Keeping Busy: 2012

Nelfie our Elf on the Shelf made his return tonight!! It took a little planning for his return...especially since this was the 1st time we've had to make him return!

Nelfie with his letter and package from Santa

I write the letter with my left hand & try to make it look child like! :)

I had found this letter head on line last Christmas. I did a quick search on pinterest & found this link to a bloggers site:http://celebrationsathomeblog.com/2011/12/free_santa_claus_letterhead.html I also searched for Christmas font which I found here:http://designeditor.typepad.com/design_editor/2011/12/font-friday-free-christmas-fonts.html

I then came up with the letter to explain the package from Santa. This is what I wrote:

I have a special gift for you two this year. I would like you to put these sacks under the Christmas tree. Then when I come to deliver your presents I will put them right into your special Santa Sack. Up here in the North Pole we are trying to think of ways to help the earth. We thought this would be a wonderful way by not wasting all that paper that I wrap your gifts in. It will also give my elves more time to make presents instead of spending all the time wrapping them. I hope you like your sacks!! Remember to be on your best behavior, I want to see both of your names on the Nice List.Love,Santa Claus

This is one of the bags that I had sewed a few weeks ago. The other one looks the same except the materials are switched so we can tell the difference between the two boys sacks! :) I found two different sites through Pinterest that I went off of to make the sack. I did make adjustments and kind of changed parts as I went along. Here are the sites I used:

http://www.allaboutyou.com/prima/sew-santas-sacks-56996?click=main_sr

This site I used for just the drawstring. I added length to it according to the width of the sack I made.

http://tonicoward.blogspot.com/2010/06/peek-boo-toy-sack-tutorial.html

I am excited to see the boys reaction in the morning to Nelfie being back!! :) I'm also excited to be able to use the Santa Sacks come Christmas!! After reading a few blogs about them I've decided we will let them reach in a grab one present out at a time with out looking. That way they won't see all of their gifts at the same time & we are helping the environment by not using all that wrapping paper! :)

Please be patient with me! This is my first time blogging! I wanted to be able to add stuff on pinterest with instructions...so here we go!

Searching all over for angry bird masks, I found some I liked, but needed to tweak. Here is what we ended up with!! I used that those foam sheets for crafts, permanent colored markers & gorilla glue. I also used a punch to make the holes for the elastic. I need to buy some more thin elastic to finish the rest!! :)

The boys are so excited about them, I can hardly keep their hands off them!

I'm going to attempt to add the templates I created to make them all! Please feel free to print them off & make your very own angry bird masks!! Ignore the imperfectness of them please...but trust me the kids won't notice!!