Countdown to Christmas - Elf Surveillance Sign DIY

 

When I saw this Elf Surveillance sign at the Dollar Tree, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I have rolls of elf themed ribbon in my craft stash, and  I share posts about our elf shenanigans. 

I made a reel with video on how I made this sign over on Instagram.  While writing this post, I realized I only took a handful of still photos 🤦

I made the bow by folding the ribbon in an 8 inch loop several times.  I gathered it in the middle, and cinched it with a rubber band. I cut another piece of ribbon 18 inches long, and tied it around the rubber band.  I then pulled out the loops and fluffed them a bit. 

I made elf harnesses with the believe ribbon, and attached the elves to the sign. I tried to make the look like they were watching with little pieces of tape to hold their hand over their eyes, but it didn't stick too well.  I like how the sign turned out though, and the elves are going to be getting into more mischief tomorrow.  

If you are looking for fun family activities to do this Christmas I I have my Elf Advent Activity Cards live in my shop now.  There are 40 cards with different daily activities.  You can have your Christmas Elf deliver a different card each day, or if you don't have an Elf, you can still use these cards for family fun. 

I also have some Christmas Elf Gift Tags in the shop as well.  

Some other idea posts with  Elves Buddy and Joy can be find here.  Elf Ideas and Props

Elf Ideas and Dollar Tree Accessories

Elf Themed Cookie Party

** these are Amazon Affiliate Links 

If you don't have an Elf on the Shelf yet, but interested in getting one, they have them on Amazon where you can find boy and girl elves,  

If you want something a little different than the traditional elf, how about a Grinch on the Shelf.

I was so surprised by how many cute accessories are available for the elves. How cute are these Donut Be Naughty elf pjs.  You can see them and other accessories here. 

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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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Elf themed Cookie Party

Recently I had the chance to have a cookie making party with my daughter, and two special girls in my life.   As you know from my Big Birthday Post that I have recently started working with Oriental Trading and trying out their party supplies. The movie Elf is one of my favorite Christmas movies, so when I saw all of their adorable elf themed party supplies, I knew I wanted to have an Elf Themed Cookie Party with the girls.  

In the picture above I filled elf candy buckets with elf themed treats. I could have filled them with candy, but I knew we would have plenty of sugar making the cookies   

Each of the girls got a couple of elf dolls, elf stickers, elf rubber duckies and Elf on the Shelf erasers 

The Plush Long Arm Elves were perfect to hang from their very own themed Elf tree  

The girls also got a plastic elf mug that were the perfect size to dunk their cookies in milk. 

We did not have the chance to use these yet, but were are going to use these cupcake collars and picks to make Elf themed cupcakes very soon.  

I am pretty excited about these Elf Photo Stick Props.  While the pictures I took with the girls that day, they  are too dark and blurry to post (I just do not have enough good light where I live). I am going to take these to a Christmas party I am going to this weekend.  Many of the guests will be the ones who attended my Big Birthday, and it will be at my friends house who does have good lighting. ☺ 

These elf treat boxes were really cute, and the perfect size for a candy treat. 

B was in a silly mood, and kept making faces in all of my pictures. She normally smiles and poses in pictures. At least I got one picture of her working on the cookies without her making a funny face. Here she is concentrating on which cookie cutters to use. That is more than I can say for my own daughter who still makes faces in every single picture I take of her. Hopefully she will outgrow that soon! (maybe I will do a post on it) 

I knew the girls were going to make a big mess, so I tried to organize my supplies. I put all of my Christmas sprinkles and cookie options on a tray to keep them contained and somewhat organized. 

I bought take out containers at the dollar store for the girls to take their cookies home.  I will definitely be doing this again when we bake. 

We ate some of the cookies on Elf themed party supplies,   

T cooperated with a big smile while showing off her elf goodies.  

If you are interested in hosting your own elf party or other Christmas theme, there is still time to get fun themed supplies from the Oriental Trading Christmas Store.  They have a great selection of party supplies, decorations, crafts and stocking stuffers for many different themes. .  

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The Adventures of Buddy the Elf, Weeks 3 and 4

Buddy had a busy last week and a half at our house.  With Thanksgiving being so late this year, the time with Buddy really did seem to fly by.   In this picture he was  using a candy cane to hang from the peppermint garland in the kitchen. 

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The Adventures of Buddy the Elf, Week 2

Buddy has been a pretty good elf this week. He did not get in too much trouble.  He also did not seem to mind the day that we were so busy, that he stayed in the same place longer than normal.  In this picture he is playing hide and seek in the poinesetta  His red suit blended in with the red flowers really well.  

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