The Elf Box
Have you heard of the Elf box? No? Don’t worry a few years ago I hadn’t either.
A friend told me about it and I was sold! A magical box filled with special treats for Christmas eve delivered by elves – what’s not to like.
Now although its aimed at the kids, i’ll be honest I get very excited, mainly because in our house, the elf box includes gifts for grown ups too!
Want to know more?
Well let me explain…
Introducing THE ELF BOX. It’s a box (obviously from the title), delivered Christmas eve afternoon, filled with treats to entertain everyone on Christmas Eve evening.
I fill our Elf box with the things listed below, you can fill yours with whatever you want, all you need to do is keep the magic alive by having it delivered (or in our case left on the front door step by my mum, who also rings the doorbell). Our box arrives at about 4pm, giving us plenty of time to use the goodies inside – Have fun!
The Box
The size of your Elf box will depend on how much “stuff” you have bought, the first year I got a fabric treasure chest from Ikea which was perfect. You can also get cheap wooden boxes online from places like eBay and personalise them (we had our children decorate one side of the box after it was delivered last year and then we “sent” it back to the elves, this year they’ll decorate another side) or you can simply use a large cardboard box. This is the Ikea option:
Ikea – FLYTTBAR Trunk for Toys, Blue £14
The Elf Letter
The most important thing in the box is the letter from the Elves. It explains what’s in the box and what the plan is for Christmas Eve (a great way to make sure the little and big ones get to bed on time).
Christmas Jammies
I add some christmas jammies and roll them up with ribbon, don’t forget to include yourself and any other grown ups (who doesn’t like new jammies). TOP TIP – Visit Primark, they always have christmas jammies and they are such good value). If you want the kids to keep wearing them all winter go for something like red stripes or blue snowflakes. For an online shop try Matalan or Next.
Snuggle Socks (slipper socks)
Again there are some great Christmas ones out there or you can go for your child’s favourite characters (minions, frozen etc.) TOP TIP – again Primark is the best place for these, you can pick them up for £1-£2. Alternatively if you want to order online Joules have some lovely ones in stock this year.
A DVD, Popcorn & Sweet jars
For the evening I choose a Christmas DVD (like Elf or The Sowman), popcorn to munch on and some sweets in a small jar with the names of each child and adult on.
Hot Chocolate, Mugs, Marshmallows & Gingerbread
In my elf letter the elves explain that the children needed to have some hot chocolate before bed to give them energy to open all their present in the morning, I also added some Gingerbread treats. TOP TIP: Either go for china mugs (places like Wilkinson have some great ones) or choose some lovely paper ones. This year i’ll be adding some M&S gingerbread tea cakes (complete with gold sugar topping) and sweet freedom choc shot hot chocolate liquid.
Reindeer Food
This was something my eldest son’s childminder used to do with the kids each year and I thought it was lovely. Homemade reindeer food (aka oats and some sprinkles or coloured sugar in a small bag with a lovely poem tag) is super easy to make. You can either make it before or include the ingredients and instructions to make it in your Elf box.
Santa’s Coming To… Book
There are some fabulous books in Waterstones or online at Amazon with the names of local towns, cities or counties. The idea is this helps get the kids into bed, as santa is on his way adding to your special Christmas Eve routine (you can even recycle these each year).
Personal Gifts
Finally I include some small personal gifts. Small toys for the kids and smellies for the grown ups.
Last But Not least… For Grown Ups Only
Add some bubbly to celebrate Christmas eve (any excuse)