2013 Elf on the Shelf: Week Three

Day 15:  Making Lunch!

Day 16:  Dino Trouble

Day 17:  Jingle's Secret Identity

 

Day 18 : Jingle Riding the Train!

 

 Day 19:  Acme Rocket Fun

 Day 20:  Free Reindeer Poop

 

Day 21: Swinging!

2013 Elf on the Shelf: Week Two

Day Nine:  Acrobat Elf

Day Ten:  Solo Cup Tree

Day Eleven:  Making Brownies

Day Twelve:  Playing Nintendo

 

Day Thirteen:  Camping Out

 

Day Fourteen: Giving a Gift

 

 

2013 Elf on the Shelf: Week One

It's that time again!  This is our 2nd year of doing the Elf on the Shelf thing, and I couldn't wait to get started!  Crazy.  I think I like it more than he does, although that will probably change, come day 25.

Day One: Jingle came flying in!

Day Two:  Jingle went for a ski!

Day Three:  Decorating Grandma & Grandpa's Christmas tree

This is our 2nd year of surprising grandma and grandpa with a decorated tree.  It's a lot of fun for my parents, and for me to see how long it takes them to notice!

This year I made all new ornaments for the event.  You can see all the ornaments and detailed instructions pictures here!

Day Four:  Making a Lego Christmas tree

Day Five: Superhero Elf

Day Six:  Climbing for Candy

Day Seven:  Bath Time!

Day Eight:  Playing Angry Birds

Americana Christmas Ornaments

I had already decided to make my mom some new Christmas ornaments in an Americana theme for their tree this year, to continue the tradition of our Elf on the Shelf decorating their tree while they were away. 

After being inspired by some ideas on Pinterest, here's what I did. 

Fabric Wrapped Stars

I purchased several different designs of fabric in 1/2 yard increments.  I then cut that fabric into 1 1/2" strips, roughly (don't cut up the whole 1/2 yard!).  I didn't really measure, I just eyed it.  I then used some wire to make a star, and proceeded to wrap each wire frame with fabric.  (I used several different wires for this, basically because I only wanted to use what I

had on hand.  I tried a coat hanger, pipe cleaners, some other wire that I had from who knows what, and finally settled on some floral wire, that I doubled up.) I hot glued the ends, so that they wouldn't unravel.

Fabric Covered Ornaments

My next inspiration came from Good Housekeeping.  You can look at it here.  Mine are pretty similar.  I measured out (from the 1/2 yard fabrics I purchased) 13"x13" pieces for each ball.  Now, I'm not sure what type of circular object they used in their instructions for the actual ball, but after much scouring of Hobby Lobby and Walmart, I went with a 12-pack package of wiffle balls.  They were the perfect size and ended up being about $.62 each.  Not bad.

After wrapping the ball with the fabric, I tied a piece of ribbon around the top and tied it in a bow.  Pretty simple

I tried a few other decorations on the bow, like some white berries, but I ended up just sticking to the original bow.

 I had a few wiffle balls left over, so I used some of the scraps from my wire covered ornaments to cover these extra balls.  I would recommend cutting those fabric strips in half, to about 1/2"-3/4".  The smaller strips are easier to fold around the ball and make it less likely to have gaps.  For these fabric strip covered balls, I also simply finished them with some hot glue at the top, then I attached a ribbon hanger and a button on the top to complete it.  I thought they turned out very cute!

 I liked the look of those larger fabric strip covered balls so much, that I did some small ones too!  I had some small Styrofoam balls in my stash, so I used the same method and covered these balls as well.  I finished these off with some ribbon hangers and a pearl bead with a straight pin through the top.  It couldn't be easier.  You could hot glue these as well for added security, if you'd like.

Candy Canes

I got the idea for these candy canes here, but I didn't go into their actual post to see how it was made.  I simply used the same method I did with the wire star ornaments.  Cut your fabric of choice, preferably something with red in it, and wrap to your heart's content.  I wish now I had done the ends differently, but it's too late!

 USA wired ornament

The last wired ornament I made was in the shape of "USA".  I didn't do any more of these for several reasons, the most predominant one being that it was a pain.  Again, I doubled up on floral wire to make the shape, then used strips of fabric to cover it.  I hot glued the ends down, and attached a piece of ribbon from the U to the A as a hanger.

