- Prep Time2 hours
- Total Time2 hours
Invite the Christmas elves home this year with a diy magical tiny elf door on the wall.
Have lots of fun this December with this diy Elf Door for Christmas
We made our first elf door 5 years ago out of a piece of painted cardboard and we have been putting it up every year since. The idea is that the elves who work for Santa Claus can use their magic to enter your house through this door. They usually come at night during December to check on the kids in the house and usually also do do something sweet or slightly naughty. Never anything mean of course. It’s supposed to be fun and only the parent will know where that line is for your child. I once cut off all the brushes on the kids’ toothbrushes (having new ones handy of course) but that was a step too far for my then 7-year old daughter. She got very upset with “the elf”. Now she laughs about it and it’s become a funny story to tell, but that morning she was not a happy bunny.
I got all the supplies on www.amazon.in and in the local art and craft shops.
It should be fun -and not stressful- to have the elves in the house. It’s all about the magic of Christmas
The elves don’t come every night… just whenever you have the time and energy to do something. My kids LOVE waking up in the morning to see if they have been to visit during the night and to figure out if they have been naughty -like taking the kids’ chocolate from the advent calendar and leaving an onion instead- or nice.
My kids are never sure if they are actually coming or if it’s just me who does all the mischief. But it’s like believing in the toothfairy. It’s magical to believe and Christmas is nothing if not magical.
Some ideas for what the elves could be getting up to
Here is a list of things the elf could be doing during the night. Remember it doesn’t have to be complicated. My kids love when the milk is blue or their uniform is suddenly in the fridge. The elf could…
- …colour the milk with food colour
- …put nailpolish on hands and toes during the night (including dad’s)
- …write merry christmas on the table with cornflakes
- …wrap the schoolbooks in Christmas paper with a bow and place back in the school bag
- …put onions or potatoes in the school shoes
- …turn all the frames in the house upside down
- …put the uniform or socks in the fridge/freezer (remember to have a spare set ready)
- …add raisins to the dosa batter
- …cut the brushes off the toothbrush (remember to have a spare ready)
- …arranges the teddies and dolls as though they had a tea party during the night. Leave a gap where the elf sat.
- …decorate the inside of the car with Christmas decorations
- …decorate the bicycle with ribbon and bows
- …spill pasta or flour all over the floor
- …leave tiny muddy footprints near the door
- …leave a tiny book or hat for the kids to find
- …hide the chocolate from the advent calendar
- …add extra chocolate in the already opened advent calendar
- …draw faces on the oranges
- …turn on the tv and has a cozy night with the teddies in a row
- …move the clothes around in the closet
- …wrap the tiffin in gift paper
- …make the alarm go off during dinner time (instead of the morning)
- …hide all the cutlery (you can find it again after a messier breakfast time)
- …add tiny Christmas decorations
- …change the salt and the sugar containers around
- …change the lightbulbs to coloured ones
- …take off all the Christmas decorations on the tree
- …turn everything upside down; chairs, frames, tables. it’s up to you how far you want to go.
- …add cinnamon to the coffee
- …put rice in the pencil box
- …bake in the middle of the night and the kitchen is left in a mess
- …change the shoelaces with gift ribbon
- …hang sweets on the Christmas tree
- …swap the blankets around in the house
- …write a sweet message on the bathroom mirror with lipstick or toothpaste
- …tie the legs of the dining chairs to the table chairs with ribbon
- …put the toothbrush in the fridge
- …colour the rice or pasta with food colour
- …put carrots in the sleeves of the uniform
- …take tiny bites of the bread
- …put a very colourful eyeshadow on everyone in the family
- …drop a small map to be found by the kids
- …change the night clothes your child is wearing during the night by using magic (if you have a heavy sleeper)
- …fill the car with balloons
- …eat the food left out for him -and make a big mess with it
- …put all the shoes upside down
- …put all the teddies in a row though the house
- …put cookies in the cornflakes packet
- …put oranges in the kids’ santa hats
The options are limitless. It all depends on your kids and what age they are and how much time you want to invest in the project. I usually go for the easy ones that won’t require a lot of work or clean-up time and the kids have absolutely loved it and are already talking about what might happen this year. Guess we just have to see what the elf will get of ideas…
If you liked this diy elf door for Christmas idea, you can also see my other Christmas ideas here:
Ingredients
Directions
The door: Start by cutting the rounded end off the ice cream sticks. I have used 20 sticks here in total. 8 in the middle, 8 halves on either side and 4 in the middle. Please don't worry about the colour of the sticks. I would have preferred to use the natural-coloured ones (for the purpose of this picture) but used what I had at home. Glue it all together as shown here. I used a piece of thick leather paper as the base to make it easier to glue it all together.
The ladder: Cut 1 craft stick in two pieces to form sides of the ladder. Cut another half stick into 5 pieces. Glue it together with craft glue or a glue gun.
Paint the door brown and the ladder black with acrylic paint. I added a small door handle with a piece of the ice cream stick which I painted gold.
The bucket: Using a small circle of leather paper, I used a glue gun to glue on the wooden pellets. I had these leftover from assembling a shelf once. Small pieces of craft sticks will work just as well.
Paint the bucket brown an attach the jute string around it to keep it in place as well as a jute string for the handle.
The Christmas Wreath: I used a small palm leaf with the leaves removed to shape the circle. I then cut long pieces of velvet and twirled it all around the wreath. When it is fully green, cut a long strip of green velvet with small cuts on one side. Like shown on the photo. Twirl this around and around to make "the leaves".
Hammer a small nail into the door for the Christmas wreath to hang
Attach a small red bow and the wreath is done
The stocking: Cut two pieces of red velvet into the shape of a sock. Glue them together around the edges. Attach the fur or cotton at the top and a hoop for the stocking to hang.
The clothes line: Use a craft stick cut in half to make the clothes line. Glue them onto something flat and firm to keep them from falling down. Paint the entire thing black.
Attach the jute string. Use small clothes clips to hang tiny elf clothes and a hat.
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