How to make an Elf Pokemon Card

If your kids are into Pokémon and they have an elf on the shelf, they'll lose their minds if the elf or elves turn up for a Pokémon battle with their very own Pokémon card. In this post I'll show you exactly how you can make your own customised elf Pokémon trading card in a few easy steps.

You can use these same steps to create multiple cards if you have multiple elves, or even Pokémon cards for Barbies or other toys. You can also create personalised Pokémon cards for your kids or whole family, and the best part is it's totally free!

POKEMON TRADING CARDS AND BATTLES

If you're a somewhat out of the loop parent like me then you're probably wondering what are Pokémon trading cards and battles? I mean Pokémon was around when I was a kid too, but aside from watching the cartoon on TV I didn't really get that into it, so my daughter definitely knows a lot more about it then me. So I did some research before creating our elf Pokémon card.

I thought Pokémon cards were just collector cards you store in a folder and Pokémon battles involved holding a Pokémon ball and yelling out Pikachu I choose you or something dramatic along those lines. It turns out Pokémon battles actually take place with trading cards and are much more strategic {and thankfully not as violent as the ones in the cartoons we watched}.

There's lots of different types of Pokémon cards and each character has different attacks and abilities, and there's many different ways to play. To be honest it's too complicated for me to explain completely here, but if you want to know more you can find out all about it on the official Pokémon website. You can get cards at most department stores and larger toy stores as well as Amazon and Amazon AU.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE A DIY ELF POKEMON CARD

Before you can make your own Pokémon card you'll need access to the internet and a device that has a word processing program such as Microsoft Word. You'll also need access to a printer to print out the completed image. To assemble the card you'll need:

• Scissors 
• Glue
• Pokémon card
• Laminator & pouch {optional}

Yes you'll need to sacrifice one real Pokémon card to create the elf card, so make sure you either use a double or one your kids don't really like. Be sure to check it's not a valuable one though before you go ahead and violate it {that'd be a bit awkward}.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO MAKE AN ELF POKEMON TRADING CARD

1. Go to the website My Poke Card which is a personalised Pokémon card generator. Here you can input all the information you'll need to create your own personalised elf Pokémon card and save it to print out.

2. Choose the type of Pokémon your elf will be and enter their name. I chose psychic because they know everything that's going on and travel back to Santa. If this is your first year with the elf there's lots of elf name ideas here.

3. Upload a photo of your elf. This will appear on the card, however if you want to cut out the photo window on the card to have your elf's real face poking through as a costume then you can leave this section blank.

4. Choose the elf's Pokémon evolution stage. Basic, Stage 1 or Stage 2.

5. Choose the elf's attacks and the damage it will cause. You can choose 2 different attacks. This is the part where you can have lots of fun coming up with imaginary or funny attacks and how they do them. 

6. Add an illustrator {optional}. I chose Santa.

7. Add the elf's weakness and resistance. I added fighting as the weakness because they don't like it when kids misbehave and darkness as the resistance because they're not afraid of the dark as that's when they come alive.

8. Save your completed elf Pokémon card. To save your card right click over the mock-up image of your elf card and choose save image as.

9. Open your Pokémon card image in a word document and resize then print. To make your image the same size as a real Pokémon card you'll need to adjust it to 6.3cm x 8.8cm, or 238 pixels x 332 pixels.

10. Glue the printed card onto the front of a real Pokémon card. I used one of my daughters double up cards.

11. Laminate the elf Pokémon card {optional}. I laminated ours to make it look a bit more official as I was worried she would notice the glued on paper layer.

ELF ON THE SHELF IDEAS USING AN ELF POKEMON CARD

Once you've made your card or cards, there's a few different ways you can incorporate them into elf on the shelf set ups. These are 3 relatively easy elf Pokémon ideas.

Elf Pokémon battle with toys

Your elf can have a Pokémon battle with other toys using their own card as their Pokémon for the battle. If you have mini Pokémon figurines add them in too. You could use the mini worlds smallest elf as the elf Pokémon figurine.

Elf Pokémon collection

If your kids have their own Pokémon card collection, set up the elf looking through their Pokémon cards and make the elf Pokémon card obvious in the pile.

Pokémon card costume

The elf can use their Pokémon card as a costume, similar to cardboard boxtume ideas at book week. Simply cut out the photo part of the card and pop the elf's head through the hole.

If you're after more easy elf ideas, funny elf ideas, or super easy elf ideas be sure to join our Facebook group Elfing Around where thousands of parents all over the world share their ideas and advice. If your kids love these elf Pokémon ideas, try some more of these fun elf game ideas using other popular kids games.

Disclosure - This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience, which means I may earn a small commission at no cost to you, should you make a purchase. All images that aren't my own have been used with permission.

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