Elf’n Around!
A fun Christmas Tradition
When I was a Kid my Favorite Christmas tradition was having our Magic Family Elf come visit us. Not only is a great way to heighten the Christmas Spirit with your family but it’s also a Wonderful way to instill good behavior through out the season! 🙂 I’d love to share this Tradition with all of you and help you start your own Christmas Elf Traditions!
When I was 7 years old my little brother and I were woken up very early on the morning of St. Nick’s, Dec 6. Our Mom came into our rooms and told us to hurry into the hallway because we had a Very Special visitor! We sprung out of bed and scurried into the hallway to see who our Special Guest was! To our Joy and Excitement we found a REAL Elf from Santa’s Workshop!! His name was Magic and he had come to stay with us until Christmas Eve when he would travel back to the North Pole with Santa Clause. He brought with him a Special Christmas Poem and a Note detailing his visit along with a little vial of Magic Elf Dust! The Magic Elf Dust was a Very Important part his Travel Bag. His note told us that before we go to bed at night we need to sprinkle some Magic Elf Dust on his head. Once we are fast asleep and all is quite in the house the Elf-capades begin! He moves around all over the place, making mischief and playing with our toys! When Morning comes he hides in a Special Spot and we have to find him!
There were times he would Write us notes or leave us little Chocolates! Sometimes he would have certainly gotten into Mischief since there were elf foot prints everywhere from him getting in to the flour pot! As Christmas grew Closer we wrote our letters to Santa and placed them in his Magic Bag so he could deliver them to Santa with our Christmas Wishes! On Christmas Eve Night, we said our goodbyes, gave him a kiss and sprinkled him with Dust for the last time till next year. We set him next to Santa’s Cookies and went to bed.
This has been my FAVORITE Christmas tradition since I was a Child. It stood the test of time with me and all 3 of my younger brothers. Even after some of our belief in Santa dwindled as we got older, we still looked for Magic to appear on St Nick’s every year!
After Searching and Searching for 3 years I finally Stumbled upon The Joyful Elf on Etsy run by Maxine Burnett. You can NOT imagine my Excitement after finding her page!! Her Sweet little Elves were EXACTLY what I had been Searching for!! Her Elves were Fun and Whimsical and had that Special Handmade Charm as the one I grew up with!
Not only are Maxine’s Elves Super Cute, they are perfectly child proof and very soft and huggable! Their arms and knees bend from seems at the joints and their bottoms a weighted just a little bit so that they can sit up. Each one is Different and Unique!
Below I’ve put together an ingredient List for a Christmas Elf Tradition and have typed up the Christmas Poem and Letter from the Elf to his new family for you to copy to use if you like! You are also free to write your own, this is just the one My mom had put with our Elf. 🙂
Family Christmas Elf Ingredient List!
– A Christmas Elf from The Joyful Elf
– Pick a Name for your Christmas Elf! Our Elf’s name is Herbert Snowberry McJingles III, But Herbie for short
– Magic Bag or Stocking for your Elf to Travel in and keep his things. ( I am using a decorative stocking I found at a craft store as our Elf’s Travel Bag, but you can use whatever you like or even a basket.)
– Bottle or Vial of Magic Elf Dust! ( This is very important! This is how your Elf moves around at night! I found just a little plastic vial from the craft store and looked for the best looking “Magic Dust” (glitter) I could find) I think it would also be cute to use a little Christmas Salt shaker if you can find one that your glitter can be shaken out of.
– Christmas Poem from Santa and your Elf’s Letter to his family about how to care for him. I’ve typed up both below for you so that you can either copy and paste them or use it as a guide to create your own! I went out and got old-looking paper and printed them onto that and then used a little spray glue and tossed it with glitter so it looked more “Elf” like. I then rolled them up into a scroll and tied it with some ribbon.
– Think of fun things your elf could do at night while everyone is sleeping! Your kiddos need to go out and find where he is in the morning so coming up with neat little scenarios for him to be in is fun. Ours would hide in the Microwave with a cup of Hot Chocolate or get into the sugar bowl. It was always super special when we would wake up and find that he was cuddling with us in our bed. He would also sometimes write little notes to us, say if we had done something nice or special the day before and praise us for it and we would get little candies or gifts sometimes.
Now Our elf always came with St Nick on St Nicks Day, Dec 6th. So he was put out the night of the 5th along with our shoes so St Nick could leave us candy. ( another fun tradition we did) We chose St Nick’s Day for our Elf to come since it was easy to remember, however The Magic Elf Letter says he comes around the 1st of Dec so you could choose any date around there to have him make his appearance!
Magic Elf Poem-
Why Santa, said the elves, are you looking so sad?
Because I fear that this year Christmas won’t be glad,
Everyone’s so busy with parties, outings, chores and more,
Decorating and cooking and trips to the store,
Gone is the mirth, gaiety and delight,
Something is missing, something is just not right.
Well, said the elves, We think we know the reason,
The magic is missing, it’s missing from the Christmas season.
Let’s remember, Jesus is the reason for the magic of the season.
That’s it! cried Santa in a thunderous voice,
You’ve found the solution so let us rejoice,
We’re the magic, the magic of Christmas is in ourselves,
Go out and rekindle the spirit, you’re the magic elves,
This year Christmas won’t be sad, nothing will be tragic
Christmas will be glad, Christmas will be magic!
Magic Elf Letter to Their Family!-
I like how my mom added the P.S- I’m keeping my eye on you at the end of the letter.. Whenever we were getting naughty around the Christmas Season my parents would say, “Now don’t let Magic see you do that, He reports back to Santa!” Haha, this certainly made sure were good!
Hello , Hello!
How excited I am to be with my very own special family- I’ve waited a long time to come live with you. I know lots about you- what you like and don’t like to eat, who your favorite friends are, your favorite toys and all sorts of things. But you don’t know who I am, so let me tell you! I am a Magic Elf. A magic elf!, you say, What is a magic elf? Read my poem in my traveling bag and it will tell you why I am here.
Now let’s hurry so you can get to know me better and maybe you’ll soon love me as much as I already love you. If you’ll look inside my bag, you’ll find a little jar of magic elf dust. Each of you should take a pinch of the dust and sprinkle a little on me- quick as a wink, my magic will come alive. But don’t wait around to see me move I NEVER move when you can see me. Goodness! Then you would know where I am going to hide. I hide on top of doors, in plants, peek from behind pictures, and some mornings you may wake to find me at the foot of the bed! When you are very very good, I might bring you a little surprise and sometimes I may even write you notes.
I’ll help Santa put out your presents on Christmas Eve, (there might even be a special one just from me), and then I’ll go back to the North Pole with Santa in his sleigh. But I’ll be back again next year around the first of December to share a few special weeks just with you.
So hurry, hurry, HURRY start my magic- oh, what fun we are going to have! Can you guess where I might hide first?
(Sign your Elf’s Name)
P.S- I’m keeping my eye on you!
You can contact Maxine about her Elves by heading to her Etsy Page! Click HERE to go to her Store, The Joyful Elf and Grab a Fun Elf for your Family! She would be happy to make one just for you!
I Hope you enjoy creating your Own Christmas Elf Tradition! For me this is something that will always be in our family and for our kids and future grandkids to enjoy!
Happy Elfing!
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