Man takes Elf on the Shelf tradition to new extreme with festive tattoo

04 December 2023 , 15:27

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Man takes Elf on the Shelf tradition to new extreme with festive tattoo

A man has taken his family Elf on the Shelf tradition to a whole new level after he opted to get a tattoo of a cheeky chappy - and he did it all by himself.

Laurence Young, 36, a tattoo artist decided to keep the Christmas magic alive for himself and his family all year round when he surprised them with a tattoo of an elf on his foot as an ode to the popular Elf on the Shelf tradition.

He inked his own foot with some additional designs, and surprised his children Noah, 11, Tommy, one, and Annalise, two - and they loved the effort he'd gone to.

The dad showed his children his brand new inking (@Forever Young Tattoo Studio/ CATERS NEW)

They were really impressed by it (@Forever Young Tattoo Studio/ CATERS NEW)

Laurence set the elf up on the sofa with a tattoo gun and a note that explained that someone had been inked, causing mystery in his household.

In the brilliant clip, Noah can be seen checking himself over to see whether it's him who has been tattooed, and when he realises it's not, his dad reveals the fresh inking on his foot.

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Laurence, from Gloucestershire, UK, loved his children's reactions and said he has no regrets over his new tattoo. He said: "The initial idea was just to set up the tattoo machine or take pictures of them in the studio. I decided to go one step further and tattoo an elf's face onto my foot.

"I don't regret it at all. It's a memory that I'll cherish forever. My eldest son's reaction made it worth every second. I did it myself. It hurt my back more than anything having to lean over to reach my foot. I pretty much just planned it the night before doing it. I just took a photo of one of the elves' faces and added some little face tattoos to the design.

"It took roughly two and a half to three hours to tattoo, which is a long time for that size, but it was really awkward to do. It's looking to be a tradition I'll be carrying on, so I'll likely be covered in random Christmas tattoos over the next eight or nine years!"

Danielle Kate Wroe