Making Leprechaun Mischief

As a child I was fascinated by the idea of tiny leprechauns living among the clover. Now I find joy in inviting the leprechauns to make mischief in our home on the night before St. Patrick's Day. My kids share my fascination and are thrilled to discover the mischief the leprechauns make. They have even set traps to try to catch a leprechaun and his gold, but alas, the little men are too quick!

Naturally if leprechauns are visiting, our Christmas elf, Sprinkles, would want to join in the fun and get a chance to check in on the boys. Here's a peek at the mischief we enjoyed last year when Sprinkles teamed up with the leprechauns to cause mayhem in our home:

Want to join the leprechaun fun? 

Here are a few ideas for making leprechaun mischief in your home:

• Use food coloring to turn the milk green.
• Use food coloring to tint the toilet water.
• Use a food coloring pen to color the sandwich bread for lunch.
• Cut shamrock shapes out of the waffles for a breakfast surprise.
• Sprinkle sparkly "leprechaun magic" (aka confetti) about the house and yard as evidence of their visit.
• Make a few tiny hand and foot prints with green markers (think tile floors, light switch plates, or the metal door frame for easy clean-up).
• Color or write notes on the mirrors from the leprechauns with green markers. 
• Hang green party streamers across doorways or wrap it around chairs, banisters, etc.
• Hide blocks, tennis balls or coins inside shoes. 
• Mix things up -- turn over a chair, mismatch the shoes or socks, pull open the dresser drawers, turn jackets inside-out.

If you have leprechauns who visit your home, be sure to share their mischief in the comments.

Life with an Elf in the House

Having an elf as a house guest certainly keeps everyone on their toes -- not to mention helps get little boys out of their beds in a hurry every morning.

Sprinkles has been busy -- keeping up with the boys' changing wishlists, monitoring for naughtiness, playing with their toys and entertaining them with his silly surprises. Here are some of his latest antics.

Knowing how much the boys love to build, Sprinkles made his own block fort.

Sprinkles got a band together for some merry music-making. Fortunately they didn't wake anyone up during the night!

He played a game of quidditch and caught the golden snitch.

He went sailing on the pirate ship.

Oops! Sprinkles just couldn't resist all that red and green candy and had to dive right in!

Sprinkles invited his pals the nutcracker men and Spike the Dinosaur to a wooden food feast. The boys love this, and prepared a few other items for their meal.

Last Friday he created quite a commotion, starting with marker mischief on our bathroom mirror and several picture frames.

I tell you, that elf is full of silly stunts this year! And the boys LOVE his elf-style naughtiness, especially when I pretend to scold him and say I may have to report him to Santa if he keeps this up. When I went to pick up the boys in the afternoon, he had sneaked into my car to greet them.

But that wasn't all, on our way home from a party that evening, he had moved to the driver's seat headrest and tickled the back of my neck since we couldn't see him in the dark. We had a great time laughing at him and telling him he was going to find himself on the naughty list! The boys couldn't stop laughing and were cheering for him to do more funny/naughty tricks. Fortunately Sprinkles spent a quieter Saturday with us.

With less than a week till Christmas, Sprinkles still has some fun plans in mind -- better get to work, Sprinkles!

If you have an elf at your house, I'd love to see what he or she is up to -- share a link to your photos/blog/Pinterest board in the comments.

Halloween in December

(Or Christmas Magic in October)

Our Christmas elf, Sprinkles, likes to stop by for a quick visit on some of the other holidays during the year. It's a good way for him to get to check in on the boys, and a chance for us to say hi since we miss him after Christmas. He has made visits on Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, and stopped in at the grandparents' house on Thanksgiving once too. 

This year he played a little trick on us, arriving in the afternoon on Halloween, wearing his costume! He even carried a tiny bag with chocolates for the boys. What a surprise that was! The boys were jumping around yelling hello to him and laughing about his pumpkin costume!

No reason the magic of the Christmas season can only happen in December.

25 Ideas for Christmas Elf Antics

Meet Sprinkles, our elf who visits with us for the Christmas season and reports back to Santa each night.

He brings mischief and merriment from the day after Thanksgiving through December 26th, or even till New Year's Day. He's supposed to fly back with Santa on Christmas Eve, but Santa gives him permission to stay for Christmas Day to see the boys open their presents. Sometimes he stays longer, if he's just too tired to make his way home after all the Christmas preparations.

As more of my friends have elves arriving in their homes, I thought I'd share some of Sprinkles' ideas for bringing magic and delight to your home this Christmas season:

1. Arrive with an Advent calendar for the kids.
2. Hide in the Christmas tree, maybe with a new ornament.
3. Hide in the freezer.
4. Hide in the car to greet the kids after school.
5. Arrive with elf or Santa hats for the kids.
6. Hide in the Christmas village -- it's like being back at the North Pole.
7. Hide in the bookshelves, maybe with a new Christmas story.
8. Write a tiny note in funny elf writing.
9. Draw a picture for the kids -- of them in the snow, of him and his elf pals, of Santa.
10. Leave tiny elf prints around the house.
11. Steal mom's camera and take pictures of himself making mischief.
12. Hide in the fridge after turning the milk green.
13. Nibble elf bites out of the Christmas cookies when you're not looking.
14. Sit in the kids toys -- a doll house, a play garage, a baby doll stroller, a remote control car.
15. Hide among the stuffed animals.
16. Surprise the kids with a mini Christmas tree for their own room.
17. Show up at a friend or family member's house while you're visiting there.
18. Hide in the stockings.
19. Build something out of the kids' Lego sets.
20. Bring a sweet treat -- chocolate Santas, candy canes.
21. Hide in the wreath.
22. Sit in the chandelier.
23. Hide in mom's china hutch -- a tea cup is a perfect spot for putting up your elf feet and relaxing.
24. Bring a toy or treat for the family pet.
25. Bring new Christmas pajamas for the kids. (Maybe mom and dad too?)

When the boys were younger, and less able to refrain from touching him, Sprinkles usually stuck to the higher places for hiding -- the top of the TV or dressers, curtain rods, the top of a seldom-used lamp, in the china hutch and in the chandelier.

Since our boys have enjoyed Sprinkles' visits so much, he's been known to visit on Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day and even Halloween. When he visited on St. Patrick's Day, he joined the leprechauns in making some green-themed mischief.

Do you have an elf who visits at Christmas time? If so, I'd love to hear about his antics in your home.

(Note: I have no ties to the Elf on the Shelf company or products, and only wanted to share ideas we have done in our home with our elf, or are planning to do this season.)