elf on a shelf

[themumfairy]

I got a cheap version from card factory last year and I'm definitely gonna get a real one for this Xmas.

for those that are the 'elf' what funny ideas did you come up with?
pinterest is great but some are too messy for me

My mum got the original girl version with some fancy skirts for us, I think its a little creepy.

We had all kinds of fun, toilet paper party (sons fave), swinging on the tree, popping out of their cereal box, hiding in the toy box, just silly stuff. But we don't use it as a 'watcher' so the kids play with her

Elf wee wee (green food colour in the loo)

Elf perched on various places,on the door, fridge,

Elf lying sprawled on the kitchen counter in a scattering of Rice Krispies having done "Rice Krispie Angels"

Eating sweets and leaving the wrappers on the sofa so the DC found him, looking shifty (yes, he might have had help with that one)

I don't do elf yet but on ebay you can buy elf on the shelf props if that helps.

love those 70.

my dc would find all of those hilarious. and raw sweets one sounds just up my street

the not raw.

We're planning on doing elf on a shelf this year, i found a blog elfyescapades.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/elf-goodbye.html that has me full of excitement!

I have a plan set up for elf on a shelf, behold it in all of it's over reaching & will burn out halfway through the month glory. I'm using the Elf to prompt fun activities.

1 tu [Elf on kitchen table with north pole breakfast]: xmas pjs for girls, xmas skirts for girls, green milk for cereal (lucky charms) letter explaining why s/he's here
2 We [Sat in bowl of popcorn* (perhaps un-popped packs?)] with cbeebies Christmas collection Amazon.co.uk
3 Th [In Kitchen surrounded by materials for Toilet roll decorations] materials: loo roll tubes, glitter, glue (see pinterest)
4 F [In a shoebox with a note to find the wrapped presents and moral that sometimes it’s just as fun to give as it is to recieve] letter 1, Make up Christmas Shoeboxes for charity
North Pole Christmas Letters: 2015 - International Elf Service
5 Sa [Tied up in string on DD2’s changing station with a note about glitter string baubles]. Materials: string, balloons, pva glue glitter (see pinterest) - small ones for tree, big ones for ceiling hangs
6 Su [in cookie cutter on tree] Model Magic Snowflakes etc: model magic, cutters (see pinterest)

7 M [Elf bathing in sink full of marshmallows**] letter 2
8 Tu [Elf tee-pee’d living room] Paper Chains
9 W [Elf sitting on spare sofa cushion]. snowman film , letter 3
10 Th [In one of the girls wellies*] Visit to Santa
11 F [Elf nowhere to be found in the morning but in DD1's room when she get's back from preschool] elf suggests a pre-xmas tidy up and give away of toys (get out the space hopper bin bags my cousin bought me last xmas!).
12 Sa tree up, [elf next to tree], decorate
13 Su [try and paint DD1's toes during the night, elf sat with paintbrush] Misletoes canvas x 5 (one side with each child, see pinterest)

14 M [Hanging from a light using tinsel*] letter 4
15 Tu [Elf in sugar angel.] Bowl set up for candy cane seeds (tic-tacks in sugar)
16 W [on bookshelf] candy canes ‘grown’ overnight
17 Th [On dining table] Button xmas cards: buttons, pens, cards & envelopes. Make for the girls to finish with buttons and glitter (see pinterest)
18 F [Sitting in the tree with DD1's snowdog] (note to self, find him) snowdog film, letter 5
19 Sa [Flour angel*] gingerbread house (buy a kit) try and source the elf on a shelf baking outfit set.
20 Su [playing father xmas game with teddies] : Christmas Surprises: Amazon.co.uk

21 M [Kitchen dresser, dressed in chef outfit] letter 6, Candy Cane Mirangues? (pinterest)
22Tu [Cooling rack surrounded by cakes] letter 7, Christmas tree cakes? Cakes already made, just need to put icing and decorations on (pinterest)
23 W [Elf in garden on chicken coop.] build reindeer for elf to go home.
24 Th Elf Left. xmas eve hamper: peppa pig / christmas activity book for during the day, then bath bits to proceed hot chocolates, pjs and a film.

Letters: internationalelfservice.co.uk/shop/christmas/north-pole-christmas-letters/

Can anyone tell me where to buy a "real" Elf on the shelf at a decent price please? Even ebay was £30 or something daft last year. Endedup with one from The Card Factory!!!

We love elf on the shelf, I looked on Pinterest for ideas. There's loads there. Some I did were elf in box of Lego and "he" had made a Lego Santa and snowman, elf with paper snowflakes hanging from ceiling with Disney toys next to him holding Disney on ice tickets, elf dressed as pirate holding our Peter Pan panto tickets, and one time I had post it notes all over the house the kids had to follow to find him. If Iv bought Xmas theatre tickets or DVDs or crafts then he usually gives them it.
I bought it for £30 haven't seen him cheaper unfortunately.

The real ones are pretty expensive, you can sometimes get seconds quality elves really quite cheaply of eBay, but they wouldn't come with the book. Failing that there are a number of buying and selling pages for elves and accessories where the elves are a little cheeper (I've ordered one in black with cat ears because it had whiskers on it's face and there was something a little less 'come to life and kill you in your sleep' about it)

We're doing this for the first time this year for my little boy. Bought mine from Amazon.co.uk.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00FUMEPM2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1442247368&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=christmas+elf+doll&dpPl=1&dpID=41piSAGdWFL&ref=plSrch

Just arrived, looks too cute! Lots of ideas for each day on here. Thanks.x

I boughty elf from Ali express or whatever that website is - often recommended on the bargain board. Cost me £7 I think, posted from China.

I would love to do this with DD but it will be the light version as she's only 3.

A few ideas which DD loved last year:

Decorating the mini xmas tree in her bedroom with her pants and socks (pants are, of course, hilarous! This was her favourite)

Rolling down the stairs in loo roll

Making a "zip wire" all over the house (string pinned to the doorways) and elf hanging off it

Making a bed and sleeping in a tissue box (with the tissues as a duvet)

Sticking googley eyes all over the fruit in the fruit bowl. He was caught red handed with the stick of glue in his hands

Movie night with the other dolls / reading all the other teddies a story in a circle

Elf climbing into a cereal box (and making a mess on the kitchen side)

Hiding in the fridge with a flannel wrapped around him as a blanket

Flour angel on the kitchen floor

Our elf was quite naughty and so lots of these involved messing up the house in some way!

Oh I forgot, we also blocked DD's bedroom doorway with strips of loo roll... she loved that!

Some brilliant ideas, Cheesy. Thanks. Really looking forward to this now!

We do a slightly altered version of "elf on a shelf" as ours is "elf-less".

We have a Christmas fairy door that "appears" in the morning on the 1st of December with a little scroll attached to the Christmas tree announcing the arrival/assignment of an "elf" to our household. Last year, we had our regular elf as well as an "elf in training" who managed to goof things up quite a bit. The dcs love it, and no stress over positioning an elf. They see the chaos left behind, or sometimes there are just small gifts (chocs, card games, christmas books for example) when they've been extra good, and little reminder notes when they've been struggling with their behaviour. Sometimes just antics, like when the elf toilet papered the tree overnight. Our regular elf has a dreadful sweet tooth, and tends to nick chocolates a lot and leave the wrappers under the tree (and leading to the elf door) - sometimes near by where he was playing a board game with some teddies that are still there under the tree near a still set up board game.

Christmas morning the door is magically gone, with a last Christmas note for the dcs.

Pic is of our door.

You need a list of what you are doing and on what day, it helps.

A couple of the best ones we did, toilet paper wrap the entire tree, trying to pinch a chocolate from the advent calendar, rolling down the stairs inside the toilet roll tube leaving a trail behind him and hiding in the cutlery drawer (in the fork section so you can still get spoons for cereal and knives to make lunches)

Ds1 is 12 but plays along beautifully. Ds2 is 9 and I think this is our last Christmas of believing. But even Ds1 could not figure out how the elf was caught "climbing" the curtains. I used a straight pin and pinned him from behind the curtain whilst he was on the front of the curtain.

I also may have performed major surgery on him, this is not for the faint hearted. You literally unpick pretty much all his stitching and then insert wires so he is bendable. There are lots of instructions on this on Pinterest. We have the official one and he is not well made so surgery was touch and go

We got our elf from Build a Bear. It was £8 and they do it each year. Problem was last year we went in build a bear and there was a shelf with loads of them right in the middle. We managed to steer the DCs past that thankfully!