My house nearly burned down after failed Elf on the Shelf Christmas prank – I'm issuing an urgent warning to all parents | The Sun
A MUM has issued an urgent Christmas warning after an Elf on the Shelf prank went badly wrong and almost burned her house down.
Max Oliver, 27, was horrified when she found the plastic toy charred and melted after it caught fire while she and her partner set up a festive scene for son Charlie.
Max, from Cornwall, and her partner scrambled out of bed just 15 minutes after putting the elf in the living room as the acrid smell of burning plastic wafted through the house.
Terrified that the house was on fire, the couple searched desperately for the source of the smell, before Max noticed the toy's colourful stocking hanging down from the ceiling lamp.
Initially relieved, she began to laugh hysterically when she noticed the doll's face
The elf had been sitting next to the hot bulb of the lamp, leaving it charred and melted, with its head caved in.
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Max said: "It wasn't just melted – it was cremated – it was black. I was in hysterics, I thought it was absolutely hysterical.
"My partner was a bit worried there was a fire in the house then he saw the funny side. We were both creased up and it was one of those funny things.
"I instantly knew it was the elf that had melted but I didn't know it'd be melted that badly."
The light had been switched off when her boyfriend placed the elf there, but had been on all day and the bulb was white hot.
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The couple soon realised that, as funny as they found the mishap, Charlie, then five, would be far less amused.
Max added: "It was about two weeks before Christmas, we thought we couldn't show him it as it'd scar him for life."
Instead, they came up with a Christmassy solution which allowed them to switch out the destroyed elf with an identical replacement.
Max explained: "We hid it under the sink and wrote a note from the elf to say 'I had to help Santa in the toy shop – I'll be back in a couple of days'.
"I then went around trying to find a new elf but because it was a week or two before Christmas, nowhere had any elves left.
Thankfully she was able to find one and the little boy found what as far as he knew was the same elf in the Christmas tree, with a note thanking him for being patient with Santa.
The relieved mum said: "The new elf has survived the last couple of years and there's been no more mishaps since then."
The old elf has stayed under the sink and will apparently be put in a memory box to stay in the house forever.
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