Here's one of our recent thrift store finds: a vintage, handmade elf-on-the-shelf. Button eyes, hand-stitched facial features, corduroy pants, and stiff rayon ears make this elf too precious to resist its $4.99 price.
Who made this elf? When? How did it end up at a thrift store? Surely this elf has a story to tell, but that impish grin ain't talkin'. The whole "elf-on-the-shelf" mythology hasn't really been a fixture in our house; I think between gingerbread houses on Thanksgiving night, celebrating Saint Nick's Day (December 6th), watching basically every Christmas special ever made, and just generally being Buddy the Elf bananas all the way through December leaves little room for the EOTS. But this elf -- with his gingham and corduroy -- is more "Happy Holidays" than "Merry Christmas." I think he can hang out all through the year, don't you?
