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Christmas/ Craft

Elfie Antics 2018 – Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Click here for my Elf on the Shelf Antics in 2017!

I have soooo much fun with Elf on the Shelf! Here is the highlight reel of Elfie’s antics for 2018:

DAY 1 – Elfie’s Baaack!!

Elfie has brought the December goodies including lots of Christmas themed books (most bought from previous years + two new ones) including the very important Elf on the Shelf book to remind them what he’s all about, Christmassy undies, PJs, stockings and advent calenders. The girls got bows ? since they don’t get chocolate!

Every year Elfie’s name is spelt out with M&Ms, but this time I made sure to do the 1st letter capitalised and the rest of the letters in lower case to help the boys with learning their letters/words!

DAY 2 – Elfie is Stuck in the TV!

Day 2 and Elfie has already gotten himself stuck halfway inside the TV! ??

Not sure if that means no TV or if we can check on him when we switch on the magical ‘Elf Channel’!!

If your Elf gets up to mischief and is the type to get stuck in the TV ? Click here for the image on my Blog for you to download and display on your TV ?

 
 
DAY 3 – Elfie’s Stuck in a Coke Bottle!

Oh Elfie, always getting himself stuck in sticky situations! Check out my @twinsandablog Instagram story Christmas highlights to see the ?MAGIC? happen!  (and how to DIY) ??
http://www.instagram.com/twinsandablog/

 

DAY 4 – Floor is Lava!?

The boys love floor is lava! Special cameo courtesy of Captain America – always the Hero to save the day! ?

I kept my camera stand on the floor in front of the ‘lava’ so I could show the boys this video and tell them that I secretly filmed Elfie last night!

This is a really simple set up with tissue paper, cellophane, Christmas bows, my Lively Living
Diffuser and doTERRA Australia Holiday Joy (if you look closely you can see the light & mist coming out)!

 

DAY 5 – Do you want to build a Snowman?☃️

The past few days were Mr Cheeky Elfie, but now the boys are going to get ?MAGICAL? Elfie, and I CAN’T WAIT!! ??

Click here for my Play Snow recipe – this is 6 batches (I double the batch x 3 times in my Thermomix) but you can also mix it in a bowl with your hands/spoon too – it keeps its consistency if left out overnight for this but you can keep it in a container afterwards for the kids to keep playing with it! I used dark choc chips for eyes & buttons (hope the ants don’t come ?), cut a carrot into a small wedge for the nose, tissue paper for the scarf, sticks for arms and Woody’s hat!

 

Day 6 (& DAY 7) – Elfie’s Magic Eggs

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An oldie but a goodie, I save this for nights that I am really busy (tomorrow I have a Gingerbread Decorating night & tonight I have been prepping for it)!
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Elfie’s magic dust is made out of rainbow sprinkles + glitter. I added half cracked (& washed) normal eggs to the ends of the maxi Kinder Eggs ?? It will be an easy one to switch over the eggs for the 2nd night!! ?

DAY 8 – Frosty the Fridge

Elfie has decorated the fridge each year as different variations of Frosty (I mix up the scarf!) In 2018, I used the boys’ Beau Hudson scarves! Previous years I have used torn coloured paper or tissue paper for the scarf.

I love this Elfie antic as it is using everything I already have at home and it adds some Christmas cheer to the house!

The hardest part of this is taking off all the junk stuck onto the fridge collected over the past year!! ?

DAY 9 – Elfie’s Campfire

Click here for video. This was an easy one with leftover cellophane and tissue paper (from the ‘Floor is Lava’ day), some kindling wood and my diffuser. ?

 

DAY 10 – Candy Cane Loses His Stripes

This is the same science experiment dissolving concept as with Skittles (and making a rainbow)! I found it takes a few minutes longer than the Skittles experiment (which whilst looks really cool, it is over really quickly before the ‘rainbow’ turns brown!)

This is the before and after scenario (I ditched the plate to the right after I took this pic!)

I used bigger candy canes, but you could also use a few smaller ones on a white plate. Make sure you use warm water otherwise you’ll be waiting for aaaages (I initially used cold/room temp water and didn’t see much dissolving happening. I ditched the cold water and replaced it with warm – this was the result of warm water after about 5 minutes)! Pour enough warm water to cover/immerse the candy cane ?

 

DAY 11 – Spiderman vs Elfie

Every day the boys are soooooo excited in the mornings to check out what Elfie has been up to, but being 4 year old superhero fans, they lost their minds over this!! It takes up the middle of our living room and we had to crawl under it to get through ?

