Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Christmas Eve is my very favorite day of the year!  For me, Christmas Day is often anticlimactic.  The holiday is basically over as soon as my kiddos see what Santa brought them.  I've always been an anticipation girl...and today is the ultimate anticipation holiday!  That being said, make sure you come back tomorrow for my most important Shade of Shay.

Since it's Christmas Eve, I thought I'd show you all of my Elf on the Shelf ideas this season.  

 Here's how we handle the elf in our house...we don't make him some all-knowing mighty god that can see my kids 24/7.  No.  My kids believe in only one God that sees them all the time...all 365 days of the year, so we don't cloud that.  We pretty much just use this elf as a little hide-and-seek game.  They love finding him first thing in the morning and laughing at what antics he's up to but after that, we rarely mention him throughout the day.  For me, I don't want to use him as leverage for their behavior (like saying, "don't do that or I'm going to tell Buddy") because that only works until December 25.  I really try and keep our elf fun and silly and not place too much emphasis on him.  

I hope you had fun following me on Instagram #whereourelfistoday because I had so much fun posting!

Here's a look back at our elf Buddy and what he did over the last month...

Buddy made his grand entrance with donuts and a gift for each kid.  I love spreading their Christmas gifts out throughout the season because I feel like they appreciate them more than opening them all on Christmas Day.  These were just two gifts we pulled from under the tree for Buddy to "give" them.

Buddy was putting a puzzle together.  Throughout the day, I would add pieces to the puzzle when they weren't looking as if Buddy were putting it together.

I love using salt instead of flour because it's heavier and doesn't blow around throughout the day.

I would color a little throughout the day when the kids weren't looking...and they thought the elf was doing it :).

I moved him from stocking to stocking (sometimes, feet up!) throughout the day as if were moving around.

Andrew was super proud of this one.  He even created an ab roller and workout plan for them...

We built our house later that day!  The kids really loved this idea!

And on our last day, Christmas Eve, our elf reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas.

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6