elf on the shelf, week 4.

Christmas has come and gone and our elf scout, Rhino, has headed back to the North Pole until next December. As a family, Elf on a Shelf has been really fun for all of us this year! I've had so much fun scheming for daily appearances, N has had a blast finding Rhino every day, and I think my husband has been amused with both of us. I hope to keep this tradition going for as long as possible. 

Want to see some of our other elf adventures? Check these out: 

• Last year 
• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3 

Day 22: 

Some little elf got into our Costco-sized stash of k-cups and built himself a coffee fort and then settled into an oversized Santa mug this morning! 

Daily Cost: Free! 

Day 23: 

One morning after breakfast, N got a not so subtle reminder to brush his teeth from Rhino. I'm not sure what's worse - the fact that my kiddo ate the toothpaste off of the elf, or the fact that I let him. Either way, this was a cute and very easy set up!

Daily Cost: Free! 

Day 24: 

I managed to wrap all of our Christmas gifts in advance, but still needed to wrap some items that we had for our family white elephant exchange. After I finished, I had N help me to clean up the wrapping paper scraps and we found this helpful little elf waiting for us at the trash can. 

Daily Cost: $1. I found this cute little trashcan at the dollar store and picked it up for this elf scene - it's the perfect size! I sometimes envy parents who have little girls with dollhouse toys - oh the opportunities you could have for these daily adventures! :) 

Day 25: 

Ahh, Christmas morning! I will never, ever change the fact that Rhino will be in the Christmas tree when N comes bounding down the stairs to see if Santa came. I did add to the tradition this year by adding some snowflakes to the tree, along with a little note from our elf. I felt that I needed to provide a bit of closure for Rhino just disappearing, so hopefully the note did that justice. Also, I cannot remember the last time that I wrote anything fully in cursive.

Daily Cost: Free! 

Until next year, little elf!