Elf on the Shelf Ideas: 50 Creative Ideas for Secret Santa Pranks

For almost a decade, the Elf on the Shelf has become a Christmas tradition enjoyed by millions of families each year. And somehow, we think this tradition fits well with what's important to us urban gardeners: creativity, humor, DIY ideas, and shared moments. As part of our DIY Advent calendar, we've been collecting ideas as a team about how the elf might use our partners' products. Highly recommended! 🤩

Pssst, it's me, your city gardener elf. I've secretly created a 10% coupon code for you: " X8HEW " – but shhh! With it, you can buy creative Secret Santa gifts and even save money. But don't tell Torge... 😬

The elf makes a snow angel with colorful sprinkles. — The elf makes a snow angel. Works with sprinkles, flour, oatmeal, and more.

The elf holds a bundle of incense in front of a Halloween pumpkin like a joint — The elf encourages a stuffed animal, for example, to smoke. The cigarette can be made of paper or, as here, you can use an incense stick.

The elf mixes vegetable seeds as muesli — The elf didn't quite understand the thing about the seeds :)

The Elf on the Shelf fills cookies with mustard — The elf sprinkles mustard into cookies, doughnuts, or muffins. It works especially well if you baked the day before!

The elf kidnaps a stuffed animal and writes a blackmail letter — The elf has kidnapped the children's favorite stuffed animal and written a blackmail note.

The elf buries another elf — Here, the elf buries his rival. This also works with stuffed animals, of course.

The elf cuts down the Christmas tree with an axe — The elf cuts down a small fir tree. This also works well with a real fir tree and a small saw.

The elf inhales cinnamon spice through his nose — The elf inhales spices through his nose. More suitable for adults :)

The elf proposes marriage to a doll — Ever since the Super Mario movie, we know that the bad guy always loves the princess. Here, the elf proposes to the princess.

Wichtel has created a voucher code — Pssst, it's me, your city gardener elf. I've secretly created a 10% coupon code for you: " X8HEW " – but shhh!

The elf steals the children's diamonds — The elf is caught stealing jewelry and diamonds. Of course, he can also plunder the children's piggy banks.

The elf fishes in the aquarium — Today we're having goldfish for breakfast. The elf is fishing in the aquarium.

The elf shoots the children's favorite stuffed animal to the moon — And once again the children's favorite cuddly toy has to suffer...this time the elf shoots it to the moon.

The elf shoots paper balls at a mirror with a straw.

The elf drowns his competitor in oatmeal — the elf drowns a stuffed animal or another elf in oatmeal.

The elf smashes chocolates with a hammer — The elf breaks chocolates or other sweets with a hammer.

The Elf on the Shelf poops in a coffee grinder — Even elves have to be big sometimes. For example, in a coffee grinder, a piggy bank, or your children's favorite bowl.

The elf annoys the cat — After the elf has already caught a goldfish, he now annoys the cat. Please recreate this with a stuffed cat!

The elf as a sponsor gives you a tree sponsorship — The elf makes you an offer you can't refuse. In this case, a tree sponsorship :)

The elf bakes a stick bread over a candle — The elf bakes himself a stick bread over a candle. A small sausage also works well.

The elf exchanges the pills in a pill box for sweets — The elf exchanges medicines in a pill box for sweets.

The elf is doing wellness in a bubble bath — Even a gnome needs to relax after all that mischief. Here, the elf is taking a glittery bubble bath in the bathroom.

The elf saws the Advent candle into 2 parts — The elf uses a small saw to cut a candle from the Advent wreath in half.

The elf swaps toothpaste for hand cream — The elf is relabeling hand cream as toothpaste. Please don't fall for it :)

The elf washes up — Well-intentioned, but...the elf floods the kitchen while washing up.

The elf spreads peanut butter on a doorknob — The elf smears peanut butter or something similar on a doorknob.

The elf bowls a snowman — The elf bowls over a marshmallow snowman with candy.

The elf refines a freshly tapped beer with mulled wine spices. It also works with cocoa and chili powder, for example.

The elf slides across the living room floor on two soaps.

The elf smears a parent's face with lipstick — The elf makes up a parent with lipstick or makeup.

