Have you seen the latest craze?
The premise is that (and I haven’t read the book so I’m just reporting what I’ve gleaned from the interwebz) an elf shows up at your house, checks out what’s going on there, and reports back to Santa whether the kids are being naughty or nice. But, the elf shows up in different places every day.
I know it’s been popular for a few years, but apparently my kids hadn’t heard of it before now. This year, though, they really wanted an elf!
I couldn’t bring myself to buy the $30 brand name version, though, so meet Fake Elf.
I bought him for $7.99 at a local gift shop and printed a letter I found online, explaining who he was.
The kids totally bought it, and I saved myself $22.
So, Fake Elf has been bouncing around our house, hanging from light fixtures, doing snow angels in powdered sugar, and sitting atop a pineapple, among other things. It takes 5 seconds to do and it’s so fun to hear the kids search for him and squeal in excitement when they find him. I love hearing them conjecture about how Fake Elf got from where he was last night to where he turned up this morning.
Of course, there are a million people more creative than their elves than I am, and I’ve seen some really cute elf hi-jinks! In fact, there’s a whole Flickr pool dedicated to the subject. Here are a few of my favorites:
My elf placement has been much less involved than those, but aren’t they cute?
Do you have an elf on a shelf?
I am so proud of your fake elf frugality! nice work! that’s pretty cute. we might have to do that next year despite my ruining of Christmas by not doing the whole Santa thing.
Super cute!!
I picked up a fake elf too – couldn’t bring myself to spend $30. I have to say that it is a big old pain in the butt remembering to move it every night. But the girls think it is fun.
I know I think $30 is too much too. But I won’t lie I kind of want one , wondering if it would actually make my son behave.
Could you let us know where you found the letter to print? I am thinking of getting a fake one too! Thanks!!
Here’s where I found the letter: http://christmas.organizedhome.com/gifts-crafts-gift-tags/magic-elf
Could you tell me where you bought your fake elf? I like the look better and the price can’t be beat!
I bought it at a local flower/gift shop
Your fake elf is way cuter than the original, which I find very creepy! Is it just me? I can’t be the only one.
What a clever idea! I wanted to buy the Elf on the Shelf for my 5 month old to start a new tradition, but heck I have elves all over the place! Why didn’t I think of that! Thanks!
well, we were suckered into the REAL Elf on the Shelf – because it was all about…..the BOOK!! Target had it $5 off last week, and I also had $10 off $50 as well, so it ended up costing enough less that I took the leap. They LOVE it!! I had initially also worried that being 8 & 10 they wouldn’t get enough “mileage” out of Elfis Marvolo McNoodle (you can clearly see I had nothing to do with naming it!) but they are already arguing about who gets to take him when they move out LOL!! If you have the opportunity to indulge in some form of elvish fun with your kids, I say go for it 🙂
DUDE. “elfie”, as he is known around dad and heidi’s ranch, has been coming for the last 3 or 4 years or so. they were early adapters of this technology and he is BIG TIME around here. in fact, when he flew back to the north pole last year, mia asked if elfie could come back for all holidays this year. so he comes back a week before every holiday this year for a brief visit. i am in charge of his placement on thursday morning this week and i am thinking he is going to TP the xmas tree. i have been lobbying for him to be more mischievous this holiday season.
I bought an elf on the shelf thinking it would be fun for my kids. They loved it, and their behavior improved too. Every morning the elf would “mysteriously” move, through the handwork of my husband, or so I thought. A week later I asked him if he wanted me to take a turn moving it at night. He said, “what, I have not moved it once, I thought you were.”