The Tired Parent’s 24 MORE Days of Elf on the Shelf Ideas

The holiday season has returned, and with it comes the joy of the Elf on the Shelf. Are you feeling overwhelmed by having to create clever elf displays after the rest of your family has gone to bed? We’ve got you! We’ve scoured the internet and Pinterest images to find 24 NEW ideas that are both utterly delightful and super-simple to create- all with supplies you have readily available when you’re in your pjs at 11pm at night.

We hope this year’s blog post inspires you with streamlined, creative ideas for making daily Elf presentations that your kids will love! In addition to daily photos and set up instructions, we’ve also put together a short and sweet supply list (so you’ll have everything on hand for the month) and free printables galore! We hope these 24 MORE days of Elf on the Shelf ideas prepare you for the month ahead …so you can get to bed!

A Little Preparation Goes a Long Way

Here are some items to have on hand to be prepared all month for your Elf-ventures. Most of these you probably already have at home, and if not, most can be substituted! We’ve included quick links to Amazon products for most of the supplies we’ll be using in our daily posts.

Food Items:

Crafting Supplies:

Other Supplies:

Daily Elf-spiration

You can follow along with these ideas as much or as little as you like, and can always substitute a day (or two or three!) of putting your Elf up on a shelf. If, on the other hand, you’d like to get extra-creative with your daily ideas, we’ve added details on how you could do that as well! Be sure to check back daily for the idea-of-the-day and the free printables we’re offering!

December 1 – “I’m Back!” Greeting Card and Advent Calendar

We love having our Elf bring advent calendars as a little surprise gift on the first day he arrives (we used this one this year). The kids really look forward to this yearly tradition of counting down the days until Christmas arrives. With so many options out there to choose from, it’s easy to find something everyone likes.

Then, print out this 5×7 card as a fun, Santa-approved greeting from your Scout Elf that tells how excited he or she is to return to your family’s holiday celebrations this year. Use the blank space on top to write your child’s name and then sign below with your Elf’s name to personalize your card to your family. Since our printable card is just a greeting, it can be used with or without an Advent calendar!

December 2 – Pet Adoption & Papers

Every December, my girls look forward to the Elf on the Shelf “Elf Pets: Santa’s Reindeer Rescue” Netflix show, particularly the part of the episode where they tell “The Legend of the Reindeer” (view here). So of course, we had to have our Elf add the Pikku Deer to our Elf Pets Collection!

If you are bringing an Elf Pet into your house this year, use the printable adoption certificate below to make it official! Your child will love filling out the details, and you can keep the completed certificate as a keepsake. Place the Elf and his/her pet(s) in a special place for your children to find in the morning. Enjoy!

December 3 – Lazy Lint Trap Elf

If you are already feeling the fatigue of owning an Elf, I am here for you today! The Elf wanted to find a new place to hide today so he went for the lint trap. It took the kids about 15 minutes of looking around the house to find him here. We have guests over today so we won’t be using the dryer so keep that in mind if you need to use your dryer. Never underestimate the powers of just finding a creative spot to put him/her!

December 4 – Kitchen Mixer Mischief

This idea is perfect for those nights you need something quick and easy for your Elf. It’s baking season, so your kitchen mixer might already be out on the counter. Place your Elf in the whisk attachment (we found feet-first worked best!), and you’re done!

You could make your scene look a couple of ways:

For a silly scenario, make it look like your Elf got stuck in the mixer as he was flying back from the North Pole. Or, you can simply make him look like he’s eager to get baking! Either way, it’s a cute and simple idea!

December 5 – Toilet Paper Hammock

Hammot, Hammock, am I saying that right? IYKYK. This idea is super fun!

I took about a three foot section of toilet paper, doubled up the paper and tied the ends to a towel rod bar. The main issue I ran into is that the toilet paper is pretty fragile and you have to be pretty careful not to tear the toilet paper as you are tying it to the rod. Just prop up the Elf on the toilet paper as if he is laying in a hammock. I should note that I actually woke up in the middle of the night with anxiety thinking it may tear in the middle of the night and the Elf would end up in the toilet that’s located below the bar! So remember to close the lid to the toilet (if below), just in case.

If the toilet paper keeps tearing for you or you think that it may not hold the Elf over night, you could also use a scarf to hang on the towel rod or on a coat rack. The kids were super excited to see his toilet paper creation. They thought it was hilarious. Enjoy!

