The elf on the shelf moved in this year. I had to accessorize him a bit…
We decided to test «rampenissen», or the elf on a shelf, this Christmas. We bought a set with a door, ladder, door mat, post box, a Christmas tree and a Christmas stocking. No elf doll as we thought that would make Lilly go catatonic. At least Molly the cat would, i suspect…
I did not make the door myself, which I really should have. The other accessories was nice to get, though. Not my cup of tea to make, really. Since no elf doll was on the menu (for the cat), I thought I should accessorize a bit to have something happen during advent. First off: skis. A norse rampenisse need skis!
Pine with cotton binding. Black sharpie on the bottom to ensure easy traversing of even the worst flour-drifts…
Next up: fire wood, stump and an axe!
Ash twig cut and split. 
A small axe and some pieces for splitting 
A bit of paint and the diorama is ready
I cut a small branch (twig) off an ash tree, cut small logs which I split with a chisel. The elf on a shelf uses hardwood, the snob! I used hot glue to make the fire wood pile. I glued the logs to a piece of wood to make the construction easier.
I whittled the axe, glued it into the stump and painted it. Rosemine thought it was a bit strange he had so much fire wood indoors…
The broom was next. Better clean up your mess, mr. Elf!
The broom is just a twig which I stripped the bark off of. I then put a dab of hot glue on the end and stuck it into a piece of goat fur. I cut the broom and trimmed it to shape. I then laced a piece of string around the top. Broom done!
Time for a garden / picknic bench. I made one for our garden, so naturally the elf wanted one too. Got accustomed to a certain lifestyle pretty quick…
The bench is made from small pieces of beech. I ripped them to size, planed them to «4S» (just about) and used the shooting board to trim the lengths. I then used regular wood glue to assemble the parts.
Some people seems to think that wood glue is not strong enough. WROOONG! I hereby present exhibit one:
That’s a Stanley No.7. Without the iron, chip breaker and cap iron – but still. Nuttin’ but good old Casco wood glue holding that thing together.
Oh, and that table top is FLAT! I guarantee it!
My wife made flames for the camp fire from wool – she does needle felting (Instagram page) – and the diorama was ready. That covid-virus-lookalike-thingamabob was something the girls got in a Christmas themed case of DIY goodies. The virus association was rather unintentionally, but what have been seen cannot be unseen….
The last item was a clothes line. Better get the Christmas laundry done in time.
Just a few pieces of beech wood morticed into a piece of wood. I notched the top for some cotton string and epoxied them in place. I then painted the wood and covered the base with some EPS clay. I made two clothes pins and ironed a couple of pieces of fabric to a sharp V and hung them on the lines.
This year, the elf was rather nice. He pained a moustache on Rosemine. She did not fancy that too much, but was a bit amused. It was waaaay more fun when I woke up with cat whiskers painted on my face… Especially Lilly’s expression when she woke up and saw my face, was priceless!
Other pranks was making a «train» of all our shoes, taped a hopscotch pattern on the floor (using MY masking tape!!) and hung some Christmas lights on the ceiling. Might’ve been bevause the girls got the pox two weeks before Christmas. Chicken, not small, thank God! Did pass before Christmas, though.
He also skied across some flour after a night of gingerbread baking and walnut decorating. On the night before Christmas eve (that’s december 24th in Norway), he put out some presents to the girls under the tree. ‘Twas two boxes of Smarties, when all trough the house, just one creature was stirring, it was not the mouse!
Not with Molly the cat in da house, let me tell you..!
Next year there will be more pranks and more accessorizing, I’m sure.
Those whiskers i got though… Leave meowt!