Am I the only one who worries about Santa presents looking Elf Made??

[CloudyVanilla]

So I have finally decided that father Christmas will bring a present for under the tree and will fill their stocking. I think it's a nice balance between the myth and reality of present giving.

But thing is, I am now kind of obsessed with the idea of making everything that's from Santa actually look like it's been made in Santas work shop! My DD has just turned 5 and will be so into Xmas this year, but every single book, TV show and movie about Santa pretty clearly shows those typical traditional presents. It just doesn't make sense to me to include branded or obviously shop bought stuff in the stocking, but while i am enjoying the challenge I'm also worried I'm going a bit crackers :/

So 2 questions really; does anyone else feel the need to live the fantasy and do only elf made type gifts from Santa, or if not do the kids seem to notice?

And if you are like me, what ideas do you have beyond the usual wooden/classic toys?

Maybe just make sure you take any price labels off??

@beela the tiny boxes are so cute though! I can't wait. I did initially feel I was being a bit silly and I have dialled it back, I won't be avoiding branded toys but I want them to be as cute and Christmassy as possible!

Here is a tip ....

Two identical stockings .
One empty on bed
The other ready stuffed , hidden away .
Swop when you go to bed .

We always did a letter from Father Christmas . On special paper . Written in green ink . Talking about the year they had just had .
My children are now 35-40 . We still have them saved carefully .

My kids know that Santa buys stuff in, it is a mixture of bought and well-crafted.

*elf-crafted

Yeah you definitely need to watch elf!

My 4 year old FOUND her baby sisters toys for Christmas the other day! Sneaky bugger!
I had to tell her that we have to send some presents off to Father Christmas so he can put all of the batteries in and then re deliver them as well as something from him 🙈🙈🙈

Father Christmas has an amazon account. I thought everyone knew that 😏

The reason there are toys in shops leading up to Christmas is so children can see them and include them on their list. Then Santa knows where to get them from if there are none in the workshop.

When my DD was about 5 or 6 she made a comment about the ballet shoes FC gave her having Next written inside them 🙈. She wasn't actually questioning the authenticity of where they came from, more that it was funny the elves went into so much detail

This year we all have the ultra excuse for everything...

“It’s because... Covid...” I even use this at work now!

Not wooden but I’m going to knit ds a fried breakfast for his play kitchen and some fish fingers, potato waffles, turkey dinosaurs and broccoli. I am also knitting each of them an item of clothing. I doubt home made things will last beyond early years.
I’m also going to do an activity advent calendar, I suspect I’m going to regret that one v

I always remove labels that say a shop name and if it cant be removed I cover it with a sticker that says made by elves.
I am aware I am bonkers to do this.🙈😁

I always make sure i remove labels that say a shop name, if they cant be removed I cover it with a sticker that says made by elves. I am aware I am bonkers to do this

The elves make all the toys and sell them to the shops. How else could the whole operation be financed?

Actually, I went through a similar phase, and got lovely wooden toys, and handmade soft toys when mine were 2 and 4. Then school took over and they started listening to their friends and demanding plastic tat 😂

But... that year we took them to one of those stupidly expensive Christmas Experience Santa’s, where they got to go down a slide into Santa’s workshop and find their name on the nice list, and sitting on a workbench was the same train set ds was getting for Christmas.

I felt so smug. I don’t think either of them actually remember it, and by the following year, the last of the hormones had worked their way through my system and sanity reasserted itself.

I compromise by making sure that stockings have traditional sweets and candy canes to look authentic,plus one wooden toy that the elves have hand made. I also buy either a personalised bauble or snow globe and package it in a really special gift box with lots of tissue paper, which is also from Father Christmas, the rest is plastic tat which I wrap in brown packing paper and red ribbon if I can be bothered .

Ds still has every bauble and snow globe plus wooden toy that came out of his stocking and they are very treasured by him (he’s now 11)

So when DD really wanted a pink monster costume from Santa, I found one, removed the label and replaced with a hand embroidered label made from Xnas ribbon saying "made by elves".

Crazy but hey didn't take that long.

First Xmas presents from Samta were their own musical snow globes which I took many hours of searching the internet to find the perfect ones.

I've also done an amazing letter from Santa with wax seal and all. But not every year I'm not totally insane (yet)!

Think it’s just you OP
Also as a kid the plasticky manufactured looking crap was what I longed for!!
my lovely mum always got me a ‘nicer’ version of what I asked for but deep down I was always disappointed that I didn’t get what I had pictured! For example I wanted a plastic barbie dream house and I got a wooden dolls house that my barbies fit in instead. So so lovely of her and as an adult I can appreciate where she was coming from, but honestly as a six year old I just wanted the manufactured version!!

Ah these ideas/memories are all so lovely 😊

I am definitely using Covid as an excuse to go all out Christmassy this year! @Sevo7 your stuff sounds pretty much like what I'm planning to do :)

@AGoatAteIt

Father Christmas has an amazon account. I thought everyone knew that 😏

This. He has Prime. The elves spend a lot of time doing price comparisons between Smyth's, Argos and Amazon.

You are not alone OP! I am a fellow nutter who was worried about this. The stocking is filled by Santa (aka Etsy) and everything in there is elf-made. I only started doing this once they were old enough to start questioning why branded toys would be from Santa. I freely admit to having an Etsy addiction and I spend far too much. Mine are 7 and 9 now and still believe. I will carry on until they don't believe anymore. With hindsight, I wish I had just settled on one present from Santa and the rest from us but it's too late now so I have to keep filling the massive stockings with pretty handmade stuff. They do love the gifts and do play with them.

The elves sometimes make things for the shops so that they can be sold because Santa needs money to buy carrots for the reindeer.

We told our DS that Santa has elves all over the world when he questioned why his toy from Santa said made in China.

I think it's a good idea to not be too slick with presenting an authentic feel to the Santa myth. I think you need to allow for a few seeds of doubt so that they can come to recognise it for the performance it is before they have to be sat down and told it's a myth.

Just chiming in to say that you don’t sound OTT op. You sound like a brilliant mum and your thread has brought me out of a very bad mood. You’re lovely.

@rincewindspotato thanks so much that's made my day! 💕💕💕