December 6 – Just Hangin’ Around

My girls loved this Elf set up that only required a toilet paper roll and some string (I used baking twine). String your twine through the toilet paper roll to create an Elf “swing”. Then, hang from a dining room chandelier, a doorway, or a shelf. I hung mine from command strips that were already holding up holiday garland in an entryway.

You could also tape the ends of the string to the wall, shelf or light fixture you plan to hang it from; the elf and swing together is pretty lightweight!

I found it was easier to secure the swing before adding our Elf, and wrapping his arms around the strings helped to keep him upright on the “swing”. To help stabilize him in place further, I used a bit of sticky tack on the toilet paper roll under the Elf’s legs and in between his hands to hold them together (you could also use tape!). Overall, it was a pretty quick set up, and the girls got a big kick out our Elf just hanging around on our holiday decorations!

December 7 – Elf Donuts

We found our Elf sharing a donut breakfast with our favorite doll this morning! You can recreate this scene with just a few supplies you probably already have on hand: Cheerios cereal (we had original and chocolate flavors on hand), cupcake frosting, and holiday sprinkles.

Creating the donuts was a little tricky because they are so tiny, so I used toothpicks to help with the details and with transporting them to the “donut box”. To decorate, dip one side of an individual Cheerio into cupcake frosting and then

shake on some holiday sprinkles. I used the smallest sprinkles I could find in my pantry for this; even the regular sugar sprinkles seemed too overwhelming for the little Cheerios!

Once decorated, use your toothpick to clear out the middle hole of the donut if any sprinkles or frosting got stuck inside. With the hole clear, you can use your toothpick to transfer the “donut” to your Elf dishes (for ours, I just cut and taped together a box as best I could using printer paper). This helps a lot to cut down on the frustration of the frosting sticking to your fingers.

This idea could easily become Elf Cupcakes as well – just use cup-shaped candies like Rolo caramels or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for the base, and then frost and sprinkle! My girls really liked seeing our Elf having breakfast with one of their favorite dolls this morning. Hope you have fun recreating the scene!

December 8 – A Roll Down the Stairs

This idea is so fun! All it requires is a toilet paper roll and some steps. I inserted the elf through the toilet paper roll. The butt takes a bit of maneuvering but you can squeeze it in there! I started the “unrolling” about 2/3 of the way up the stairs and put the elf on a few steps up from the bottom. The kids really enjoyed finding the Elf was up to no good!

December 9 – Do Want to Build a Snowman?

This is a great morning surprise treat! Grab some powdered sugar donuts ( mini or regular size) and stack them in three. I ended up using food coloring straight from the small squeeze bottles (you could also use food coloring pens here) to draw the face and buttons on the donuts. I also added the plate to write the “Do you want to build a snowman” message but you could also just use a piece of paper.

Leaving the food dye out for your kids to draw faces on their donut snowmen in the morning is your choice! I ended up putting the dye away. The kids were still excited to see the Elf, build some snowmen and to eat some donuts! Enjoy!

December 10 – Sprinkle Angels

This Elf sprinkle angel idea got lots of giggles from the kids because they love when our Elf gets into mischief! To keep the sprinkle mess to a minimum, I set up this display on a cutting board. To get started, shake some sprinkles around the edges of where the “angel” outline will be (it does not need to be a lot!). Then, while holding your Elf firmly in place, move

your Elf’s limbs (one at a time) in the snow angel motion, pushing sprinkles as you go. If you need to, add a few extra sprinkles to make the angel shape stand out. This idea takes minutes to set up, and when the day is over, the cutting board makes clean up easy!

December 11 – Photo Booth with Friends

My girls loved seeing our Elf hanging out taking pictures with their favorite dolls this morning! To make the Photo Booth props, I used eye/nose/mouth and mustache stickers on toothpicks. (The camera is something we had on hand from an Our Generation Doll accessories playset like this.) Sticky tack is great for helping props stay in the

hands of our Elf and dolls, and I even used some on the pink doll’s feet to make her stand. The background of the Photo Booth is just a page of 12″ x 12″ scrapbook paper, and I added glitter letter stickers to spell out “Photo Booth” for an added touch. If you had a polaroid camera, you could make this a 2-day setup and have your Elf give an actual photo the following night!

December 12 – Sledding with Friends

There’s no snow on the ground here in the Chicagoland area right now, but the Elf is having some winter fun! I was able to throw this together in about 5 minutes. You’ll need an empty toilet paper roll and a flap from a cardboard box top. I taped down the toilet paper to the cardboard flap using scotch tape. I grabbed Snowflake (Arctic Fox) and Biscuit (St Bernard Dog) and set them up along with the Elf. Of course, you could use any stuffed animals, small dolls, etc. as “friends”. The kids were thrilled to see them having some fun together!

