Christmas Adventures - Elf on The Shelf

Star the Elf has been with us for a long time. Actually, this is second Star! The original Star decided she wanted to stay and look after my parents one year and she has been there ever since! I know some of you parents out there have to set up and clean up after your elf's nightly adventures, I know expectations can be high and something that is supposed to be fun can turn out to be stressful - this is where the perk of being an adult with only a puppy comes in.

Star does what she wants, she comes on adventures with us, she even came to Vegas for our wedding! Star has been to Paris, and Ohio and Savannah. She travels with her own little suitcase and sleeping bag. Our elf never leaves a mess for me to clean up and she has almost as many clothes and accessories as I do!

Star is super photogenic and during this season where I am home so much trying to capture all the moments of Christmas it is nice to have a little elf buddy who doesn't mind posing and stays still until the photo is taken (unlike Brody!)

Is it silly for us to have an Elf on the Shelf? Maybe, or maybe we like embracing this magic and childlike wonder. Maybe its an excuse for me to play with dolls for a short time each year. Maybe I like setting her up with fun activities and bringing her along on adventures with us. Maybe you are in a household of just adults, maybe your children are getting older, there is still plenty of fun and magic to be had with an elf. Here are just a few:

1. Announce cookie baking day by setting your elf out with the flour and sugar

2. Get ready for movie night, have your Elf deliver popcorn and a stack holiday movie DVDs or be sitting near the remote if you are streaming your movies this year.

3. Use for documentation purposes, have your elf pose with receipts, shopping bags, holiday cups of coffee, a favorite decoration. The sky is really the limit on this one but if you find yourself short on willing participants a cute little elf might be just what you need.

4. Need help wrapping gifts? Wrap your elf up in a bow, sitting beside tape and scissors and maybe someone in your home will get the hint!

5. Take your elf on outings. I try to be careful not to let small children see me touch Star but she comes with us literally every where and how fun to have her in these memories.

6. Take turns moving the elf and setting up surprises. Maybe it's just you and a partner, maybe you have an older child or children that's great take turns using your family elf to announce a holiday activity each day. Get everyone involved!

Yesterday I sent the above photo to Tamy while she was at work and her response was "she better not eat all of those cookies" it's fun to get into the magic. It's fun to pretend for a little while that this cute elf is your direct line to Santa, it is fun to play and be a kid because if you can't at Christmas then when can you? Unfortunately for Tamy, Star the elf isn't my only childlike tradition at Christmas, on Christmas Eve you can find me tracking Santa on the Norad app or asking Alexa where the big guy is. It's something I have been doing for a long time, back when I would stare out the window searching the skies for signs of Santa's sleigh, these days technology makes it so easy right? What magical tradition do you keep up even though you may be considered too grown? I hope you will share in the comments, no judgement here as today you will also find a brand new Reel posted on Instagram showing off some of Star's wardrobe and shennanigans!

Thank you so much for sharing this Christmas journey with me! I have been having such a blast sharing this season with you and I'm so glad we have 9 days to go!