Thursday, November 13, 2014

All About The Elf

Y'all know who's coming???  Elf on the shelf, that's who.  I'm a planner, and in case you are too, I thought I'd share some of our "Elf Ideas"!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions happens sometime between Thanksgiving and December 1st and it's our North Pole Breakfast.

Our elf, Buddy, shows up and brings with him a sugary breakfast, treats and notes for the kids.

Your North Pole Breakfast could be as elaborate or simple as you'd like to make it - I err on the side of "over the top", but simple powdered sugar donuts on some fun paper Christmas plate could totally do the trick :)



Last year Buddy brought the kids each a Christmas movie and an ornament (that's what was wrapped in the tree).



and why does Buddy go to such great lengths to make it special???  This right here...


This was our breakfast from 2012, Buddy's first year at our house.


We have our fair share of, "Oh, look! Buddy is popping out of a stocking.... again!" mornings, but I do like to put some effort into moving him around, so if you're like me and you're jotting down ideas, here are a few of our favorites!




I screenshotted this on my phone and it is DEFINITELY happening at our house this year!  LOVE!!!

And if you're wondering "how" our elf does some of the things he does click HERE.

And on an unrelated note... I was going through pics looking for Buddy photos from last year and came across this picture! And I MAY have shed a tear or two - because they're all so leeeeeetle!!!

So..... here's your assignment (#teachermode)....
In the comments tell me your best Elf ideas!  I'm making a list and considering getting a "Classroom Elf", so I need a lot!

79 comments :

  1. We have a 20 minute ride to school so our elf was in the car one day! Our elf spells things with candies too! We love to stick him in the nativity set too!

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    1. LOVE the car idea!!! Definitely jotting that one down :) THANKS!

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  2. I have a friend who parked their car in their front yard,knocked the trash can over (as if the elf hit it) and had the elf sitting in the driver's seat. It got a lot of concerned calls from the neighbors but her kids loved it!

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    1. AAAAAAAHHH!!!! That's awesome!!! I'd have to save that one for the end of the month.... too much to live up to every day! :)

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  3. Love our elf! It's so worth it to see the kids' excited faces each morning. I love your idea of having the elf bring them things to do, like painting the birdhouses Our elf is usually just hiding somewhere, nothing creative. You are inspiring me! Our elf is usually waiting for us when we get home from visiting Santa on Thanksgiving weekend. He brings a basket of wrapped Christmas books. Each night the girls unwrap a book to read before bed.

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  4. Sorry I have no suggestions, but you are one amazing mom! You use your time so wisely and you get things done. It's inspiring :)

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  5. So fun!!!! I have a classroom elf & the kids get such a kick out of it!

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    1. I"m still debating whether or not my middle schoolers will think it's fun or cheesy :)

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    2. I don't think they are ever too old! I'm so sad that we missed the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon that I'm doing it this year! Our 20-year old daughter will be home for a week from UT and I'm sure she will love it :)

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  6. Last year our elf put cotton balls all over them and their beds while they slept (so it looked like snow?). They thought it was fun waking up to that!

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  7. OK you are too aweome...I wish you had been my mom!!! Last year we cut out the Tony Tiger face on the Frosted Flakes box and our elf's face was sticking through. It took my daughter about 15 minutes to realize her dad's cereal box had morphed but when she did she laughed so hard for so long! It was classic!

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    1. That is soooooooooooo funny!!!! And creative! Super impressed :)

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  8. So fun!! Can't wait to see what your elf gets into this year!! Xoxo n

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  9. You know me, I've got some easy ideas for you on days you don't want to spend a lot of time! :) *put him in the freezer in the ice bin because he misses the cold *hang him from the ceiling fan *attach him to your milk jug and put red or green food coloring in it *hang him from the ceiling fan *wrap the bathroom in toilet paper *put him in a toy car and have him driving it
    That's it for me. You're welcome. :)

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    1. I'm totally impressed!!! Your elf needs to take a bunch of mirror selfies and leave them on your phone this year :)

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  10. I'm a mom..5 kids...we don't have elf on a shelf....yes please go ahead and award me bad mother of the year! Olivia mentioned a few weeks ago that she hopes we get one because all of her friends at school have one! So don't be alarmed if you see me post a North Pole breakfast of our own. Thanks for the super cute ideas

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    1. You need to put one of your older ones in charge!!! I'm sure they could come up with some fun ideas :)

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  11. We Love Our Elves so much TOO!!!! I have two daughters and want to keep this tradition going for a very long time. We've had our boy elf, Skippy for a few years, but last year a girl elf, Ginger joined our family. Now it's double the trouble!!!

