If you’ve Elf Yourself-ed too many times to find it funny anymore, grab your digital photos and head over to FunPunch.com to check out their “You’re the Star” ecards for the holidays and Santa yourself. They’ve got some great free ecards for the holidays that let you add your own photo. Put on a Santa costume and dance with the rocking reindeer (shown here) or don an elf outfit to dance by the fireplace. You can also check out some of the racier options, such as the Xmas stripper cards. (Don’t worry – the animated characters don’t bare it all.)

You’ll need an account to send your cards or post them on Facebook, but it’s free, so have fun!
They’re all free, so go have some fun!

The Elf on the Shelf Gift Set is a cute rhyming storybook with an accompanying Santa’s elf. The elf is a scout for Santa Claus, and every night he returns to the North Pole to report on who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. When the kids wake up, he’s hiding in a new place each morning. The book has been around for a few years, but I recently learned of it and bought the set based on positive reviews on Amazon.

One parent said, “After hearing from friends and reading reviews how great this was, we bit the bullet and got it. I cannot say enough about how cute this was for our two boys (age 6 and 3). They bolted downstairs every morning to find the elf, and the oldest cried when he touched it accidentally because he thought it would lose its magic. The story and elf was the sweetest thing. Note, however, that parents have to remember to move the elf around every night, or come up with creative excuses for why the elf decided to come back from the North Pole into the same spot! .”

Yes, indeed, if you buy the Elf on the Shelf gift set, be prepared to come up with a new hiding spot every night!! This has been my biggest challenge, as the holidays are a busy time already, and remembering to move the elf every night can be difficult if you don’t make a habit of it. But it’s definitely worth it if you want to bring a little Christmas magic into your house.

More on the Elf on the Shelf Gift Set and Other Elf Toys and Books.

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is one of the great classic animated TV specials, and part of its charm is the music. Dr. Seuss himself wrote the Grinch theme song, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” as well as the song the Whos sing on Christmas morning (Fahoo Forays). If you’ve always wanted to sing along as the Grinch is slithering through Whoville and throwing bags out the chimneys for poor Max to catch (well, try to catch), here are the lyrics.

The Grinch Theme Song: “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”

You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You’re as cuddly as a cactus,
You’re as charming as an eel.
Mr. Grinch.

You’re a bad banana
With a greasy black peel.

You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart’s an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders,
You’ve got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch.

I wouldn’t touch you, with a
thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.

You’re a vile one, Mr. Grinch.
You have termites in your smile.
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile.
Mr. Grinch.

Given the choice between the two of you
I’d take the seasick crocodile.

You’re a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
You’re a nasty, wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk.
Mr. Grinch.

The three words that best describe you,
are, and I quote: “Stink. Stank. Stunk.”

You’re a rotter, Mr. Grinch.
You’re the king of sinful sots.
Your heart’s a dead tomato splot
With moldy purple spots,
Mr. Grinch.

Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing
with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable
rubbish imaginable,
Mangled up in tangled up knots.

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch.
With a nauseous super-naus.
You’re a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse.
Mr. Grinch.

You’re a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich
With arsenic sauce.

Copyright © 1957, Dr. Seuss

Americans send about 2.1 billion cards during the holidays, and most of them end up in the trash after the holidays. Here are some ideas for reusing your old cards.

1. Bookmarks – This is an easy craft that’s great for readers. Simply cut your old cards into long strips about one to two inches wide and use them to keep your place in your favorite book.

2. Gift tags – Probably one of the most useful ideas, and it will save you money next holiday season. Just cut square or rectangle shapes from your old cards, and then fold them to use as gift tags.

3. Post cards – Cut off the picture side of the card and draw a line down the blank back to use it as a postcard. Write your message on the left and address on the right.

4. Dinner placecards – If you host the big family dinner every year, this is a great idea for table place cards. Cut off and discard the back portion of the cards and cut the picture on the front into a rectangle. Then fold that in half to create a placecard.

5. Christmas placemats – Kids will have fun with this one! Cut pictures from your cards into fun shapes and arrange them, collage-style, on a sheet of 11×17″ paper, then laminate.

6. Christmas tree ornaments – Cut a picture from one of your holiday cards, punch a hole in the top, put a string through it and use it as an ornament on the tree.

7. Christmas tree spiral ornament – First cut the card into a circle. Then turn it into a spiral by cutting from the outside of the circle and working your way in. Then pull the spiral apart slightly and put a hole and string in the top to hang it three-dimensionally on the tree.

8. Scrapbooking – No explanation really needed! Simply cut out pictures from your holiday cards and use for scrapbooking projects.

9. New cards – This is a fun way to reuse your cards the next year. Go to a crafts store and buy blank cards. Then cut out some pictures from the cards you receive this year and past them on the blank cards to create cards for the next year.

10. Jigsaw puzzle game – Cut 5 -6 cards into several pieces, mix them all together, and have the kids try to put them back together.

Craft ideas from Where to Buy Recycled Christmas Cards… and What to Do with the Old Ones on Squidoo