Elf Mail: Bringing the Nativity Story to the North Pole

Sorry if my blog has seemed abandoned lately, we've been super busy this year!

               So, I was walking through my local Dollar Tree yesterday when I saw a bunch of little Christmas themed mailboxes lined on the top shelf. I thought they were adorable, so naturally I put one in my cart.

Now, let me interrupt myself in order to apologize to all retail workers out there. I've worked in retail and I know how irritating this is, but I can’t quit this awful habit: I’m a cart-filler. You know, that person who puts everything in their cart as they are walking through the store, then notices they have way too much stuff….then you see them standing in a random isle weeding through their basket, sticking things that are not of priority on a random shelf...I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I really try not to do it.  If it makes you feel better, I have never stuck a frozen food item next to boxed mac and cheese.

Anyway, back to my story. As I was strolling through the Dollar Tree, I stumbled on some plush elves sitting on an end cap. And a light bulb went off above my head…and I was so excited about it I could have jumped through the roof. Elf on the Shelf is pretty huge. I mean, there is a BIG chance that if you have kids, you participate in Elf on the Shelf. If not, you are probably like me. And if you are like me, you could possibly want to jump through the roof over this idea, too!

My grand idea was: Elf Mail. Instead of thinking of crazy scenarios to put my little plush elf in, I was going to take a much more simple approach…tiny letters dropped off every night. These letters are written by “Christmas Elves” who love to tell the Christmas Story. You see, I rack my brain so much about how to tell the Nativity story to my kids. They are 4 and 2 and they listen like they are 4 and 2. But, whenever Santa or the North Pole is mentioned, they go flying into a room and are planted on their bottoms, all ears ready to hear what I have to say. I guess this is a natural reaction…there is just something about that magic that make kids crave it. So, as a mother I will use that to my advantage to tell these kids why we celebrate Christmas.

So this is where we introduce Holly, our $1.00 Christmas elf. (Sorry for the quality of the photo.) She is the girls newest pin pal, due to good behavior. Today was their first letter from Holly. She simply introduced herself on night one. Holly will be breaking the nativity story up into several letters, along with the history of the candy cane (complete with mini candy canes) and the importance of gift giving. I’m thinking small doodles will be some filler days to bring us all the way to Christmas Eve. Then, on Christmas Eve morning our Holly is going to drop off a package with Christmas jammies and a Christmas book inside. I’m also considering a Happy Birthday Balloon for Jesus, since my 4 year old keeps talking about it.  

What you'll need:
-1 mailbox (found at Dollar Store)
-1 elf (optional. we took a picture of the elf putting the letter into the mailbox and the kids loved it.)

-A small notepad 

-Scrapbook paper for tiny envelopes.There is a simple tutorial on how to make them: here. Just shrink the square down so it will fit inside your mail box. 

-The nativity story. My favorite children's version is in the Jesus Story Book bible. You can even find the animated story on Youtube. It's titled "He's Here" and "Light of the Whole World",,,,You can also find cute stories on Pinterest. 

all in all, the picture above was all I needed. 

Ideas to write about: 

1. Elf introductions, including names and jobs they may have. 

2. Why they are writing to the kids. My reason was a simple one liner: "I am a Christmas Elf who loves to write about, well, Christmas!"
3. The nativity story. (this is probably going to be broken down into about 5-6 at least 6 letters.)

4. Singing Angels/Christmas Carols

5. Shepherds/Candy Canes

6. Jesus' Birthday/Giving Gifts 

7. The Christmas Star

8. Three Wise Men/Receiving Gifts

9. Replies to your kids questions. Penelope wrote Holly a letter immediately after she received her first one. 

10. Fun Christmas doodles. 

You know your kids and what you want to highlight this Christmas, so be creative! If you decided to do something like this, I would love to hear your ideas as well! Merry Christmas!!!