Shortly after Thanksgiving, the Elf on the Shelf shenanigans begin at our house. I don’t know if I have more fun finding unique and creative ways to showcase Willie the Elf or if Liam does scouring the house every morning in search of his elf’s most recent hiding place.
I know staging your child’s elf may not be something everyone enjoys doing, but many do it because it’s an obligatory part of their family Christmas traditions. For the Mama Bears who find it more of a chore than a joy to hide their child’s elf, I thought I’d post a few of this year’s best hiding places so you could catalog them away and implement them in your house in the next few weeks leading up to Christmas.
Willie blended in nicely with one of my favorite kitchen staples, cherry tomatoes. This hiding place proved to be incredibly difficult for Liam to find. He was unable to find him in the morning before we headed out the door for school and work. Later that evening though, I asked him to help me with dinner by grabbing some tomatoes. He was so very surprised to see who was hiding inside.
Friday morning Liam woke up to fresh snow outside. As many of you know, this is truly a rarity in South Texas. He enjoyed building a snowman, having a snowball fight, and eating snow. This morning to piggyback on the merriment, Willie had his own snowball fight in the guest room with Liam’s Christmas stuffed animals.
Willie borrowed one of Atticus’s bath toys for a little fishing fun in a decorative pot in our dining room.
Baby toys have proven to be ideal props for staging Liam. For this one, I made a chain of teething rings and hung them from the drape rod.
A bag of Oreos doubles as a prop and as an easy go-to dessert. Liam loved finding his name spelled out in them and was even more surprised that Willie made the icing red just like his clothes.
During the off season, Willie moonlights as an extra for Cirque de Soleil.
Willie pulled the drapes together to make a relaxing hammock. He enjoyed a day of sunbathing while Liam was away at school.
Sometimes Willie leaves notes for Liam that talk about something special Liam did during the day. These notes are a labor of love on my part because I write them with my non-dominant hand. For not being a leftie, I think I fare pretty well.
To the other Mama Bears hiding elves this Christmas, let your inner child out and get creative. Seeing your child’s eyes light up when they discover their elf’s new hiding place makes it a labor of love well worth the effort!
Birds of a Feather 