging from the ceiling fan.

2. My DD did "shopping" at school and had presents under the tree for family members. But...no bows. So, Eve left a trail of bows throughout the house that lead to the tree. She was under a pile of bows next to the presents. Yep...she wanted all the presents to have bows.

3. Lunch box: pefect timing cuz I forgot to pay for pasta lunch this week (which is my DD favorite). Eve must have heard us talking cuz she filled her lunch box with a jar of Prego, a Box of Pasta and a can of peas. Then she took her snack bag and put a large container of ice cream sprinkles.

4. We awoke this morning to find snowflake stickers on a bunch of cotton balls. They were all over the room. In the middle were cups from the kitchen in the shape of a tree. Eve was playing a game trying to get the "snowballs" into the cups.