Y’all tomorrow is DECEMBER! You know what that means…it’s time to dust off your Elf on the Shelf and try to remember to move the thing for the next 24 days 😉 Last year was our first year with our elf, Red, and I was surprisingly on top of it refusing to Google ideas! I thought I’d share our month long journey with Red to help you bring your Elf A-Game this year 😉 Enjoy my ideas!
Night #1 – Elf “Bubble Bath”
In addition to the tub toy, the marshmallows doubled as a breakfast treat 😉 Bring on the sugar it’s December!
Night #2 – Christmas Cookies!
These Melissa & Doug Christmas Cookies will last the whole season through! So fun!
Night #3 – Elf Snow Globe
This was the perfect way for my son to “play” with his Elf without touching it! Winning!
Night #4 – Reindeer Rides
Treat yourself to some new holiday decor and blame the elf…it’s what I did when I bought this cute little reindeer that was the perfect size for an Elf ride 😉
Night #6 – Elf Express!
I used my sons train set and our “Travel Tree” to share the news that we would be taking a train ride that day! My hubby blasted train noises outside of my sons door to wake him up – it was such a fun way for him to start his day!
Night #7 – Mission Impossible – Elf Style
I don’t know where I come up with this stuff, but it was worth it to see the smile on my sons face! I must have had a lot of time this night…lol!
Night #8 – Elf PJ’s
I used the elf as an excuse the get the kids matching jammies, and set them up in our laundry room! Aren’t they cute?!
Night #9 – Elf Etch
I got the kids an Etch-A-Sketch (A perfect car or restaurant toy!) and presented it Elf style – thanks Buddy the Elf for the idea! My hubby doesn’t get into Elf placement, but he did enjoy creating this scene 🙂
Night #10 – Snowman Breakfast!
Doughnuts for breakfast is a treat in our house! Gotta love the “Elf” excuse for some breakfast fun!
Night #11 – Photo Booth Props
I’m a Cricut user and found this super fun Photo Booth Props Cartridge that I’ve gotten so much use out of for parties! I decided to put it to extra use and make Beau and Red matching photo booth props – this was so super fun!
Night #12 – Lit Up
Battery pack lights double as an Elf prop calling no unnecessary attention to plug outlets! Safety first 😉
Night #13 – “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets it’s wings”
When I became a Bailey, a friend of the family gifted me with “It’s A Wonderful Life” because the main character is George Bailey. I had never seen this classic movie until then, and now it’s my all-time favorite Christmas movie! I created these custom pillows on Shutterfly, and used them as an Elf prop with a bell and taught Beau this classic line from the movie 🙂 He loved ringing the bell for the rest of the day!
Night #14 -Reindeer Ride – Part 2
Our toy rocking horse now sports the reindeer ears I bought for our dog 🙂 It’s a cute way of turning a random toy into a Christmas decoration! Is anyone else as big of a sucker as I am for the dog accessories at Target?!
Night #15 – Movie Marathon
10 days before Christmas is the perfect time to introduce a Christmas movie marathon 😉
Night #16 – Red
We happened to be working on learning colors last Christmas so I collected all of our red toys and hid our Elf, Red, among them! We had a fun day playing with all of the red toys…and eating the red candies 😉
Night #17 – Where’s Elf?
I collected all of the Elf toys and decor we had around the house and created a little game of “Where’s Red” which was so fun for my toddler!
Night #18 –
There’s nothing like attaching your Elf to your dog for a good laugh! Beau loved telling our dog, Franklin, that he wasn’t allowed to be touching our Elf!
Night #19 – Christmas Countdown
Get a Countdown to Christmas accessory and put your Elf by it…your child may not be able to play with the Elf, but they will love changing the accessory each day!
Night #20 – Snowball Fight!
I used the Elf as an excuse to pick up some of those adorable indoor snowballs, and used the snow from the Snow Globe on Night #3 to create an indoor snowball fight between Beau and Red! It turned into a family snowball fight and was SO MUCH FUN!
Night #21 – Elf Fan
My hubby came up with this one! We tied our Elf to the fan and turned it on while Beau was searching – oh the laughs when he found it! He loved it and so did we!
Night #22 – Potty Training Elf
Last Christmas we happened to be introducing potty training, and I used the Elf as a way to promote it…whatever it takes, right?! Potty training is tough! Especially getting them to go #2! Beau got such a kick out of the chocolate kiss posing as poo – haha! I used a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament as an Elf sized book to read 🙂
Night #23 – Elf Jams
I used some of our other Christmas themed toys (which I put away each year so we have them for the next year! You’ve gotta be smart about these things!) to make a band…my hubby named them “Red + The Misfits” – haha. I again took to my Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments for my props. Each year we’ve lived in Nashville, Hallmark has had a guitar ornament, and I buy it to symbolize living in “Music City” 🙂
Night #24 – Gingerbread House Fun!
I set up a gingerbread house and decorating station for some Christmas Eve fun! This was such a fun holiday craft to work on together 🙂
Night #25 – Happy Birthday Jesus!
Jesus is the reason for the season, and I want to make sure my kids know that! On Christmas morning, Red left out our “Happy Birthday Jesus” Hallmark Keepsake Ornament right by our manger scene so we wouldn’t forget this truth! We sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus and remembered that He is the real gift we receive on Christmas!
I’ve got some new creative ideas in my head for the next 25 days…be sure to follow me on InstaGram (MagRose226) to see what I come up with this year!
Be Blessed + Be A Blessing