December 13 – Jenga Igloo

This idea may be my new favorite for our Elf! The kids woke up to find our Elf hiding inside his own little Jenga Igloo, and loved how funny he looked peeking out of a “window” at them!

I created this igloo with only 1 box of Jenga blocks, stacking the blocks in groups of 4 per level as you build up. Each level of blocks should make a square-shape, and be sure to alternately rotate each level 45 degrees to get the igloo effect.

For the window, just leave 1 block out on levels 8 through 10. You’ll probably need to maneuver the blocks around a bit to be sure the levels of blocks above the window are

supported. Also, this is about the time you should place your Elf into the igloo, and just continue working around him or her.

As you build your way to the top of the igloo, reduce the number of blocks starting with level 13 of the igloo, which happens to leave you with just enough blocks to perfectly seal off the top with 1 last block!

Although it might seem like this Elf Igloo would be difficult to construct, it really is not; especially for anyone who has played plenty of Jenga over the years! Just be sure not to let it fall over as you build! Enjoy!

December 14 – Silverware Drawer Surprise

The Elf made a special appearance in the silverware drawer this morning! This one is super easy for those nights that you aren’t feeling up to doing much. My son freaked out because he was grabbing silverware and didn’t see the Elf “Did I touch it?” he said with worry in his eyes. Nope, but he was careful after that!

December 15 – Google-Eyed Food

This idea is so simple, and was a big hit! Because our Elf was not out in the open, the kids first had to find him. An “I’m somewhere cold” clue out on a letter board made it easier for the kids to know where to look – and they found him wrapped in a blanket inside the fridge!

We decided to add to the fun by making it look like our Elf wasn’t just hiding, he was making friends with a bunch of googly-eyed foods! Adhesive googly eyes make this set up super easy, and you’ll be smiling every time you open your fridge for days!

December 16 – Elf Photo Cut Out

You know those cute displays at events where your kids can stick their face in and then you can get a cute photo of your child with a body of an animal, character, etc? We have one for your elf! Use this printable reindeer so your Elf can become a reindeer over night!

I cut a 2″ diameter hole in the printable and then added some scotch tape in two areas on the back of the paper to hold it in place. You could be extra here and glue it to a cardboard piece with a hole in it so it’s a bit sturdier.

I ended up putting our Elf up on the mantel. The kids almost totally missed seeing him up there! There were laughs all around. Enjoy!

December 17 – Visiting the Pup House

Our Elf just brought the St. Bernard Puppy to our house this morning, complete with his own little dog house, blanket, food bowl and teddy toy. The kids loved the cuddly, soft Elf Pet Pup, and couldn’t resist the adorable playset to go with it. Since it’s a little late in the month for a new Elf Pet to arrive (shipping took forever!), our Elf left a note explaining to the kids that it took a long time for the Pups to arrive because they had been in training with Santa learning how to use their magical barrel collars. This explanation seemed to satisfy the kiddos without question!

The little dog house and accessories came from this Elf on the Shelf Cabin Playset, which also comes with pieces for the other pets. We decided to spread out the fun and save those for another day. Overall, the sturdy cardboard pieces were super easy to set up – perfect for getting your Elf ready fast!

December 18 – Taco ‘bout it

For your Elf to get into this predicament, you’ll just need a couple of burrito or fajita size tortillas and a sharpie. I wrapped one of the tortillas around the Elf and made sure the seam was back side down. I ended up writing “I Don’t Want to Taco bout it“ on the other tortilla. You could also just write the message on a piece of paper instead! My son loved the pun on words!

Check back for Daily Inspiration!

We truly enjoy putting together creative and easy Elf-on-a-Shelf rioting out displays, and hope that you will check back with us each day for fresh Elf-spiration. Be sure to check out our 2022’s 24 Days of Elf on the Shelf Ideas Blog Post for even more ideas!

Undefined Structure began in 2022 between mom-friend duo Kara and Jen. Years of being friends and sharing common SAHM experiences showed us our struggles and achievements could be relatable to other Moms; and so we started this blog. Our worlds are full of colorful and unexpected touches, while also having a good dose of crafty organization – our goal is to share it with you and to keep our homes and family life inspired and running with a bit of grace.

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