Well it seems that I couldn’t help but come up with a few new redneck Elf on the Shelf ideas.
You see, my wife Dawn had been working all fall on her 35 NEW Elf on the Shelf ideas (each with a Dollar Tree prop–great “practical” ideas if you want to check it out). So we set our Christmas tree up in October (which is WAY too early if you ask me) and after the kids went to bed, all she seemed to talk about were her new Elf on the Shelf ideas.
And they’re great, don’t get me wrong, but I’d like to think of our Elf on the Shelf as more of a mans man. So the wheels started turning (no pun intended) and I came up a few ideas of my own.
Elf on the Shelf Idea 1: Deer Slayer
This idea stems from my youth. Every year my 12 uncles would deer hunt together. Now I’m out deer hunting yearly. I thought if my elf on the shelf was a deer hunter, my boys would love it!
Now I do have to say that I helped our elf out quite a bit. I helped him build his deer stand and get his rifle cleaned. But as for the spot in our tree for his deer stand, that was all left up to him. And a good thing too…
Because when we came down the next morning he had gotten one! I think you’d call him a six point buck!
As you can imagine, he was pretty proud of himself and had me take these pictures to post on Facebook.
I’m excited to see what he’ll have it made into. Can never have too much venison in the freezer to get through the winter. And now that I think about it, I may need to try his stand next year…
Elf on the Shelf Idea 2: Fish Slayer
This is probably my favorite. I thought to myself. I’ve seen lots of Elf on the Shelfs fishing for gold fish or fishing in the sink or frozen gold fish in the freezer. But never ice fishing in your tub, and especially not with real fish.
Alright. I know this one is very impractical but we had so much fun doing it. This is actually round two of trying to get a floating block of ice. The first block of ice I made cracked into many pieces when I set it into the tub of cold water.
I cut up small round dowels and hot glued them together and added a little flag to make is look like a tip up fishing pole.
I told my wife that he HAD to be sitting on a “5 gallon” bucket and have another bucket with fish that he had caught.
* Please note: no animals were harmed in the making of these Elf on the Shelf ideas. Sort of.
Elf on the Shelf Idea 3: Not my Elf
I don’t know about you, but when I see those other Elf on the Shelf ideas with him taped to the wall, I cringe. Like I mentioned before, we have a man elf, not some woose who can’t defend himself, so in this scene Elf is taking control of the situation.
He’s dressed for battle and taking the enemy down as he’s pulled to safety. A handful of army guys could never get our elf taped to the wall.
Quite frankly I don’t understand women’s fascination with the Dollar Store, but if you do want to re-create this scene, you can find everything there. (Now that I’ve been there once this year I hope to not got back for at least two more).
Elf on the Shelf Idea 4: Truck & Tractor Pull
Oh yeah! There’s nothing like a good truck and tractor pull! (Although to be clear, I told Elf and my boys that if I ever, ever, ever catch them dumping dirt on our floor again they will be in HUGE trouble ;)
And of course our Elf on the Shelf is on the John Deere. I married into a John Deere family and would never dream of representing anything else now ;)
It was nice to see such a large crowd come out today, it was good weather for it.
Elf ended up winning and says he’ll be back again next year (we’ll see).
Elf on the Shelf Idea 5: Elf’s Auto Shop
This one probably fits my personality the most and my boys. We are constantly working on trucks or gear head things of some kind. So why wouldn’t our Elf on the Shelf break one toy to improve another? I actually broke the plastic wheels off of the truck, reusing the axels and pressed on the John Deere Gator mud tires onto it. My boys think it’s their coolest truck!
As for Elf’s “costume”, that was all my wife. I mentioned she’s from a John Deere family and their other affinity is for Ford. After awhile she eventually won me over, too, what we don’t do for love. She also added the black washable paint to his face to look like grease.
And I’m not sure if it is just around our shop, or if this happens other places, too, but the skid loader is often used in place of jacks. Looks like our Elf on the Shelf does that, too.
He didn’t quite have her finished up when they kids came down in the morning, so we had to lend a hand. Although I need to be careful, I’m afraid I’m going to come home and they’ll be swapping out tires on their other toys, too.
Although, if they’re always going up a size, a guess there’s no harm in that (as long as there’s clearance).
I hope you enjoyed these ideas, we sure had fun putting them together and we’d love to hear what manly activities your elf is up to, too!
Merry Christmas!
Tom
Tom’s Bright Ideas
MORE New Elf on the Shelf Ideas:
If you have another minute, be sure to check out Dawn’s post 35 New Elf on the Shelf Ideas (each with a Dollar Tree prop), they’re actually really clever ideas!
AND, if you’re Elf on the Shelf gets stuck in a poor place where he can’t stay all day (like an ice block in the middle of the bathtub!), you’ll definitely need one of these! The Magic Elf on the Shelf Moving Glove:
Plus, if you’re running short on time, you’ll love these ideas! Free printable hiding clues:
Oh, and this has nothing to do with Elf on the Shelf, but is really popular right now…(I like that the kids take these home to make the mess at their own house instead of ours! ;) DIY Gingerbread House Kits:
And of course, we’d appreciate it if you shared our Redneck Elf on the Shelf ideas, thank you in advance!:
