Tinsel the Elf Comes to Town

Our family elf Tinsel has made an appearance in our house again this year!

Elf on the Shelf - Candy Dish

Our elf Tinsel is at it again!  Apparently they don't give him enough sweet things to eat at the North Pole!

Elf on the Shelf - Baking White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Tinsel decided that he wanted to help me with the baking, so he pulled out his apron and was waiting for me in the kitchen!
We made my favorite holiday cookies: white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies and it's you're lucky day we're even going to share the recipe with you!

Elf on the Shelf - Unloading the Dishwasher

Tinsel is such a sweet, helpful little guy.  I woke up one morning to discover him helping to unload the dishwasher!

Elf on the Shelf - Reindeer Rider

Our little elf Tinsel has dreams of being a rodeo rider!  We found him one day practicing his moves on the reindeer on the mantle.

Elf on the Shelf - Playing Piano

Elves are fantastic musicians!  We didn't know that Tinsel played the piano, but when he began tickling the ivory we caught on!

Elf on the Shelf - Lighting the Fire

Tinsel loves to lend a helping hand around the house.  When I come home I love to light a fire to keep me nice and toasty.  Recently I came home to find Tinsel already on the job!

Elf on the Shelf - Tank Driving

In our house we have a love of tanks (okay, really Ben is the one with the "true" love of tanks), but it seems quite fitting that our elf Tinsel would love them too!  Today we spotted him driving by in Ben's Imperial Guard Baneblade.

Elf on the Shelf - Reading Christmas Cards

As the Christmas cards have been arriving Tinsel has been loving reading each of them.  We first found him hanging from the line reading our own card.

Elf on the Shelf - Knitting

I have a little poem to go along with Tinsel's handiwork today!

I left my knitting on the floor

and when I came home I found someone else had done some more.

Elf on the Shelf - Lantern

Our elf Tinsel apparently has a thing for copper lanterns.

Elf on the Shelf - Sketching the Tree

Yesterday we finally got our Christmas Tree!  While we were setting up Tinsel decided to do some measuring with a tiny tree for scale.

Elf on the Shelf Introduction

Have you heard of the Elf on the Shelf book?  It has been all over Pinterest and all that my friend Laura and I can talk about!  For those of you who have not let me explain, no there is too much, let me sum up!  (to quote Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride)