Growing up, one of my favorite holiday ornaments on my parent’s tree was a little elf with red hair and a black & white gingham outfit.

Well, now it seems that elves are popping up everywhere with respect to the holidays. A few that have showed up in my life (from gifts, tv and emails I’ve received):

www.elfyourself.com – a fun interactive website from Office Max, perfect for some holiday time-wasting!
Elf on the Shelf – a kit that allows parents some relief from being the “middleman” between Santa and the kids. There’s an elf (who reports to Santa every night about naughty and nice activities) and a storybook to explain what the elf on the shelf does.
Elf’s Lament – a song on the Barenaked Ladies’ holiday album, with Michael Buble for a special guest. “I make toys, but I’ve got aspirations…”
And then, of course, there’s the movie Elf with Will Ferrell, which you can watch while eating cookies made by the Keebler elves. Or enjoy the extended version of Lord of the Rings and try to repeat the elvish phrases!