I haven’t done Elf on the Shelf in a few years. Way back in 2011, obviously high on chemotherapy drugs, I started putting him in devious situations. Then I’d take photos of him. My friend Lisa and I had the best time thinking up new antics. Eventually the Interwebs went crazy with Elf on the Shelf, 2012 was probably the peak because my server crashed almost daily that year. Maybe that’s when I lost interest, but looking back this little plastic-felt Elf got me through some really bad days. Now I see posts pop up on why Elf on the Shelf is a bad idea, or posts on how annoying it is. I say just do what you want to do people. Anyway,  just for fun this year…here are my all time favorites things I did with Boo’s Elf Buddy while she was off at school. An Elf retrospective of sorts. Enjoy.

They started out kind of tame….like Car-jacking Elf:

And Double Parked Elf (I loved that her hands were up in the background like she’s yelling, and his legs are taller than her minivan):

I barely remembered this one! Photocopying Bum Elf:

Then I started getting into the urban legends, like Kidney Theft Elf:

Then there was Body Piercing Elf:

And of course Camel Toe Elf. This is probably my all time favorite (obviously because of the creative genius).

Then I moved on to celebrities like this Mike Tyson Elf:

And I once met Flava Flav in the Charlotte Airport so I had to do this Elf:

Then there was the time I spent an entire day making a tiny little Miley Cyrus costume:

Yep.

And then there was the Photoshop phase starting with Attachment Parenting Elf:

Around the same time Lincoln came out:

Honestly I did do a few things for Boo that one year like this Martha Stewart Elf:

And “Syrup is a Food Group” Elf is obviously a favorite…it was even in Parenting Magazine a few years ago:

Locked outside Elf:

And nothing like a little Elf Shaming:

And now? Sometimes we move the Elf, sometimes we don’t. I even had a whole ELF FAQ post to help with all the potential elf related questions:

The other night Boo said:

I feel like you guys have something to do with the elf moving.

And I said:

If you ask us, we’ll tell you. 

 

 

She didn’t ask again which means she knows and didn’t want the answer.

It’s just a fun game to do around Christmas.

 

You can CLICK HERE to visit all the Elf on the Shelf posts that ever were. Or you can just shake your head and go on to something more worthwhile.

 

 

 

Along with the ornaments I made last week I was able to recycle a few other old holiday decor items. I don’t think recycled Christmas decor can ever be too dated because it’s keeping things out of the landfill. Plus it’s free and easy on the budget. These were old candle surrounds:

I cut them apart to decorate gifts with. Maybe the receivers will recycle them forward next year too:

How about this recycled Christmas card garland to wrap the tree with? I love the vintage feel of it:

To make the garland manageable I made it in 6′ lengths and tied it to different parts of the tree. Otherwise it would get way too tangled from year to year:

Goes right along with those recycled holiday card ornaments!

Have you recycled anything recently for the holidays?