Elf on the Shelf!

Thank you ALL for the well wishes! My hand has been healing from surgery....which has meant NO baking for the past couple of weeks. Let me tell you...it's been TOUGH! The consolation...I've been having TONS of fun with our House Elves...they've provided QUITE the distraction!

I'm sure most of you have heard of The Elf on the Shelf by now! This FUN family tradition is seriously SWEEPING the nation ;) We've had a few House Elves that have watched over our family for several years now. PIXIE, TRIXIE and FRITZ have been making LOTS of MISCHIEF this holiday season....they even invited a NEW elf...MACK...to come live with us this year ;)

Here are some of the SHENANIGANS they've gotten themselves into so far!

One day while we were out, the Elves surprised us by making a BIG batch of Reindeer Food and packaging it into cute jars so we could give it as gifts to friends and family!

I found out about this Elf Magic from Living Locurto! We left a bowl out on the counter overnight with 1 Cup of powdered sugar. The next morning we saw that the Elves had added MAGIC SPRINKLES to the sugar! The next morning the sugar and sprinkles turned into a cookie for us to give to SANTA on Christmas Eve!

Here are the Elves with the MAGIC COOKIE that we'll be leaving out for SANTA on Christmas Eve!

Mack had fun adding some FLAIR to our family photos ;)

The Elves wrapped our Christmas Tree in toilet paper a few different times this holiday season ;)

One day they surprised us by making paper SNOWFLAKES and decorating their favorite cupboard with them!

Mack has his Bags-of-Tricks all packed and ready to go tomorrow night when Santa comes to deliver toys! He made mini suitcases out of vintage jewelry boxes....just his size!

We're really going to miss our Elves when they leave with Santa tomorrow night to head back to the North Pole! We've had a TON of fun finding them every morning and seeing what NEW fun they have gotten into ;)

If you want to keep up (or catch-up) with our Elf Family check these links:

~ Details from our Magical Elf Party HERE!

~ 2012 Highlights HERE.

~ My Elf Idea Pinboard HERE.

~ My facebook page HERE.

~ Feature at Elfshaming.com HERE.

That's it...feel free to stalk them...what goes around comes around right!??!?

A SIDENOTE ABOUT OUR ELVES

I’ve had several inquiries already, so thought I’d share a little bit more about our Elf Family and how they came to us. These little Christmas Elves have been around for decades, a lot of you may have even had some decorating your house when you were younger. The original vintage Elves were made mostly in Japan starting in the 50s.  My Grandma had some of the vintage Elves that we’ve used for years and years. We also have one Elf on the Shelf. This year, I added SEVERAL more vintage Elves to our family, through online “adoptions” (i.e. auctions). So...we have a LOT of elves around here. We have our faves...the "main" ones who make the mischief and report to Santa.

Those of you who would like to add another Elf (or several) Elves to your family, 

here are some good places to look:

EBay and Etsy: search for “Knee Hugger Elf or Elves”

Hobby Lobby: I found all of the Elves that were in our adoption center at Hobby Lobby 

(before Halloween mind-you) in the Christmas decoration aisle. 

We added scarves to some, and bows to give them a little extra personality.

Wishing you the BEST this Holiday Season!!!
Audrey

Hey there strangers....

Well, as per usual I've let time get away from me...but I've missed you all and I wanted to play a little catch-up so you didn't think I fell off the face of the EARTH! November seriously FLEW and the way this month is going....Christmas will have come and gone before I finish typing this post - LOL ;) As a SIDENOTE: if you want to keep-up with me on a more consistent basis, follow my Facebook page! I post there frequently...maybe even a little TOO frequently ;)

The Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting were well-received by my Cupcake of the Month Clubbers....speaking of which....I'm ENROLLING NEW MEMBERS NOW!!! The 2012 CCMC starts up in January, toward the end of the month. Those of you still finishing up your holiday shopping (I count myself among you)...a CCMC membership is the EPITOME of the gift that keeps on giving! Six months of deliciousness....you'll be more popular than Santa if you're gifting cupcakes lemme tell ya! For full details visit my Cupcake page HERE!

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes with Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting

I also wanted to THANK all of you that stopped by to see me at Westdale Mall for the Cedar Rapids Macaroni Kids' Family Fun Day and Xmas Expo!!! I was SO super pumped for this event...and it was an even BIGGER BLAST than I could have hoped for! Charlotte did an AMAZING job putting it together....Breakfast with Santa, a Bouncy House, Stocking Stuffer Hunt, Cookies for Kids' Cancer Bake Sale...and TONS of LOCAL vendors! I LOVE having a chance to meet some of you in person! My sister helped run my booth and together we sold over 200 Cake Pops and nearly 300 cupcakes!!! Wahoo...it was a FUN day ;)

I do have some not-so-fun news....many of you already know this because you've contacted me for Holiday goodies....but I won't be able to fill any orders from December 16th through mid-January. I'm having surgery on my hand this week and will be officially BANNED FROM THE KITCHEN while I recover! It's a major bummer...I honestly can't remember a Christmas that wasn't spent baking my little heart out. It's such a HUGE part of the season for me....I'll have to go into overdrive after I've recovered to make-up ;)

Finally...as a little parting gift...check out these Super Mario Toadstool Cake Pops! I made them last week for a birthday party and LOVE how they turned out. I'm inspired to try my hand at more Mario characters now...you know....after I have 2 fully-functioning hands that is- LOL!