Busy Philipps is on a mission to find her elves, as they are a long way from the North Pole, and even further from her shelf.
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“I didn’t know if my children had aged out of elves, and I thought that maybe they had, and we’re still sort of in transition housing wise because there’s construction. … And I accidentally sent the elves to storage,” Philipps, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her holiday collection with Amazon Handmade on Monday, November 29. “No joke. And two days ago, Cricket was like, ‘So yeah, really excited for the elves to come back out. When do the elves show up?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God.’”
The Girls5eva star called her assistant for backup and hopes that the elves are found sooner than later. “I can’t just go buy new elves. They’re going to know. We’ve had the same elves since Birdie was a baby. So we’re trying to locate the elves right now in a storage unit,” she explained. “It’s going to take a Christmas miracle.”
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She added: “When Birdie started to get to the age where they were kind of aware that some of the magic of Christmas was maybe done by other adults, I really made it a point to talk to Birdie about what magic is and what it means, and that people can be responsible for creating magic in other people’s lives. It doesn’t make it any less special. It doesn’t have to be supernatural in order for it to be real.”
The Dawson’s Creek alum has gotten into the Elf on the Shelf spirit over the years, often showing her mischievous elves getting into trouble via Instagram.
Philipps shares Cricket, 13, and Birdie, 8, with husband Marc Silverstein. This holiday season, the family will be visiting the actress’ mom in Arizona — and her home will most likely be decked out with Snowbabies.
“They are, like, little porcelain figurines. And they look like these little babies wearing white snowsuits and they have wings and they do different things. And my mother has somewhat of a Snowbaby obsession. My mom, I think, legitimately has 300 Snowbabies and turns my parents’ house into a Winter Wonderland,” she explained to Us. “I know it’s wild. It’s something that when I was younger, I was real eye-rolly about, and now I love it. So I really have embraced the Snowbabies. And my kids look so forward to going back to where my parents are and seeing Snowbabies. It’s been a couple of years … I don’t know what’s changed. We don’t know. So we’re really looking forward. We’re going to see my family for Christmas and especially Cricket is like, ‘I can’t wait to see those Snowbabies!’”
But before hitting the road, the Cougar Town alum is partnering with Amazon Handmade to curate an exclusive collection of holiday items. One of her favorites is Amsha, an ethically-made accessories and home goods company based in Portland, Oregon, and East Africa.
“Anyone who knows me knows I’m, like, an insane basket person. I can’t get enough baskets,” Philipps told Us. “I don’t know when it started, but all I know is that my obsession is very real and I am very into it. So Amsha’s just a really cool company. … One thing that I love about them is that they create opportunities, they work with six different female-run co-ops in Africa and other artisans, and they really give a lot of opportunities. And the baskets are beautiful. I have things to put my masks in. I have things to put my car keys in and my sunglasses. And they also are just so gorgeous that you can put them in the middle of your table or on the wall if you want to.”
Philipps is also a fan of the small business KathyPhantastic. Artist Kathy Phan is based in Austin, Texas, and specializes in pet portraits, illustrations and lettering. “She makes cute stickers, which are big in my household to decorate water bottles,” Philipps added. “She’s doing a custom sticker of Tina, our dog. Very exciting for me, along with some of my other favorite things like margaritas and queso and chips. I use a water bottle at work, a refillable water bottle, and everybody knows which one is mine cause it looks like a teenager’s!”
Other Makers in Philipps’ collection includes Fairmont & Grove Paper Co., The Yarn Kitchen and T. Victoria.