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  12. I absolutely LOVE the North Pole breakfast! HOW FUN!!! I can't wait to have kids to do this for... it's so adorable to see my nephews with their Elf. I saw a few between my family with their kids that were so cute....
    Snow angels in white sprinkles on the counter, or in sugar...
    Zip lining across the living room with a mini candy cane as the zip thing
    Sitting on the beach in brown sugar sand with an umbrella drink
    Fishing in the toilet (or in a bowl of water) with candy fish or in it

    I have a ton of these stored in my mind!

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    1. We've done the snow angels in sugar before, but I love the idea of using sprinkles!!! Thanks so much!!! :)

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  13. I am totally stalking this post today. This is our first year with Elf on the Shelf and you've given me lots of ideas in your past blogs. I have a note saved on my phone planning out the days as I think of/see things so I don't forget.

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  14. One of my boys favorites from last year was when the Elf hid candy canes around the house for them to find. He left a note saying how many he hid. I did that one a little too early though, set the bar kind of high :)

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  15. Our elf drew himself (on the glass with a white erase board marker) into our family picture and drew reindeer antlers and noses on the rest of the family.

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    1. I'm not sure if our elf is artistic enough to pull this one off :) hahaha But I love it!

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  16. Our elf arrives when we go to thanksgiving dinner, but I am loving the breakfast idea. I might have to do that this year! I think they will be disappointed he isn't there after dinner, but I think the breakfast will make up for it and it's two less days we have to come up with ideas of where to hide him ;)

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  17. I love the breakfast idea! Totally doing that this year! Our elf took a dry erase marker and drew funny faces on our family picture. Love your blog!!

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  18. Yay! I'm so glad you re-posted this stuff! This is one of my favorite McAnally family traditions!

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  19. I absolutely love the North Pole breakfast idea!! How sweet!

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  20. Put a dot of red paint on your kids noses as they sleep (Rudolph). When the kids wake up they will see the dot on each others noses and run to the mirror and realize they have one as well. The parents can even put a dot on their noses and get in on the fun! Poster paint washes off real easy.

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  21. Andrea you are SO amazing making these sweet memories for your kids! Take a second to give yourself a hug lady because you're pretty amazing!!

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  22. Andrea, could you PLEASE (pretty please) put a template for your notes to the kids? I love the font and names at top :) It would make it easier on us mommies!

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    1. EEEK!!! I'll look up the font and post a link... I think that would work.... otherwise it's going to show up in a weird standard font on your computer. I'll keep you updated!

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  23. I love your "over-the-top" holiday ideas! That's what makes the traditions so special! I am not currently in need of a Buddy the Elf, but I have been thinking up ideas for when that time comes! Just searching it on Pinterest popped up with a lot of fun ones, which you might have seen! But nonetheless, here they are:

    http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=elf%20on%20the%20shelf&term_meta%5B%5D=elf+on+the+shelf%7Ctyped

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    1. Thanks! I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.... there are so many great ideas on there, but sometimes I get completely overwhelmed. Other times I end up "pinning" and not "doing" :) I'm going to check these ideas out, though!

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  24. I'm pretty sure I started following you last year when you posted about your North Pole Breakfast! I LOVE it! Thanks for all the inspiration!

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    1. YAY! And thanks for sticking around for the whole year :) hahaha

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  25. This post made me so happy!! I can't wait to start planning our Elf stuff! and that breakfast is precious! We will for sure be adding this to the list!

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  26. Okay this is so cute it makes me want to go out, find a husband, and have babies JUST so I can do Elf on the Shelf!! ;) hahaha

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  27. This is my first year introducing Elf (our son is about to turn 3). I cannot wait...I think I'm more excited...and hopeful he'll behave :) I have been looking on Pinterest for some ideas. They're all so cute. Below is a link to Elf on the Shelf JESUS style. It incorporates Jesus into the whole Elf fun which I think is really cool.

    http://www.crayonmarksandtigerstripes.com/elf-on-the-shelf-jesus-style/

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    1. Awesome! I'm going to check it out this weekend - thank you!!!

