LOVE it or hate it, it's that time of the year again – Elf on the Shelf is back.
While the little sneaky elves – who hide around the house ready to report back to the North Pole with their family's activities – delight children, admittedly it can become a struggle to think up creative set ups every single year.
Have no fear though – a problem shared is a problem halved.
Here Elf on the Shelf pro Annabel, from London, shares some of the quick, easy and fun set ups she's created for her two kids, seven and five, over the last three years…
'I'm known as Mrs Elf on the Shelf'
As with many families, the elves have become a tradition in Annabel's house.
She says: "It's such a fun family activity, the kids love running around the house and finding props from everyday objects to make scenes.
"When they have friends over around Christmas we set them challenges to come up with different scenes, I'm now known as 'Mrs Elf on the Shelf' to my kids' friends!"
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Having a ball
You don't have to go mad with the set up to provide hours of fun either.
Annabel created this rainbow ball pit in minutes.
She says: "This was our favourite – it was so easy to do and looks great!
It only took a couple of mins to fill a cup up with jelly beans and we laughed for hours about this one."
To personalise it, you could switch jelly beans for your kids' favourite sweets, like skittles or smarties, and could add a slide for extra brownie points.
Work with what you have
You don't have to spend a fortune either.
Annabel says: "Use what you already have at home – kids toys, crafts, food… it's amazing how you can turn everyday objects into a Christmas scene.
"For this balloon bubble bath, we didn't have any balloons but found some polystyrene balls in our craft box.
"This one was so easy and I think it looks so good."
"The kids are so excited each year when we get the Christmas stuff out and see the elves as they know how much fun we have.
"We pretend they have been sleeping all year and now ready to cause mischief!"
Top Trumps
If stuck for inspo, Annabel recommends looking on social media for ideas – and there are plenty of Elf On A Shelf Facebook groups with thousands of parents and guardians sharing their ideas.
She says: "I also got the Top Trumps pack [available on Amazon] to help me come up with ideas – there are 30 fun scenes.
"The kids love getting cards then trying to recreate what is on there, it's then such a fun family game to play.
"Every time we play they talk about the time we did that scene."
Toilet humour
Some set ups can become fun game activities for the family too, like this 'North Roly Polies' idea.
All it requires are your elves, and two loo rolls.
The first person to get their elf to the bottom of the stairs wins!
Create it your 'elves
Still stuck? Annabel adds: "Sometimes I do a scene at night so when the kids wake up, it puts a smile on their faces before school, which is a great start to the day!
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"Also visiting shops with Christmas decorations up – we always think how we could recreate it with our elves.
"When we have visitors over to the house we ask them to create something for us – people have so many great ideas."
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