I did a Spidey ? version in 2017 with dental floss but in 2018 did it with the cheapest thin white wool from Spotlight – it holds well, is easy to see and really easy to assemble. This is a little time consuming but a very cheap and effective Elf antic!! #sorryelfie

 DAY 12 – All Wrapped Up by Elfie

Yep, you can call me stealth-ninja-warrior-mumma! ??This was the most excruciating self inflicted pain I have ever put myself through. I thought about it for a few days but then was also thinking, what a flippin’ stupid thing to do especially as the boys are light sleepers! It was like dealing with dynamite ? and I had a few close calls where I dropped to the floor and waited till I heard deep breathing! Buuuut it was sooooooo worth it when the boys woke up to see that they were all wrapped up by Elfie whilst they were sleeping!! ?? #commitmentlevel100

 DAY 13 – Elfie’s Shrinking Machine

Featuring Coles mini collectables and a special cameo from Mr Coles-mini-collectables himself, Elf- Christian Hull ?‍♂️
If you have no idea what the end scene is about, check out @christianhull ‘s 2018 Halloween costume ??

I used a Huggies nappy box wrapped in brown paper, my Kmart Australia light box, my baking racks for the conveyor belt and my Lively Living diffuser as the shrinking machine ‘steam engine’ ?

DAY 14 – Rain Cloud in a Glass

Time for a ?MAGICAL? science experiment!

You just need:
A glass of water
Shaving cream
Food colouring (the drop control bottles)

Top the water with shaving cream, place drops of food colouring over it, then watch it ‘rain’ through in the glass!! Elfie left a few colours out for the boys to experiment with their colours in the morning!! ??

Edit to add: just put out the glass with water overnight and add the shaving cream + food colouring in the morning when your kid(s) wake up!

 

DAY 15 – Elfie Plays Pac Man

The boys looooved playing with this maze (& eating all the chocolate) in the morning!! All that’s needed is Duplo + M&M’s!! ??

DAY 16 – Let’s Make a Rainbow

This was one of my faves in 2017, but this time I stepped it up a notch and used the first letter of Ethan & Harley’s names to have a fun letter game in the morning! (This was a tester, I redid the E & H on their plates for them to add warm water in the morning!)

 

DAY 17 – Money has grown on Elfie’s Tree!

Money doesn’t grow on trees, but it does grow on Elfie’s tree! Gold coins have magically grown on Elfie’s Christmas tree! The boys got to find 40 x gold coins in the morning and have to make sure they share! ??

This was a quick and easy one!

 

DAY 18 – Elfie’s Balloon Bath

Elfie’s been making himself a balloon bath but accidentally got himself stuck inside one!!!

The boys had lots of laughs in the morning when they saw what he’s been up to!!

The adults also get a laugh as Elfie is in an ‘Adult Balloon’ courtesy of Ansell… it is a very vintage balloon because #4kids and #mirena ?

DAY 19 – Elfie’s Gingerbread House

Looks like Elfie’s having some trouble building a Gingerbread House! Have no fear, Ethan & Harley will be here and will come to the rescue in the morning to show him how it’s done! ??

PS. This is the BEST Gingerbread House Kit ($12.79 from Costco and it includes a gingerbread house, tree & two gingerbread men, icing, lollies and a tray)

DAY 20 – Elfie on a Sugar High

After 19 days of spectating, Mr Twins and A Blog finally got behind the scenes and made the
?magic? happen!! Day 20 was all daddy, with the storyline, production and sugar consumption by Mr Twins and A Blog whilst I took the shots and edited it together – a bit of an Elfie date night really ???

DAY 21 – Elfie Makes Reindeer Cookies

This was saved for a busy night with little Elf prep time! You need: @arnottsbiscuits Arrowroot Biscuits, @bettycrockeraustralia chocolate icing, Jaffa’s, pretzels and choc chips ?

DAY 22 – Elfie Tattoo’s the Kids

Elfie was excited that it is sooo close to Christmas, and has been spreading some Christmas cheer by giving the kids in the house some cuddles, kisses and Christmas temporary tattoos!! The boys did not move an inch, and the girls were a ticking time ? (but lucky it wouldn’t matter if they woke up with Elfie staring at them in the face!) ?

PS. Yep that’s sweaty pillows ? (and water from the sponge) we have sweaty head kids who sweat even in winter #gotitfromtheirdaddy

I got the temporary tattoos from my local dollar shop, and cut a Christmas tree shape out of an Ikea green sponge.