Denim and Corduroy Ornaments

I originally got the idea from here, but they didn't have a tutorial, which saddened me.

I used an old corduroy shirt for the red ones, and some of my son's jeans that had holes in them for the denim ones.  I simply cut a star pattern out and stitched them together on a sewing machine.  I only made a few of these, because they too were a major pain in the hiney.  I finished them off with some twine on the denim, and yarn on the corduroy.  Cute, but not worth it, if you ask me.

American Flag Ornaments

The last ornament type I did was to cut out 6 pockets from my son's old jeans that had holes in them.  I then proceeded to paint red and white stripes, and on some, I actually painted the blue behind the "stars".  I used a pencil eraser to paint on the "stars".  I had to do 2 coats of paint on each.  To finish, I hot glued the pockets shut, and inserted some twine into the pockets as a hanger.

Whew!  When I post it here, it seems like a lot of work, but it didn't feel that way when I was doing it.  It was just something that had to be done before our Elf antics!  I'll post the final tree decorated when I'm doing my recap on our Elf on the Shelf:  Week One.  Stay tuned!

Our Elf on the Shelf: Week 1

This year, we started the ever popular Elf on the Shelf tradition at our house.  Except, we're not using the creepy Elf, that looks like his head might do a 360 of its own volition.  We're using a different one, called Christoper Pop-In-Kins.  Not only does this elf already have bendable extremities, but he's just so darn cute!  We named our elf Jingle.  And, we're loving every minute of it!

 Day 1: Dinosaur Sleigh

 Day 2: Hanging upside down from bunk bed.

Day 3: Sleeping in Kleenex box

 Day 4: Decorating a Christmas tree

 Day 5: Playing with cars

 Day 6: Exchanged undies for stockings

 Day 7: Hanging from the ceiling fan

Day 8: Playing cards with Optimus Prime (our favorite so far)

We don't subscribe to the whole Santa thing, so we just we just have fun with the elf showing up in the morning and enjoy it!  I highly recommend it!

Thursday Thoughts

Thursday Thoughts

• I know it's Thanksgiving, but I wanted to get a few thoughts down and this seemed like the perfect outlet.  First of all, I'm extremely thankful and grateful for my family.  Without them, I would be lost, penniless and alone.  Thank you so much!  I'm also thankful that I can still afford my mortgage.  I'm not really sure how it's possible on my salary, but for some reason, all the lights are on and I haven't starved yet.

• Have you been watching Homeland?  Uhhh....wtf is going on with Carrie and Brody?  And, what was with that scene?!  (If you've seen the episode, you know to which I am referring.)  I know think I would totally embarrass myself if I were ever recorded in that scenario.  I'm just not that good.  Also, Downton Abbey season 3 Christmas special....where are you?!?  I need a fix!

•  I'm reading like 3 books right now.  Naked in Death, by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) on my phone, Reflected in You, by Sylvia Day on my Kobo and Bloodfever, by Karen Marie Moning, on my iPod.  I listen to that on the way to/from work.  It helps pass the time.  I always thought it would be confusing to read multiple books at a time and often wondered how anyone could do it.  Turns out, it's not that hard.  Obviously, or I wouldn't bother.  The newest Grisham book is next on my Kobo.  Can't. Wait.

• Over the weekend, I saw the much anticipated Breaking Dawn: Part Two.  Uhh....I'm not real sure what to make of it.  It was good, but in so many ways, SOOOO different from the book.  The books were fantastic, which is why I've seen the movies all along.  And, to give Summit some credit, the movies have pretty much stuck to the books, plot wise.  And, each one has gotten progressively better.  But, still.  Come on.  I think it's best said here.

• MUST make these for my snowman tree this year.  I really want to do this too, but I don't have enough t-shirts of all the same color!  I feel this way about my company.  This is SO true!  This reminds me of my friend Jim.  My sister and I might attempt this gingerbread this year.  I especially love the little Luke Skywalker hanging!  Classic!

• We're starting an Elf tradition this year, but not with the creepy one who looks like his head might spin around.  We're doing Christoper Pop-in-kins.  He's too cute!  We named him Jingle.  We'll start this tomorrow, and I'm probably more excited than R is.  Crazy fun.  Hope to post all the pictures as I go.