November 28, 2014
The Elf on the Shelf book and doll caught my attention in a little shop, when Dave and I were vacationing in Beaufort, N.C. a few years ago. Wouldn’t Aidan and Sophia love that,? So of course I bought one for them. Tiffany was living in an apartment at the time, so we decided having it at Papa and Grammy’s house was the best plan.
Well, we have had such fun with this little guy. I read the story to Aidan and Sophia and they chose the name ‘Jingles’ for their elf.
He has been all over our home and the kids love finding him and laugh over his antics, and at times he even mocks them.
This year I noticed a post on Pinterest about the elf showing up in a package. Brilliant! Another post had labels, which could be printed! Oh, my! Another post had a letter from Santa, which could be personalized. So, I utilized all three! It just so happened that I had a priority mail box. I taped the top closed and using a drill bit made for drilling one inch holes, I punched a hole through the top as if Jingles had popped out from inside the box.
The postage labels were printed on copy paper. At first I thought I needed cardstock, but when I printed the labels on regular copy paper, cut them out and painted Mod Podge on the back , they were just like stickers. One was a postmark from the North Pole, another ‘Express Delivery From The North Pole’ and an address label. I just attached them to the box and tore the label to match the hole Jingles was using to present himself.
Dave bought two chocolate treats, which said, “From the North Pole” and I placed them in the tissue, which was folded and gently tucked in the bottom. Then the flaps were gently tucked in and taped.
The website with the letter from Santa, had a cute letter, which I personalized for Aidan and Sophia. The letter was then rolled and tied with a red ribbon, placed in my car trunk, ready for Thanksgiving Day. My youngest son, Will was my accomplice and was instructed to retrieve Jingles, go through the garage to the front door, ring the doorbell and come back quickly.
It worked like a charm! Of course the kids were the first to the door. Their ideas of how the elf managed to get here were very creative! We took the letter he held to their mother and she read it aloud. Aidan was in disbelief when Santa actually told him to be kind to his little sister! Tiffany had to show him the letter to prove it!
We left the box and Jingles in the living room and Sophia and Aidan imagined that he was moving ever so slightly. While they were distracted, I helped Jingles along. The next time they checked on him, they were so excited! They went to the basement to retrieve their Christmas tree, which we had stored here and Jingles had one leg out of the box, when they next checked on him! They squealed with joy!
Unfortunately, he hadn’t completely come out of the box before they had to leave, but their treat is waiting there for them. We certainly enjoyed that little elf! Who knows what antics he will come up with this year?
To see a gallery of some of his antics click here.►Jingles
