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.

Chocolate Trees! YUM!

On Thanksgiving I had some extra chocolate left over from my cake pops (tutorial coming soon!) I had been wanting to pipe out some little designs and I think these came out well.

To do this all you need is to put some chocolate in a piping bottle/bag or use a ziploc bag and snip the corner off. Pipe out your design. I did the outline first, made it kind of thick and then I piped the zig-zags across. I added some sprinkles to finish it off. These can be used for your ginger bread houses, to add to cupcakes or cakes, or even just as a cute holiday snack.

We have been working on many holiday projects this year. I plan on posting them all for everyone to see. What kind of holiday projects have you been working on? Share your ideas in the comments! You can even add a link to your Pinterest boards.

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.

How Does an Atheist Decorate for X-mas?

With a black and white tree of course! Well, actually you can decorate however you like. Yes, I celebrate Xmas and I use "Xmas". I like to you use Xmas because it takes the Christ out of Christmas and people think that is ridiculous. Last night I was preparing the advent type events for my 2 year old to celebrate and started to think about why my husband and I choose to celebrate Xmas. The only answer I could truly think of was because it's fun! Who doesn't like to open a ton presents?

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.

Who Put Glass in Your Cupcakes?

A few weeks ago I brought some cupcakes to work with glass and blood in them. They were a HUGE hit. I was asked to make them for a friends Halloween party and for another friends son's birthday party. I learned how to make hardy candy for these, which is not as difficult as I thought. I decided I would post a tutorial on how to make them. At this point I have made these cupcakes 3 times this month. I have think I have gotten better each time!