Day 20-21: Hid in my hat. Kids couldn’t find Mini-E the first night and asked the he stay put so they could find him.
Day 22: Writing a postcard to Santa.
Day 23: Hanging out in the kitchen.
Day 20-21: Hid in my hat. Kids couldn’t find Mini-E the first night and asked the he stay put so they could find him.
Day 22: Writing a postcard to Santa.
Day 23: Hanging out in the kitchen.
At our old sticks-and-bricks, we used to make and deliver Christmas cookies to everyone in the cul-de-sac. There were a few times we did Elf Bags as well, but it mostly the cookies. It was a great way to try to bring a little brightness to someone else’s life. I do miss our neighbors and the cookie tradition. Sometimes the neighbors joined in: one of our neighbors would bake sweet bread and bring it over, another would sometimes give us an ornament when we dropped off the cookies, one year a neighbor and their family went caroling.
With Covid, I have noticed not as much community get togethers in the campgrounds, which I totally get (and support). We’ve been staying to ourselves as well, with just the “hello” in passing for the most part. However, I think everyone needs some cheer, especially this year, so we wanted to do the Elf Bag at the campground. Due to Covid, we didn’t do any homemade treats and tried to make sure everything in the bag was sealed or washable. Elf Bags are similar to the Halloween boo bags, only Christmas themed. (I’ve also seen it as You’ve Been Jingled.)
We found a cute ornament kit and a Hershey’s Build-A-Santa bar at Target (ornament kit in the deal bins at the front of the store). We also added in a bag of red and green suckers, a penguin tic tac toe game, candy cane filled with red and green candy, and some mini candy canes. For more Elf Bag ideas, you can see my list here (from my mom blog). The campground store also had a packet to put in the fire pits that caused the flames to change* color, so we put one of those in as well.
You can find the free Elfed printable here.
*Affiliate link
This elf gets around!
With just four rooms, it has been a challenge for him to hide and observe. However, he is making the most of the small space as we all are.
Mini-E likes to go high for optimal viewing perspective. This round, he found his way onto valences, slide outs, stockings and even behind the mirror on the medicine cabinet.
NOTE: The oldest found Mini-E in the bathroom to be creepy because he felt watched while he went. The family has requested E provide some privacy and abstain from bathroom watching in the future. Looks like he is down to just three rooms.
Days 8-11 found Mini-E hiding in Will’s messy desk, behind Ben’s green screen he uses for work, sleeping on our bedroom slide, and in the pantry guarding the bag of chips.
Our Elf On The Shelf (Eugene) went missing!
I swore I packed Eugene before we left Ohio, maybe in the Fall/Winter clothes bin under the bed. I couldn’t find him anywhere. Luckily, Target had some cloth elf ornaments for $3. It looked a little bit like the big Elf. (The kids also know the truth behind the elf, so switching out the Elf shouldn’t be a problem.) I think the smaller elf may actually help me hide him more places! (About 8.5″ tall vs about 14.5″.)
Even though the boys are older, they still like finding the Elf and seeing what crazy shenanigans he got up to overnight. (He’s gone ice skating, zip lining, fought with Darth Vader, had a Lego house, got stuck in a snow globe and a water bottle, made a paper chain obstacle course for the boys…) I had a list of ideas I wanted to try at the house, but those won’t really work in the RV. Hiding an elf in 2,300ish sq ft house seems much easier than in the 400 sq ft RV. I’m going to have to get creative!