{anticipation} elf magic edition

So I know I’ve mentioned once or twice 191 times how much I love this time of year and everything advent-y and holiday-y: all the anticipation and fun and family and tradition infused into every day of the season.  One of our (very) new favorite holiday experiences is Elf Magic.

Last year we decided to add this extra element of fun into our December.  Elf Magic, for those who aren’t familiar, is quite a lot like the Elf on a Shelf only maybe a little more “cutesy” in appearance and a little less focused on the “I’m-watching-you-and-reporting-back-to-Santa”.  It’s a little more on “let’s-make-holiday-memories-and-have-mischief-and-fun” and said fun can really be tailored to underscore what is most important to you and your family during this season.

So, last year, shortly before Thanksgiving, we wrote a letter to Santa asking if one of his elves could stay with us during December in the time leading up to Christmas.  We had heard that some elves do just that and they always have tons of fun.  So we wrote and we left out some ice water and crackers (which apparently are the favorite eats of elves) and then we waited patiently to see if the elf would arrive.  And sure enough, our elf arrived at the start of December!!  Her name is “Rachel”, which we thought was pretty special because Rachael was my grandmother’s name.

ANYway…so throughout the month we would wake each morning to see what fun and adventures Rachel (isn’t she cute?!) had been having.  One morning we woke to see she had set up our nativity sets, another we saw that she spent the evening watching A Charlie Brown Christmas while eating popcorn (both of which she brought for us from the North Pole).  Yet another, she had built a huge tower out of Bugga’s blocks and “repelled” from the ceiling fan.  Some of our favorite elf adventures were when she: took a bath in a sink full of marshmallows, went for a joyride on Bugga’s tricycle, went “fishing” for Goldfish crackers, wrapped presents, made a candy cane reindeer and left instructions for us to make some too, read the Christmas story in the Bible, and made a candy train and set up a cottonball winter wonderland.  Well, as you can tell, she really had loads of fun.  And so did Bugga.  And so did we.  It was a fun way to create fun with David and for us to really enrich our holidaytime with Bugga.

Let me tell you, Bugga’s face and anticipation each morning was a treasure.  She LOVED this experience.  And so we were excited to write Santa again last week to see if Rachel could spend time with us again this year.  I made a fun little template for us to write and then Bugga signed it and we gave it to Daddy to mail to the North Pole.

Tonight we put out the ice water and crackers.  Here’s hoping Rachel arrives tonight.  I have a good feeling she will.  🙂

Let the magic begin!

Since I created it for us and for fun anyway, I thought I’d share our “Dear Santa” template with you.  It’s just a simple little something you can customize for your own Elf experience or just for writing Santa in general.

Anyone who wants to can snag it by clicking the image above or by clicking {here}.

Hope you have a fabulous and fun first day of December!