Our Elf On The Shelf

I’m sure everyone knows about the Elf on the Shelf! If you’re into the ‘Santa’s watching’ kind of discipline that is at your fingertips during the holidays, the Elf on the Shelf is for you!

Yes, there was a lot of, ‘Santa is watching… So you want to be on the naughty or nice list???’ at our house this year.

The story of the Elf is:

‘Excellent listeners and even better observers, these scout elves are the eyes and ears of Santa Claus. Although they cannot be touched, or else they may lose their magic, the elf will always listen and relay messages back to Santa. Taking in all the day-to-day activities around the house, no good deed goes unnoticed; these scout elves take their job seriously.

Each night, after the family goes to bed, the scout elf uses his magical Christmas powers to fly back to the North Pole. Once there, the elf will make his or her daily report to Santa and visit with elf friends where they will tell stories about their beloved families, play with the reindeer, and of course, sneak some of Mrs. Claus’ cookies!

Before the family awakes each morning, their special scout elf will fly back to their home from the North Pole. However, since these elves like to play games, don’t expect to find them in the same spot!  While some like to hide in the freezer (probably because it reminds them of the North Pole) and others prefer to sit on the fireplace mantle or hang from the chandelier, these elves love to play hide-and-seek with their families.’

I’ve loved the Elf on the Shelf for a long time, but have never actually bought one. Then my son wanted one…. But red is not actually part of my holiday decor. And as much as I love felt, neither is felt… So I knew I had to make my own….

Everyone that has seen it so far says it looks like my son!

Instead of the red felt elf, we now have a bright green satin elf with raw silk hands, feet, ears and face! I did use felt here and there on our little guy, but to glam up the felt a little, I added some pearls. Which is what led me to learning about the beading backstitch! (more on that later this week!) I also actually forgot the ears when I sewed him together. I debated on whether to add the ears or not… I knew it would bug me with no ears, so he got elf ears! And please ignore the stitching for the mouth, I’m not exactly sure what happened there….

Despite the fact that I didn’t want to purchase one of the mass-produced elfs, I do love the story behind the family that did write the book. I considered doing a tutorial, but for some reason it just felt wrong to publish a tutorial on this one. I’m not sure why! Not that my tutorial could really put a dent in the money-making machine of the Elf on the Shelf… Anyway…..

As I was making ours, my son asked how he was going to be magic… I told him that we’d have to find some Christmas magic dust. So I’m on the lookout for that!

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