elf on the shelf, week 1.

I jumped on the bandwagon for Elf on the Shelf this year and it's surprisingly addictive. I found someone selling the whole elf ensemble on a yard sale site and jumped on the deal because this little guy retails for over $30 in the store! While we weren't able to get in a full month of elf antics, two full weeks will be a good trial run. I hope to do this again next year!

Day 1: 

After receiving the elf through the aforementioned yard sale site, I promptly started our new elf activity with Nathan. First, we read the book that comes in the box set that outlines the 'rules' of the Elf on the Shelf. Basically the elf appears on December 1 and serves as a scout for Santa. He appears daily and then magically flies back to the North Pole to report back to Santa as to whether or not the child is on the 'naughty' or 'nice' list. To spice things up, and to make this less of a tattle-tale activity, a lot of parents now have their elves get into mischief (read: my motivation for starting this!). While reading the book, the child is asked to give the elf a name, which gives the elf his magical powers. Nathan named ours Rhino. At least it's unique!

After reading the book, I told Nate that Rhino may be in our house. I sent him to wander the house in search of this little guy, who got into the cookie jar.

Nathan's reaction to this was "Mom, that's just a toy". Total disinterest.

Daily Cost: Free! (cookies, canister already in the house!)

Day 2:

I am on a mission. I've already invested in this little elf, I've combed through Pinterest for cute ideas, and I will make him believe. I broke down and bought the movie called 'An Elf's Story'. If he sees it on the t.v. then he'll believe, right? Absolutely. This little trick worked like a charm! After the movie, I told him to look for Rhino again. We found Rhino under the Christmas tree taking an elf bath.

"Oh my gosh! Look at that silly Rhino, he's taking a bath!" said Nathan. SUCCESS!  After this night, I decide to switch to morning reveals. Much easier to set up the scene after Nathan goes to bed.

Daily Cost: Free! (used cotton balls and a bread basket)

Day 3: 

Maybe I've been listening too much of Miley's 'Wrecking Ball', but the next morning Nate found Rhino swinging from the chandelier in the dining room.

Daily Cost: Free!

Day 4:

We had a bit of snow this week, so I wanted to make some use of it before it all melted away. Who goes outside to make their child a tiny snowman at one in the morning? This girl! The next morning when Nathan went to let the dogs outside, he found this waiting for him:

I have to say that, even though I was frozen and the stupid raisins kept falling off, this is one of my favorites so far. Nathan LOVED this because it was a.) outside b.) involved snow and c.) incorporated Woody's hat.

 Daily Cost: Free! (used snow -obviously-, raisins, a hat from Nate's Woody doll, and a wooden skewer since I was not about to go dig under the snow for sticks at one in the morning)

Day 5: 

To mix things up a bit, Rhino brought Nathan a felt Christmas tree (on sale at Target for 50% off!). I thought this would be fun to have a different type of tree for Nate. We've lost a few ornaments on our big Christmas tree due to Nate's curiosity. He also has his own little tree in his room, but I've noticed that he doesn't take all the ornaments off after he finished decorating it. Perfect in his eyes, I guess.

This cute little felt tree came with 90+ pieces. See the individual red squares on the candy canes and the decorations on the ornaments? All separate pieces, which my son then happily shook all over our living room. I worked some hot glue gun magic so that there are only about 20 pieces overall. Much better!

Daily Cost: $5

Day 6: 

Uh oh! Rhino got caught!

Nathan came running down the stairs that morning to look for Rhino and said "Oh no! He's been captured by the soldiers!" :)

Daily Cost: Free! (used electrical tape and army soldiers/trucks that we already had)

Day 7: 

I'll be honest and admit that photographically, this was my least favorite day so far. One of my brothers gave us the great idea to put Rhino in the aquarium. I'm not so sure that this little guy is washable, so I didn't want him to get wet. We ended up putting him into a sandwich bag inside of a gallon sized bag and used knives to weigh him down. I wish you couldn't tell that he's so obviously inside of a plastic bag, but Nathan giggled like crazy when he saw. Worth it!

Daily Cost: Free! (used plastic bags for waterproofing and knives for weights)

The first week of doing Elf on the Shelf has been a lot of fun but it sure requires some commitment! I'll be sure to post Rhino's second week of adventures next week. According to elf scout rules, he goes back to the North Pole (a.k.a. storage) after Christmas day.