You've seen it on Pinterest. You've seen it on Facebook. You've seen it in Barnes and Noble. You've probably even seen it in Target. The Elf on the Shelf. That little person that gets away with things that we would never allow our children to do. Well, last Christmas, our family adopted our own elf on November 27th. It seemed like the best time since Alice was now 2 and beginning to understand the holiday (and her behavior) a little more. Several folks told me, "Your elf is supposed to come the DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING!" Well...to you I say, I guess it's a good thing 2 year olds don't know the difference between one day and one week.) 

After opening her up and beginning the story, Alice decided to name our elf Christmas. (Oh so original, I know...but hey, at least she didn't name her Scout! And if you don't have your own EotS, you have no idea why that means anything!) We also made a few other decisions about our elf: 1.) Santa thinks it is okay for children to love on their elf and play with them on their first night and last night with the family, 2.) our elf would travel with us (we had planned a weekend trip to go to the Polar Express and Christmas just had to join us!) and 3.) Our elf would not participate in naughty behavior. If the elf is supposed to be an eye watching over your child to make sure they are doing the right things, why is it okay for them to do things that are unacceptable? Christmas should be a role model elf for Alice. Plus, who wants to make a mess for show then have to clean it up?!?! 

I will admit, some nights Christmas was in some really interesting places. And some nights she was in places that were nothing extraordinary to adults but were still fun places for Alice. Every morning, Alice would wake up and run through the house looking for Christmas. As soon as she found her, she would always say, "No touch her!" and hold her hands toward herself. It was truly adorable to see the magic of Christmas, both the season and the elf, growing in my daughter. On her last night with us, Alice was allowed to play with Christmas, hug her, give her kisses, and she even slept with Alice. Then when Alice woke up the day after Christmas, our friendly elf had made her trek back to the North Pole. 

I turned to Pinterest for some ideas. I wanted to do as much on my own as I could...stubborn teacher in me, I guess. I have posted most of our photos from Christmas' visit below...maybe there are some ideas that you can use with your elf next year. I know I will be using all of the pins I have found...no more re-inventing (or attempting to re-invent) the elf wheel! If you have some awesome ideas, please share! Leave a comment with the idea or a link to your blog! 

My sweet girl has been a fan of Nickelodeon Nick Jr's "Bubble Guppies" for quite some time. However, recently, it has become somewhat of an obsession for her. She loves this show! It is so funny to have conversations with her when she randomly throws in a comment about Molly, Gil, Deema, Oona, Nonny, Goby, and even Mr. Grouper! She had been going on and on about wanting a "Guppies party" for days. I thought she was talking about her birthday party (which is 9 months away) so I was like, "Okay, honey...if you want a Bubble Guppies party, that's what we'll have." Well, little did I know she meant NOW! My best response was, "If you are good at Nene's tomorrow, we will have our own Bubble Guppies party." Can I just tell you, she woke up at 3:30 AM and would NOT go back to sleep! I guess she thought the earlier she got up the faster she could get through the day! 

Her favorite female character on the show is Molly. So, when I picked her up from daycare after work, we went to Hobby Lobby and bought a white t-shirt and all of the colors of felt needed to recreate Molly. Then we went home and printed tons of fun stuff from the Nick Jr. website (typically used for birthday parties)...things like decorations, party hats, and cupcake toppers. We made "Guppies pizzas" served with Goldfish. We also made cupcakes together. We enjoyed all of this in our living room floor...our "picnic" area as Alice calls it, while watching our very own Bubble Guppies marathon (THANK YOU LORD FOR DVR!). 

The following day, I set to work creating Alice's very own Molly t-shirt. I printed a large picture of her and used it as a template. Then I had to hand sew many of the parts together. Once she was together, I was able to use interfacing on both Molly and the shirt. After about 10 minutes of machine sewing, the shirt was done and Alice was ECSTATIC! She was the talk of the daycare that Monday! 

Since she loved the Molly shirt so much, I decided to make her a second shirt by recycling an old onesie that my mom had gotten her and she had since grown out of. I cut the design out, gave it a felt backing with interfacing and simply sewed it onto a t-shirt. SO EASY! And once again, Alice was tickled! 

My next Bubble Guppies project will probably be a comforter for her bed...maybe that will encourage her to sleep in her own room! Agh!