Dare to Share Saturday

It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Happy December!  Have you decorated yet?  We have done a little bit of decorating, but still have a lot to do.  I have a mini tree up in the bedroom, and a few things here and there.  Part of the reason why things are not up yet, is I am with someone who likes to wait until December to decorate. This year I was in the spirit early, but I need his help to get out all the decorations out of the crawl space. Hopefully by this time next week, it will be a little more festive around here. 

This week I continued the Countdown to Christmas series.  A few years ago my Snow Owl Ornaments went viral. In this week's post I re-shared how to make them and shared a few gift ideas for the crafter in your life. 

 On Tuesday I shared this Christmas treat Reeses Cup Reindeer.  I also shared some gift ideas for Christmas baking.  

On Wednesday I shared a craft idea to make with your kids, a homemade Advent calendar that can be filled with daily candy or toys.   I also shared some kids advent kits filled with Marvel, Disney and fidget toys.

 

I found out yesterday morning, that December 1st is National Pie Day.  I shared an Easy Chocolate Banana Pie, that would be great for you holiday get togethers.  I also share a few travel carriers to transport your pies when going to a pot luck or party. 

Over on my Etsy Shop, I have listed some new treat bag toppers this week. In my shop I also have Christmas Trivia, Christmas Riddles for kids, Letters from Santa, and more.  This weekend I am posting  Elf Activity Cards that your elf can give your kids with several Christmas activities that the whole family can do.  I will also be adding a Christmas Scavenger Hunt in the next few days.   

Now it is your turn to share.  I would love for you to share what you are up to.  

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Elf on the Shelf Ideas and Props

Does your family have an Elf on the Shelf?  We do, we have two, but they are currently enjoying retirement.  We did have a few fun years of their antics, but they kids are all grown up now.  

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

There are a couple of reasons why I am writing this post though, I know many people still have young active elves visiting their homes.  Also if you have followed my blog for awhile you know I have a love for all things Dollar Tree.  This year I found so many great prop ideas, I knew I would have to share them for the mom struggling to come up with ideas. 

If you follow me on Instagram, I post my Dollar Tree finds, and craft ideas. This week I shared a post of items that I found that would be perfect for Elf on the Shelf.  I saw so many I could not share everything in one post but here is what I have so far.   

First up... Furniture and home props 

In the toy aisle you can find all kinds of elf size items such as a bed, arm chair, dust buster and even a toilet.  Behind the bed you can also see they have a variety of kitchen accessories as well.  

They have added electric guitars recently, which are just the right size for the Elf to play (see picture of Buddy playing to Joy above)   The dirt bike is also the perfect size for the Elf to ride around the house.  While the phone may be a bit big as a phone, it could be a good size for an Elf Tablet. 

Being from the midwest, my favorite game is of course, the elf size cornhole. Your elf could challenge all his toy friends to a game.  The Uno cards are travel size pack and smaller than normal cards.  I think the fishing pole comes in different colors but it is good size for elves to hold.   If your elf likes sports, there are several different small size sports items like the goal post, pool table, and ping pong paddles.  

Here are a few more ideas that our elf has done in the past. You can sometimes find these small easels in the Crafter Square aisle.  One day we found him drawing a picture of our Christmas Tree. 

Buddy and Joy enjoying nature using their handmade binoculars made out of pipe cleaners. 

Their elf size sleds were found at the Dollar Tree, which made for a fun day of sledding. 

They enjoyed decorating for Christmas on their elf size Dollar Tree Christmas Tree. 

Their camping gear was also from the Dollar Tree.  I believe the elf size skillet and lantern are still available.  

If you would like even more Elf on the Shelf inspiration check out these past posts. 

Adventures of Buddy the Elf (week 1)

Where's Buddy?

Adventures of Buddy Week 2

Adventures of Buddy Weeks 3 & 4

 

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Elf on the Shelf Ideas and Dollar Store Accessories

We are in the home stretch with our elves, Christmas Eve is one week from today.  If you have an Elf on the Shelf you may be running out of ideas on what to do these next few days.  My kids are now older teens, so our visit from our elf Buddy and his friend Joy is a bit different  than it used to be.  Instead of them moving at night when the kids are asleep,  my daughter helps me think of fun ideas for them to do.  We are often at the dollar store, keep our eyes open for items that are the perfect size for our elves. 

This is one of my favorite photos of our elves Buddy and Joy that I took 2 years ago. (this was also when Joy joined in the fun)    I found an adorable little guitar in the toy aisle that was perfect for a Christmas serenade.  

This year I took pictures of some of the different adventures of Buddy and Joy.   Here they are sledding on their very own elf size sleds.  

The sleds were actually ornaments found at  the dollar store.  We decided to remove the berries and greenery so the elves would fit on the sled better, but they also look very festive this way. 

This year the dollar store had mini trees for sale. They were the perfect size for the elves to decorate.  

The elf size present was also found in the ornament aisle.  

The elf size lantern is actually an ornament, and the elf size skillet was found in the toy aisle.  I was wondering what my daughter might do with them and was happily to see them camping. 

You may be wondering what is going on in this picture.  Joy is looking through candy cane binoculars made from a red and white stripped pipe cleaner at something just beyond the hedge.  

The elves came across two reindeer and colorful birds enjoying nature.  

The bird house was found in the craft aisle.   The wild birds were attached to Christmas floral picks.  

This picture was taken a few years ago, and is another one of my favorites. I found elf size easels at either the dollar store or craft store.  They were the perfect size for Buddy to do some art work.  

This is another picture taken a few years ago.  It was very easy to make some elf themed ornaments by gluing white felt on a red ball and DIY stocking ornament. 

Now is also the time to keep an eye out for accessories for next year.  When shopping the Christmas clearance be sure to think out of the box, because you just might something perfect for your elf for a fraction of the cost. 

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Blogger Christmas Blog Hop

I am doing something new today.   I got together with several of my blogger friends to bring you a Christmas Blog Hop.  You will hopefully find some new ideas on how to decorate and celebrate Christmas.  

My entry in the hop is my Christmas Tree Ball Ornament.  I actually shared how to paint this ornament last year, but with the craft show coming up in a few days I am sharing them again.  I made some for the show, and I am very excited with how they turned out.  They are actually a lot easier to paint than they might look. 

Enjoy the hop! 

An InLinkz Link-up

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