A Christmas elf uses a paper pot press to turn a diary into seed pots — The elf presses seed pots out of the pages of a diary. It also works well with pages from pocket calendars :)

A Christmas elf sits in a hallway and sticks firecrackers under shoes — Stick firecrackers under shoes. Other great places include under the toilet seat or in door cracks!

A gnome sits on the street and collects money in various cans for grass, beer or food — The elf tries his hand at being a punk and collects money for various pleasures.

A Christmas elf walks across parquet floor with 2 stamps on his feet — The elf has strapped a stamp to each of his feet as stilts and is walking on them across the parquet floor in the living room.

The elf sits on the table and makes foam on a cappuccino with shower foam — Mmmm... delicious! The elf made a delicious cappuccino with foam.

A Christmas elf sits in the kitchen and makes marshmallows from a kitchen sponge — The elf makes marshmallows from an old kitchen sponge and munches the real Christmas trees himself.

A gnome sits on a stool in the kitchen and plays basketball with honey chocolates — The Christmas elf sits on a stool in the kitchen and plays basketball with honey chocolates.

The Christmas elf is sitting on a table leaning against a teapot and has on a candle 2025 is better not inserted — 2025 will be better! Or will it? Unfortunately, the elf defaced this candle.

The elf sits on a workbench and refills a bottle of jojoba oil with WD40 — "Oil is oil," thinks the elf and refills the jojoba oil with WD-40.

A gnome in a red suit sits in front of a microwave with popcorn, a tape measure, a heating pad, and popcorn corn. He holds the tape measure taut and watches intently. — The elf fills a hand warmer with popcorn. It makes a firework display...

A gnome in a red suit lies on the floor, surrounded by chocolate crumbs and an opened box of chocolates. He looks as if he's been snacking a lot. — The greedy elf ate all the chocolate!

A gnome with a hair clipper shaves a stuffed sheep and holds a bottle of essential oil. — The elf shaves a stuffed animal.

A gnome sits in a box full of colorful flower seed balls and snacks on licorice from a jar. — The elf is snacking on licorice.

A gnome sits on a plate, topping a hot dog with pickles, ketchup, and other ingredients. Various hot dog ingredients are in the background. — Here, the elf swaps licorice balls for flower marbles. It tastes kind of earthy!

A gnome sits at a table full of black cookies and generously spreads cream from a small tin on the cookies. — The Christmas elf spreads deodorant cream on Oreo cookies.

A gnome sits on an artificial lawn next to a can of 'Nasty Meadow' and a packet of vegetable seeds while pouring seeds out of a packet. — Weeds are growing here instead of tomatoes? There must have been a gnome involved.

Where does the Elf on the Shelf come from?

The Elf on the Shelf tradition, also known in German as "Wichtel auf dem Regal," is a Christmas tradition that originated in the United States . The tradition was popularized by a children's book of the same name by Carol V. Aebersold and her daughter Chanda A. Bell in 2005. The book tells the story of an elf sent by Santa Claus to children's homes to monitor their behavior during the Christmas season.

The basic idea behind Elf on the Shelf is that the elf, who is given a name (in our house, she's called "Luana") , finds a different place in the house each day for the children to discover. The elves are known to "report back to Santa" by returning to him each evening and reporting on the children's actions and behavior. The idea is that the elf is a playful way to encourage children to behave well, especially during the Christmas season.

Parents are often encouraged to use their creativity and place the elf in different locations around the house . Sometimes parents are even encouraged to leave little notes or gifts from the elf to add to the magic and excitement of the holiday season.

The tradition has evolved over the years and has become a beloved tradition in many families. In some households, the elf becomes an integral part of Christmas preparations, creating a festive atmosphere. Social media has also helped the tradition become widespread, as parents often share photos of the creative elf poses they have created for their children. Increasingly, the elf also plays little pranks, mischief, and mischief.

Although Elf on the Shelf does not have a long historical tradition, it has found a permanent place in many families in a relatively short time and has become a festive element of the Christmas season.

Why did we urban gardeners concern ourselves with this?

We urban gardeners are big fans of homemade Advent calendars. This year, for the second time, we've teamed up with more than 30 other young brands to select 100 creative gifts for DIY Advent calendars , which you can buy in our online shop. But hey, I've already told you all this before, so why waste my fingers typing here?