meet benson...

our elf on the shelf.

we recently said goodbye to him, but the girls wanted me to share all of his adventures.

it all started with the t.v. special. after watching it, the girls were hooked. they wanted an elf. they begged for an elf. they shouted to santa to send them one. only problem was, it was already december 2nd. i was in a bit of a bind.

i called my mother-in-law and asked if she had a spare elf that we could adopt. luckily, she did.

so, on december 4th, we woke up to this.

we unwrapped the scroll to find a note explaining benson's tardiness.

the girls were ecstatic! they couldn't wait to get to bed the first night (yay me!). and, best of all? they jumped right out of bed the next morning (yay me, again!) to see where benson was.

apparently, he worked up a sweat during his trip to and from the north pole and needed a bath.

in cheerios.
he popped up all over the house. sometimes he was just relaxing...or watching the girls. but most of the time, he was getting into some sort of mischief.

here are some of our favorite benson adventures.

just hanging out.

woke up to this note...slightly creepy, i must admit.

playing cards with barbie.

reindeer rides.

did you know they wrapped presents? i didn't...if i did, he would have done a lot more than this one small gift!

hoodlum!

okay...so benson almost lost his powers when we found him in the freezer. according to the story, if a human touches an elf, they will lose their powers. the girls had searched the house high and low and couldn't find benson anywhere. when i opened the freezer to grab my lunch, i found him. eating my ice cream. that i don't share with anyone. the girls watched me closely to make sure i didn't snatch the spoon out of his hands.

searching for treasure.

schmooozing the ladies.

making snowman portraits.

jaden left a note for benson to take his artwork home. this is what he left for her.

sleepover in the girls' room.

trying to eat our gingerbread houses.

lighting the girls' christmas tree.

conspiring to get frosty out of the snow globe.

sugar-loading for his trip back home.

i think benson was a hit. the girls were disappointed to see him go. (but rather excited to find the goodbye note he left them when santa picked him up christmas eve.)

i can't wait to see what he gets into next year.

holiday home tour...

warning...alert, alert. this post if photo-heavy!

i love christmas and i'm not ashamed to show it...lol!

frame wall number 2. this wall only took about 3 years to come to fruition. we did our first frame wall several years ago, and i finally just jumped in one day this summer and made my hubby help me put it up!

for the holidays, we pop different decorations into the empty frames.

papier mache numbers from hobby lobby...

still debating on whether i want to add a border of silver glass glitter around the front edge of each...thoughts?

this is frame wall number 1.


santa's key. since we live in a tiny house with no fireplace, we have to have an alternative for santa to get in. each christmas eve, the girls hang the key on the outside of the front screen door for santa to use. try as they might, the girls can't get the key to fit in the front door lock...only santa and his magic can make that work.

vintage christmas light reflectors...

my santa collection...

sometimes, i sit and admire the tree with just the lights...beauty.

my elves...




our stockings...

this glass knob hanging "shelf" thing-a-ma-jig has served us well over the years. it's perfect for the 4 of us.

each girl has a rhinestone initial clipped to their stocking for easy identification and no arguing about who's is who's.

yep...getting close!! (i think by the time this posts, it will be about 28 days to go...)

a bunch of random stockings i've collected. the onlyone that actually belongs to me is the "aja" stocking. you can't see them in the pic, but the 2 stockings on the end say "shawn" and "steven". do i know shawn and steven? nope...sure don't. but their stockings were too cool to pass up.

christmas card holder...



bedroom...



and finally, i had to include these pics. we have these large, heavy, cracked-glass ornaments that i don't put out every year. my hubby seems to like them, and told me that he wanted them out this year. i told him he had to find something to do with them.

so...he decided to go all martha stewart and make some sort of arrangement with the balls and some leftover floral picks.

i give him points for effort...

holiday home tour...

sneak peeks...

if you know me at all, you know that i am absolutely, positively, one million percent, head over heels, madly in love with christmas.

i adore it! it is by far my favorite time of year. i always put my decor out early (this year it was 2 weeks ago...lol) and i savor it throughout the holiday season.

here are a few sneaks of what you'll find around my house.

check back this weekend for the full post.