Christmas Countdown

Elf on the Shelf is a tradition we started in 2011. Olly (our elf) has been part of our Christmas tradition, and to be honest, even after Cadence quits believing in Santa (which I hope is several years away) we may continue to bring Olly around just because we love him so much.

Our home is not large by any means, so to come up with a unique and special idea each night can some times take a lot of thinking on our part. Thank goodness Pinterest has gotten as large as it has because as of recent a lot of our ideas come from there.

Some times social media can be a huge pain in the ass, but for reasons like this, I love it. I have documented daily what our Elf has done for the past 3 years, ever since we began. You would be surprised how many people come up to us in stores or at the gas station asking when Olly is coming back, because they get so tickled seeing what new thing he has done on FaceBook.

If you need some Elf on the Shelf ideas, feel free to use some we have done below through the years!

Olly's first year - 2011

2012

(in order from day 1 - Christmas Eve)

This year thus far...

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? If so any ideas are much appreciated!

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We have a count down calendar to Christmas. It has little slots where you move the candy cane one day until you're on December 24th. In each slot I have decided to put a note with one thing to do that night. This was no easy task. We have so many things planned for the month of December, Cadence's birthday party, my family's Christmas party, the hubby goes on call for 7 days so I couldn't schedule anything out of a 10 mile radius for that week, plus different plans we have with friends, alas I finally finished this morning and here is the finished list, starting with tonight, December 3rd:

12/3 - Bake Christmas Cookies

12/4 - Build a Gingerbread House

12/5 - Local Christmas Parade

12/6 - Cadence's Choice (she can choose whatever she likes, whether it's playing a game, go ride around and look at Christmas lights, watch a Christmas movie, or snuggle by the fire, whatever her little heart can dream)

12/7 - Cadence's Birthday Party / Let's Celebrate

12/8 - Go Ice Skating

12/9 - Make Homemade Bird Feeders (pine cone, add peanut butter, roll in bird seed)

12/10 - Read Elf on the Shelf and then Watch the Movie

12/11 - Watch a Christmas Movie

12/12 - Cadence's Choice

12/13 - See Local Christmas Lights

12/14 - Walk the Trail of Lights

12/15 - Go Out for Ice Cream

12/16 - Happy 5th Birthday Cadence / Cadence's Choice

12/17 - Do a Christmas Craft

12/18 - Watch a Christmas Movie

12/19 - Cadence's Choice

12/20 - Savannah Festival of Lights

12/21 - Family Christmas Party

12/22 - Cadence Goes Shopping for Mommy & Daddy / Picks the Gift All By Herself

12/23 - Make Reindeer Food (m&m's and popcorn)

12/24 - Merry Christmas Eve / Open One Present / Say Goodbye to Olly / Read the Story of Jesus' Birth

I had to double up on some things, I call them my fillers. It's really hard to come up with something for 24 nights when you're restricted on time, parties, get-to-gethers, work, and financially being able to do something out every night. It's all about spending time as a family, and that's what we plan on doing!

Christmas is here y'all!