December was a very interesting, month for us. It wasn’t just because it felt like the month was flying by, oddly enough time seemed to be standing still and moving in slow-motion also. That seems to be the typical emotion for a lot of families around the Christmas season. Personally I think large families with multiple children, can get burnt out quickly trying to make everyone’s schedules synchronize. It’s difficult and can leave us feeling defeated. My opinions biased but with the mountain of scheduled appointments we had to attend, *sigh* (the joy of parenting a child with a diagnosis.) Yet we added an elf to the crew.
Yup, through the hustle and bustle of it all, we added a new member to our family. I would like to introduce to you Frosty Spark… Our elf.
All the way from the North Pole, an Elf On The Shelf.
Before anyone goes all humbug on me, saying how horrible it is to have an Elf On The Shelf. Let me let you in on a little secret, our family NEEDED him.
Frosty Spark brought some, much-needed magic into our home.
He brought silliness, laughter, and a lot of smiles. Look I completely understand, if you don’t want an Elf in your house. I’ve heard a lot of people say “the expectation is too demanding” or “the elves are creepy”.
Blah blah blah… It’s only 24 days out of the year people, don’t be such a Grinch. Our kids are only young for a short amount of time, and the way I see it is you can make your Elf as extra, or un-extra as you want. It’s your family Elf, no one get’s to decide what the rules are except YOU.
For me, bringing Frosty into our lives was a way to get my kids excited about Christmas, and have some magical memories. I bought Frosty so I could get myself into the Christmas spirit, and it worked! Frosty helped get me into the Christmas spirit, he gave me an outlet for some of my creative ideas.
Frosty Spark came to us late. Of course.
Frosty wouldn’t truly be our Elf if he didn’t arrive late am I right?
He had some trouble with the sleigh, which caused him to hit his head hard you see and he couldn’t remember his name poor Elf. He showed up on our counter on the morning of December 5th.
In an attempt to de-stress Frosty decided to have a mini marshmallow bath, with chocolate chips as a snack. He was so stressed out and his ears were starting to hurt because the kids had been fighting and whining all day long. Hot chocolate packets alongside him.
The total cost of this idea: Free. We had the hot chocolate and marshmallows in the cupboard, the bathtub and chair is part of Emilee’s dollhouse accessories, Frosty’s towel is a baby facecloth that I cut up, and the painted mason jar is from a jar I had that I painted.
Frosty Spark decided to make himself a sled out of candy canes and go play in the snow with Elsa.
The total cost of this idea: Free. The snow is stuffing from a pillow that got wrecked in the washing machine. The sprinkles are from our cupboard. The candy canes were a gift to the kids from their grandpa.
Frosty is swinging from the ceiling on a swing made of Christmas coloured construction paper.
The total cost of this idea: Free. I used coloured construction paper that we’ve got around the house to make the swing. I cut the construction paper into lines, and then stapled them together to make the hoops. Frosty kept falling off the swing so I used a ponytail to keep him steady and secure on his swing. The hooks were already in the ceiling.
I bought a wooden sleigh!
In the attempt to lift our Christmas spirits, Frosty put a ton of Christmas bows on the cupboards, then once he finished he went to snuggle up in his new sleigh for the night.
The total cost of this idea: The bows were free, they were in our Christmas decoration stash. I went to look around at Michaels Canada one evening with the kids and noticed that a lot of their stuff was on sale. I had been eyeing out things I can use as decoration but also use with our elf as well.
Two birds, and one stone.
When I noticed that this wooden sleigh was on sale from 70$ down to 40$ with a coupon that I had. I knew right away that it was way too cute for me to pass up. Honestly, I might have even considered purchasing it at the original price, because it’s completely worth it in my opinion.
Frosty grabbed his fishing hook and decided to try his luck at catching a fish.
The total cost of this idea: Free. I reused a yogurt lid that I was just going to recycle anyway. The pipe cleaner was in the kid’s art supplies, and the goldfish was just leftover from a bag I had bought a few days before.
Frosty was in a hurry to come back from the North Pole, and he got caught up in some ribbon that was laying around.
The total cost of this idea: Free. I just wrapped him up in some ribbon we had in our Christmas decorations.
“I see London, I see France, I see everyone’s underpants!”
Frosty Spark was a bit naughty last night, he took everyone’s underwear and put them up on the Christmas tree, even Kennedy’s diaper! LOL
The total cost of this idea: Free. Throw everyone’s undies on your Christmas tree!
Frosty Spark decided to have a little Netflix and cuddle with Batgirl. They decided to watch Shrek the halls, so they can stay in the holiday spirit!
The total cost of this idea: Free. The couch is from Emilee’s dollhouse, Batgirl is one of Emilee’s action figures and I set up a movie on my Ipad from Netflix.
Frosty got into a little bit of trouble coming back from the North Pole last night, he might have angered green Hulk, red Hulk, a unicorn and a tiger! He quickly built himself a safety castle then sent out a HELP sign.
The total cost of this idea: Free. Frosty built a castle and was hiding away from green and red Hulk, a tiger, and a unicorn.
Frosty Spark had to go potty, good thing he didn’t forget some toilet paper.
The total cost of this idea: Free. I used one of our wine glasses, some chocolate chips, and a kleenex!
The total cost of this idea: Free. I used Emilee’s dollhouse pool, and Emilee’s ponies and barbie dolls.
The total cost of this idea: Free.
The total cost of this idea: Free.
The total cost of this idea: Free.