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  28. You are such a fun Momma! I love all of these ideas! :)

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  29. I love the elf breakfast idea, I'm pinning this for Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks for sharing :)

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  30. Last year was our first year with our elf. Our Elf played Candyland, had a tea party, had story time. I am thinking of starting or Elf this weekend or next weekend. :-) Thank you for sharing your Elf Traditions. :-)
    @dancing_with_love (Instagram)

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  31. Andrea you are amazing! I already jotted down all these ideas and can't wait to see what else you do!!

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  32. Drape your Christmas tree with toilet paper and put your elf in the hole of the toilet paper roll at the bottom of your tree...so fun! Thanks for sharing your ideas...we'll be doing some of them at our house!

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    1. So fun! We did TP last year, but I had forgotten about it! Thank you!!!

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  33. I helped a coworker write a Buddy note last year. We googled a call Santa line and wrote a note for Buddy to call Santa back at the phone number. It was fun.

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  34. I had an elf in my classroom - Peppermint - and he was so sneaky... he'd get rolled up in my wall map, hang from the sky lights, write the morning planner message, get stuck in the class candy jar, hide in our Christmas tree, cut snowflakes, answered emails for me, caught up on his reading in our basket of Christmas books, checking himself out in the mirror and plastered to the windows to keep an eye on the kids once they went home :) It sure was a lot of fun!

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  35. Question: This is our first year to have an Elf. My kids are three & one. Do you ever repeat "Elf Scenarios" or do you come up with original ideas every year??

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  36. I absolutely love your welcome breakfast set up! Now that Xavier is turning 3 I think he will be more into our elf Sheldon this year. I hoping to do some fun things with him :) I think a big welcome is just what we need!

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  37. Here's our elf plan for this year

    Ok, made our plan!
    1. Mondays are hectic for us so a letter from Santa saying Monty will arrive next day (with advent calendar)
    2. Arrival and North Pole breakfast. Bell on red ribbon to discover on driveway that has fallen from Santa's sleigh when Monty being dropped off during the night and some reindeer poo.
    3. Changes their duvet covers while they are sleeping to Christmas ones. Gets himself trapped inside one of them.
    4. Has eaten a dominos pizza with all the Ninja Turtle toys during the night (I will enjoy setting that one up!)
    5. Brings Xmas jumpers
    6. Plant coins in snow, wait until they turn into chocolate coins
    7. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" With Instasnow
    8. Brings stuff to make reindeer cookies (upside down gingerbread men)
    9. Brings new Xmas socks, using one as a sleeping bag
    10. Brings a little tree for their bedroom. Hang their kinder egg superheroes on it
    11. Puts tree up in living room ready to decorate
    12. Pants on the tree
    13. Gingerbread houses to decorate
    14. Christmas colouring in tablecloth, Xmas colouring pictures and new pens
    15. Crystal snowman / Santa things
    16. Tickets to go see Santa
    17. Xmas DVDs and CDs
    18. Brings Holztiger Santa, sleigh and reindeer
    19. Decorations to make for the tree
    20. Fill living room with red and green balloons. Monty is stuck inside one
    21. Scavenger hunt or treasure hunt
    22. Recreate the Battle of Hoth with Instasnow
    23. Crack the Code puzzle saying where prize is hidden
    24. Green play-doh, Xmas tree cookie cutters etc
    25. Xmas bingo
    26. Turn shop into Santa's workshop, Monty working there making toys
    27. Xmas eve box with pj's, board game, DVD and treats, bubble bath, stuff to make reindeer food, stuff to make biscuits for santa and Santa key to leve out
    I have more than 24! I will leave Xmas DVDs and CDs as prize for treasure hunt and the play-doh as the Crack the Code prize and Montybcan make the Holztiger toys in the workshop. Done!

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  38. So this isn't Elf on the Shelf related, but your "hey girl" graphic reminded me of something I saw at Nordstrom today - http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/colour-me-good-ryan-gosling-coloring-book/3869512?origin=category&BaseUrl=Gift+Guide

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  39. http://www.pinterest.com/megan_steele1/classroom-holiday-elf-on-a-shelf/

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  40. I research ideas for my classroom all yr long! They love the elfie selfies and when mr. Potato head ties the elf up then the elf puts him on the naughty list

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  41. I love your northpoll breakfast Idea! It is supper creative! I'm so iusing it I started the elf last year for my little brother and my cousens and! Thy lovedl it!

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  42. I love your northpoll breakfast Idea! It is supper creative! I'm so iusing it I started the elf last year for my little brother and my cousens and! Thy lovedl it!

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