Hack your Elf (on a Shelf)

OK, so I've had this elf a total of 3 almost four days. After I tried to sit her on the Noah's Ark to only have her straddle the rainbow with a toucan behind her, I thought this nonsense. So I decided I'd have to hack my elf. Thank goodness I had pinned this tutorial on Pinterest from Dirty Diaper Laundry. This was an easy project, though like the author of the tutorial, I also took way more time than necessary looking for my seam ripper, and needle nose pliers. I just used some flat looking pliers. They worked fine. One thing I will say is that if you do this, you should make a bigger swirl/rounded edge on the ends of the wire. You should do this especially where your elf's bum is. I'm paranoid that my wire is going to poke through the thin/cheap felt. I also gave Joy a heart on her collar. You can embroider something on her collar also.
I didn't add any velcro, I may do that later if I can find mine. I just don't want to go out and buy any.

I'll show you what I did, but really the tutorial linked above is tons better. I'm so glad I did this, I think it will help a lot with posing and what not. Am I ready for an Ikea Hack? Erm. No.

Tutorial to help make your elf easier to pose

 Floral wire- I used 12 gauge

wire cutters

pliers

needle 

thread

Heart button if you want to add one or embroidery floss and needle

Snip the threads off of the tip of your elf's arms and feet. Just a few stitches, it won't take much to get the wire up there.

Bend the wire so it doesn't poke through the fabric on your elf. Make a bigger swirl for the ends of the legs that are closer to your elf's bottom, it will be more stable that way.

Slip the wire into the arm/leg hole. Measure and cut off the end of the wire to fit. Maker sure you bend the tip.
Sew the opening back up.

Repeat on all four limbs.

Add decoration to your elf's collar if desired.

This is how I bent the ends of the wire. Like I said, for the end of the wire that is closest to your elf's bottom a bigger swirl would be better. Maybe it's just our elf but it seems like the material is thin and it could poke through.
 More Christmas Angel/Elf on the Shelf posts HERE.
More pictures HERE.