Alfie is Back!

Our loveable yet mischievous elf Alfie, has returned for yet another year here in the Morrison household.  Alfie has been visiting our family for the festive season since 2012 and every year the kids look forward to his arrival and antics more and more! 

Its safe to say that the pressure is on to constantly come up with new ideas and situations for him (thank goodness for Pinterest!!) and as the kids get older, we have to be more sneaky about it all!

This year Alfie arrived by special mail from the North Pole (usually he comes through the Fairy door). He was packed in his own box, on a bed of snow and had written a letter to the kids ! 

We try and keep his return letter a bit about how the kids have gone throughout the year, always positive and always praising them for their efforts in school and their love for one another. We figure there is enough negativity in the world, without putting that on the kids too . But of course, each to their own, your elf , your adventures! 

I use the super easy and gorgeous template from a little delightful blog , and just use the online software Pic Monkey (as Bianca explains in her blog post) to add the text, then print in an A5 size. 

We've used this for the last few years now and definitely love the convenience and consistency. As the children get older (and much more suspicious and knowing) I really think that consistency is the key to keeping the dream and magic alive. 

The box was placed in front of the Christmas tree for the children to find on the morning on December 1st. I may have decorated early but this is one tradition I want to stick to!

Day 2 - Alfie decided on a rocketing adventure and got stuck in the Christmas tree!! 

Printable from HERE

Day 3- Alfie was bored and made himself a swing (using a tree ornament drop)

Day 4 - Alfie decided to decorate the Fairy door . 

The tree was mine from when I was a child (my sister and I used to have a small tree for our bedrooms) , and the fairy lights and letterbox were purchased from a market stall but the business has a Facebook page HERE. 

When the kids got home from school that day Alfie had moved! He had also bought the kids a decoration to put on the tree each! 

Day 5 - Alfie bought the kids some lovely elf size stationery to be able to write letters and pop into the new little letterbox! 

Printable found HERE

After school, the kids returned home to Alfie and a little note , it read;

You did such a wonderful job putting the new ornaments

 on the tree but I have hidden a special one each for you! 

Enjoy

And they all rushed to the tree and found ..... a chocolate tree ornament . It was so sweet to witness Stella helping her little brother reach his up a little too high! 

Day 6 -  Alfie was in sloth mode and needed a movie night, complete with junk food (rubbers from Kmart). He also bought a few new Christmas movies for the kids (yippee!)

Day 7 - Do you want to build a snowman? 

Perfect for Frozen fans and easy to complete for a busy afternoon/ night that we had! 

Printable found HERE

Day 8 - Worn out from his antics, Alfie needed a good nights sleep by the fire! 

Day 10 - Colouring in ! 

This cute printable found HERE, come with the kids sheets and small versions for Alfie and a little note. 

The elf sized pencils come in this CD case in the stationery section of Kmart for a couple of dollars. 

Day 11- There is no photographic evidence of this day as my husband completed the challenge (hehe)  and I went to bed with a bad headache after a market night. He painted the kids noses red and sat Alfie beside the paint container and paintbrush. Hmmm perhaps he wasn't the most careful of elf assistants as it went all over their bedding. Super funny though! 

Day 12- An elf game of poker (this was a last minute , forgotten before bedtime set up ) , I had the small card packs from a Christmas cracker last year and had put them in my scrap booking stash. 

Day 13- Alfie isn't used to the warm temperatures where we live and needed to freeze up a little so he made himself an igloo! Its just a few paper plates stapled together and cotton balls hot glued all over! So cute!! 

We seem to be onto the 'elf thing' this year, with less last minute "oh goodness , what should we do" moments. I really think its thanks to my calendar ( I printed a December calendar and have planned his adventure every night) and then pre printed all the things we have needed. I have also pre cut any that needed it and they all live in a folder up the top of my desk. This means that when we need to set him up at the end of a night, when the energy is lacking, everything is ready to go!!

It also means I have been able to donate all the items we have used to the teachers at school , as both the kids classes have resident elf and antics of their own!!

Its so much fun, are you having fun with your elf ? Or is Christmas busy enough without adding in this too?