Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are enjoying the kick off to the Advent season. Christmas is in full swing at our house- we're mostly decorated, have done 3/4 of our holiday shopping, and will soon have our tree up. When I scouted out of decor and started going through it last Friday (yeah- I shop online on Black Friday, thank you very much- and then stay home and decorate), I found Snowflake, our Elf. I had sort of forgotten about him, and realized I'd better get an Elf plan together!
Snowflake is not an Elf from Elf on the Shelf- he is an Elf Magic elf, and the idea is similar, but children are allowed to play with their Elf from Elf Magic. B and Snowflake became great pals last Christmas, so I knew he was looking forward to his return this year. Snowflake actually showed up last Saturday, and has been helping B do a little Christmas decorating in his bedroom!
Here's Snowflake, our Elf, hanging out by the mini Christmas tree in B's room.
We knew that November 30th would be a special day, because it would mark the start of the Advent season in our home. On Sunday night, Snowflake helped us light our Advent wreath, and then B sprinkled him with his magic snowflakes, so he could head back to the North Pole during the night to report to Santa. B was so excited to find Snowflake on Monday morning that he could barely go to sleep the night before!
B found that Snowflake had set out his school clothes, and made him breakfast! He was found sitting in the Joker's tank with a note that read, 'Tanks for the warm welcome!'
I knew that if I was going to keep up the Elf Magic tradition, I would have to get my hubby on board to help me. So, we've decided to switch off and on- he'll take a night, and I'll take the next. It lightens my load, and gets him in on this special tradition, which our son loves!
Who knows where Snowflake will be when we wake up these mornings leading up to Christmas? Every morning is a fun new adventure for our family.
I found some pretty fun Elf on the Shelf resources and ideas (I mean- if you're stuck or just plain don't have time to come up with anything on your own, head to Pinterest!) and full calendars!
Start with a letter to the family from your Elf, similar to this one.
Make a calendar and stick with it.
Get creative! I love this Harry Potter Elf idea!
Use your Elf to remind your children why we celebrate Christmas.
My best advice would be to look for creative Elf on the Shelf ideas on Pinterest, and not to go overboard. The Elf tradition is meant to be fun, not stressful. I am planning on incorporating a lot of Jesus into this year's Elf tradition. I want my son to know that while it's fun to find our Elf each day, and to receive little holiday treats here and there, our focus is on Jesus, who came to us as a tiny king, and on helping others. Our Elf will be helping B select an Angel Tree tag from our church, so we can shop for a child in need. He'll surprise B with some new Christmas cookie cutters, so we can make gifts for our neighbors, and he'll be found sitting among the shepherds in our nativity set, worshipping Jesus.
We can't wait to share some of our Elf photos and ideas with you this Christmas season! We hope that you'll be inspired to have a lot of fun with your family and your Elf this year! We'd love to hear some of your best Elf on the Shelf ideas! Please feel free to share them in the comment section!
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