Elf on the Shelf herself: Mom spreads Christmas cheer with costumed photos
Despite her shyness, Sheri Gillam says she's pleased her posts are making people happy
It's certainly not your typical Elf on the Shelf.
One Bonavista, N.L., woman is taking the Christmas craze a step further by dressing up in a costume and taking daily photos of herself getting into all sorts of mischief.
Sheri Gillam first put on the elf costume last Christmas, when she was asked to play a role in a skit at her Anglican church.
The night before the skit she tried the suit on at home so her then-two-year-old son could get familiar seeing her in it and not be scared.
It's hard, I'm not as small as that little Elf on the Shelf doll.- Sheri Gillam
Spontaneously, she decided to get in her son's crib with the costume on for a photo, which then made the rounds on Facebook.
This whole year, people kept asking her if she was going to wear the costume for Christmas.
"I said, 'I think I'm going to do this again,'' Gillam told the CBC Radio's Central Morning.
Like the Elf on the Shelf toy phenomenon, Gillam decided this year she would pose in a different mischievous situation each day and share a photo on social media.
She made her debut post this year by posing on the roof of her house.
Other photos so far include eating ice cream in the local grocery store freezer, having hockey pucks shot at her in a goalie net at the stadium, and napping in a bed at a furniture store.
Her husband takes the photos and, along with her mother and friends, helps her come up with new ideas for where to pose next.
"They say, 'maybe you should try this, maybe you should try that, this would be a good one,'" she said.
"It's hard, I'm not as small as that little Elf on the Shelf doll."
It's a tradition that seems to make people happy, Gillam said, and even though she's usually a reserved person she's willing to put herself out there to make others smile during the holidays.
"Some people this time of year, it's hard for them, so to have people there getting a laugh out of it, wondering what's happening next — if it can take their mind off of it for even a minute, it's worth it for me."
Check out some more of Gillam's real life Elf on the Shelf photos below:
With files from Central Morning Show