Hey, Go Elf Yourself (and how my family does it rap-style!)

Tech Tuesdays:

You know you’ve done it or at least thought about it.

Yes, everybody does. Elfing yourself! (tee-hee!)

But this year, this holiday pastime has gotten bigger. Much bigger. And the kids are invited to play along with their own version – all year long.

Yes, ElfYourself.com, the most popular FREE holiday eGreeting from OfficeMax.com, with more than 470 million customized elf eGreetings during the past six holiday seasons, is back to turn everyone into dancing Santa’s helpers. New this year, everyone who “elfs” themselves at ElfYourself receives a FREE year-at-a-view calendar featuring their “elfed” photos. Simply upload your photos, click “Let’s Dance” and select the “Get Calendar” link. The site will generate an exclusive promo code that can be redeemed for a custom ElfYourself Calendar at your nearest OfficeMax store. (Calendars retail for $6.99 and are limited to one per customer.)

But that’s not all folks… the guys at OfficeMax.com keep spreading holiday cheer by allowing you to share your custom eGreetings via email, Facebook, Twitter or by embedding it on websites. Or even better, you can get your 60-seconds of “Elf” Fame by participating in a new real-time holiday experience at ElfYourself Live, a dedicated channel featured on YouNow.com where your one-minute video is broadcasted online in front of a live global audience.

The brains behind those JibJab personalized greeting cards, such as Elf Yourself, are now letting your kids star in their own animated bedtime story books. It’s a free iPad app that enables parents to create personalized, animated eBooks that include your child’s name and face in the stories Called “Starring You StoryBooks”.

You can choose from one of many different kids’ books (with one free to start). The next step is to import your child’s face so it’s superimposed on the main character. You can take a photo using your device or select one from your photo gallery. Now you’re ready to flip through the storybook. The main character – which now has your child’s face – will walk, run, swim, cartwheel and dance around the pages. You can check out the StoryBots here —>http://www.storybots.com.