DAY 23 – Elfie’s Explosive Fun Day!

You need: Diet Coke + Mentos (‘full fat’ @cocacolaau doesn’t work as well)

DAY 24 – Christmas Eve Elfie Cuddles

Hi Ethan, Harley, Camilla & Madison,
It’s Christmas Eve and my time with you this year has nearly come to an end, I will miss you my little friends!
Today you can touch, cuddle and play with me, because tonight when Santa brings your presents he will pick me up and take me back to the North Pole with him!
This afternoon, please help your mummy make some cookies for Santa (I have given her Santa’s favourite cookie recipe!), sprinkle some Reindeer Food on the grass outside for when they arrive, and fill up this special tray with goodies for Santa and Rudolph!
I can’t wait for our special cuddles today!
Love Elfie

*Santa board from Thermoart

DAY 25 – CHRISTMAS MAGIC

Twas the night before Christmas… Santa has arrived and has brought presents for the good boys and girls in the house! ?
Santa drinks his milk and eats his cookies that Ethan and Harley have laid out for him. ??
Elfie has done a fabulous job reporting back to Santa this month and Santa takes Elfie home to the North Pole with him! ?
Rudolph has been waiting outside so Santa pops out to feed him his carrots! ??
Thanks Santa, and we will miss you Elfie, it’s been a blast!! See you next year, the next year will go so fast!! ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas/ Parenting

Elf on the Shelf – Elf Stuck in the TV – Free Download!

This is our third year with Elfie!! Elfie spent waaay too much time on his Elf antics last year – so pressure’s on for a fun 2018 with our 4 year old boys and 1 year old girls!! Day 2 in the Brown family household this year is Elfie half getting stuck in the TV! Elfie (aka ME) is not a pro photo editor – this is a massive home job and this is the best I could do – but looks pretty effective on the TV screen!!

Click on the picture below to download, save it onto a USB and plug it into your TV/mirror it to your TV (or whatever other fancy technology there is these days to put an image onto the TV)!! Then just squeeze your Elf halfway and tape them behind the bottom left corner of your TV! It can either be a TV free day in the house since the Elf is stuck in the TV, or you might be able to see him stuck on the ‘Elf Channel’ (when the other TV channels work normally)!

Twins and a Blog – Elf on the Shelf Stuck Inside the TV

If you are excited as I am to use this picture – please share the love – tag me in your photo and/or add this website link! Thanks guys! Merry Christmas!!!

Sophia x

@twinsandablog

 

Babies/ Parenting/ Photography/ Twins

Camilla and Madison’s Cake Smash

For Camilla and Madison’s first birthday, the amazingly talented Amelia from Cherry On Top Photography generously gifted a cake smash session for the girls. It was the best day ever for the girls having their first taste of cake and icing!! They definitely love cake just like mummy!!

I am soooo IN LOVE with these beautiful photos that have captured the girls perfectly! In all the photos it is Camilla (left) and Madison (right). Amelia captured their personalities perfectly and the photos were the first time they had ever sat on their bottom (they only ever sat with W shaped legs before this!).

If you are in Sydney, especially in the Hills District area, I highly recommend Cherry On Top Photography! As you can see, Amelia’s photos are gorgeous, she is a natural with the babies and it was such a fun, smooth running and enjoyable session!

Website: https://cherryontopphotography.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cherryontopphotography/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherryontopphotography/

PS. I used the same backdrop for the girls birthday party and smash cake. It is a hula hoop I bought from Kmart, wrapped ribbon around it and I tied the ONE balloon & some fake greens onto it with fishing line. I cut up a bouquet of fake flowers and glued them on with a hot glue gun to change it up for the smash cake and to go with the pink floral theme. I was going to unravel it all for the boys to play with the hula hoop but now I’m keeping the frame as is and changing the middle number for the girls birthday each year! ??

As much as I love making cakes for my boys, I am over the moon to make OTT girly girl cakes for my girls! The cakes I made for the girls’ smash cake session were using my Perfect Buttercream Icing and Eggless Vanilla Cake recipes. For the buttercream I used 5 different colours & piping nozzles – it pipes beautifully especially using the tricky russian icing tips! The cakes were eggless as the girls had been getting a localised reaction from egg around their mouths – their mouths get red for about an hour then it disappears. I know some people can be allergic/not allergic to eggs cooked in different ways but the girls hadn’t tried cake before (let alone cake with egg in it) so I didn’t want to take that risk with these precious photos taken!