Elf on the Shelf Non-Religious Option?

Sorry this one is a bit late. I had been too lazy to take a picture for this post.

Being an Atheist, it is important for me not to include anything about Jesus in our Holiday celebrations. She is much to young to be able to understand that type of information. Because of this I normally pre-read any holiday books before choosing them to read to our 2 year old. Unfortunately, I did not do this with the Elf on the Shelf book. On page one page there was a line that read "I won't get to tell him that you've said your prayers". We decided to take that part out and change the words to "I won't get to tell him that you've said your pleases and thank yous". As you can see I used my new label maker to make it appear seamless. ;)

Another thing I didn't really like about the book was that the elf seems like a tattle tale. We chose to have our elf be more of a sneaky jokester, similar to a leprechaun. Hopefully by next year I can find a better book to introduce Sparkly!

What do you like or don't like about the Elf on the Shelf? Have any great Elf on the Shelf activities to share? Put it all in the comments!

Elf on the Shelf: The Final Days of 2012!

Wow just as quickly as this fun little tradition began it is already time for the 2012 round to come to an end. I am happy it is over. The last few days I have not been able to come up with anything. 

Day 21: Sparkly ate some nasty gingerbread cookie. 

Day 22: Sparkly had surgery!!! She finally went through the pain staking hand separation surgery and then hid under the sofa. My daughter found her almost instantly. :( 

Day 23: I tried something a bit more complicated. While she did eventually find Sparkly it most certainly was not as quick as the previous day. My daughter LOVES seek and find books. I think I should have done more activities that were a bit more difficult to find. This is about the point I ran out of ideas. I think I started a day or two before Dec. 1st, so Sparkly set in this very spot for 2 or 3 days. My 2 year old didn't even seem to mind.

Day 25 or 26 who's counting? Sparkly sits in Zoey's stocking awaiting xmas morning. I sit over here at the computer typing at 3 in the morning awaiting the next time my 2 year old wakes up. Since I work late hours we normally go to bed around 2ish. I put her down at about 1 tonight since I knew I would have things to do. She has already woken up 4 times!

Goodbye Sparkly! See you next year! Merry Xmas everyone! Enjoy the time you have!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 17, 18, 19 and 20!

 Day 17: Sparkly is going potty! Now if only I could get my 2 year old to do the same thing. :)

 Day 18: Just hanging around!

Day 19: Trying to leave the house! Get back here Sparkly!

Day 20: Since our work schedules tend to clash (and because my sister recently broke her phone AGAIN) she was coming by to exchange Xmas gifts (more on that later!), so I had a picture of her sitting with Sparkly to announce that she was coming over. 

As you can see at this point I am running out of ideas. Sparkly has turned into a paperweight on various surfaces in our house. If you have any fun ideas appropriate for a 2 year old, share them in the comments!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16!

Clearly I have been a little behind with the Elf updates. Here are the last 5 days of fun!

Day 12:  Sparkly decorated our tree with a bunch of BUGS!! My 2 year old decided immediately that this was NOT the place for the bugs and took them off the tree. 

 Day 13: Sparkly is hanging out in this super water spot pot. (Anyone have any suggestions to avoid water spots?)

   

Day 14: Our elf had planed a fun event! There was a path leading to a gingerbread house in another room, which we made later that day. To make the foot prints just draw a foot shape on a piece of cardboard and trace it onto some white wrapping paper. Cut out all 1 million of the feet. Put a piece of double sided stick tape to the feet. Make sure to have the feet facing out. This most certainly is not a quick Elf activity but it is fun for the whole family!

We opted for the, "Who gives a fuck what our ginger bread house looks like?" look.

My daughter had lots of fun adding the candy everywhere on the house. 

My husband would like everyone to know that the house DOES NOT taste good! We even got him to add on some decorations.

Day 15: Just playing some Clouds and Sheep on my daughters tablet. 

Day 16: Hanging out in Daddy's boot.

Go here to view all of the other Elf on the Shelf activities we have done this year!

Anyone else out there participating in this fun yet creepy tradition that is sweeping the nation? Leave your ideas in the comments and be sure to check back frequently as I will be posting all of our Elf activities right here.

Elf on the Shelf: Day 9, 10, and 11

Day 9: Sparkly :) took all of my daughter's books out and threw them on the floor. 

Day 10: She decided to take a ride on my daughter's old rocking horse. Because we have a 2 year old and it is likely this elf will get knocked over, we have an agreement that only mommy can move the elf. My 2 year old has been doing great with this. If Sparkly falls over or needs to be moved to another location for the rest of the day, Zoey understands that it is ok for mommy to move the elf without it loosing its magic. She has not touched the elf a single time. I think I will tell her that everything will loose its magic if she touches it!

Day 11:  I even tried to build in some father daughter time. On Day 11 Sparkly gave a gift of a gingerbread necklace. Since I am at work today they will have to put it together. Having Sparkly give a gift or a craft is great for those days when I forget to do something or don't have time.

Go here to view all of the other Elf on the Shelf ideas I have used this year!

Anyone else out there participating in this fun yet creepy tradition that is sweeping the nation? Leave your ideas in the comments and be sure to check back frequently as I will be posting all of our Elf activities right here.

Elf on the Shelf: Day 6, 7, and 8

Day 6 -Elf (and technically my BFF) brought some BINGO dabbers for us to decorate wrapping paper with (tutorial coming soon)!!

Day 7 -Elf turned the milk green! (SN: Don't try this at home. gross details---> My husband changed a diaper shortly after my 2 year old consumed this festive milk and apparently she had festive poo.):

Day 8 -Our Elf got a new name on day 8! Her new name is Sparkly! My daughter came to me and said, "Mommy, elf name is Sparkly!" This was quite random, but I was thankful because I like Sparkly much better than the old name Elf. And you can see Sparkly above after she just made an X-mas tree.

Go here to view all of the other Elf on the Shelf ideas I have used this year!

Anyone else out there participating in this fun yet creepy tradition that is sweeping the nation? Leave your ideas in the comments and be sure to check back frequently as I will be posting all of our Elf activities right here.

Elf on a Shelf: Days 2, 3, 4, and 5

 Day 2 -Just hanging around keeping watch.

 Day 3 -Elf drew a cute picture on the dry erase board.

 Day 4 -I had Elf TP the xmas tree and also the TV!

Day 5 -We are doing a xmas countdown where my daughter opens a new book for us to read each day. Today I had Elf open the book before my daughter woke up.

Go here to view all of the other Elf on the Shelf ideas I have used this year!

Anyone else out there participating in this fun yet creepy tradition that is sweeping the nation? Leave your ideas in the comments and be sure to check back frequently as I will be posting all of our Elf activities right here.

Elf on a Shelf: Day 1

One of the very first tasks you have once your creepy little elf arrives is to name the thing. Our daughter has chosen Elf. I think I will open up the naming option again next year to see if we can get a little more creative.

As I wake up and start getting ready for work I remember this damn elf. I had NOTHING planned for the first day! I quickly do a internet search and find this cute idea.

Go here to view all of the other Elf on the Shelf ideas I have used this year!

Anyone else out there participating in this fun yet creepy tradition that is sweeping the nation? Leave your ideas in the comments and be sure to check back frequently as I will be posting all of our Elf activities right here.