Turn Yourself Into...


Elf yourself! Become an M&M. Turn yourself into a Simpsons character or South Park character. Or star in your own animated e-card. There are plenty of ways to have fun (and waste time!) online. Find out about popular sites and then create your own virtual alter ego online.


Turn Yourself Into an Elf


Become an elf and impress your friends with your dance skills


Elf Yourself is an extremely popular site that is only available during the Christmas holidays, and if you haven't discovered it yet, you must be living on an island or in a cave without Internet access. Sponsored by Office Max, the site allows you to upload one to five photos and become a dancing elf. This year, the site has added two new options - a hip hop dance and singing elves - in addition to the original dance and two from last year (the country and disco dances). As with last year, you can also download the video for a nominal fee, or buy mugs, mousepads, cards and other items featuring your "elf self."

JibJab, which powers the site, also offers other
animated Christmas cards and Sendables Starring You! video e-cards to which you can add your own photos.



Elf Yourself Video


An example of one family's Elf Yourself video

If you haven't seen an Elf Yourself video, check out the example below. This is the original dance offered on the site. This year you can also select a disco, country or Charleston version.


var YouTube9449983 = function() {
return {
insert_video: function(vid) {
var vid_el = jQuery('#yt_player_9449983');
var html = '';

html += '';
html += '';
html += '';
html += '';
html += '';
html += '';

vid_el.html(html);
},

swap: function(vid) {
var meta_el = jQuery('#yt_meta_9449983');
var autoplay_url = vid.media_url + '&autoplay=1';

// swap video
this.insert_video(autoplay_url);

// swap meta data
jQuery.post('/utility/youtube_meta', {id: vid.id}, function(res) {
jQuery(meta_el).html(res);
});
},

toggleInfo: function(anchor, vis) {

}
}
}();




Elf Yourself Funny Christmas Video
by oneadventure1 | video info

10 ratings | 35,468 views
Our Elf Yourself video 2008.

curated content from YouTube


Photos of Dancing Elves


Because watching the video alone just isn't fun enough



Creating and sending an Elf Yourself video doesn't capture the image for eternity, so many people have taken screen shots and uploaded the photos to Flickr. There's even an Elf Yourself Flickr group. Check out the pics below for some images of those who have already transformed into dancing elves.
ElfYourSelf 2009 - A...

ElfYourself

holiday jib jabberis...

Remember those danci...

Elf Yourself 2008 -...

Elf Yourself 2008

We got elfed

ElfYourSelf 2007 - C...

Elf Yourself


automatically generated by Flickr


Become a Boogie Bunny for Easter


BoogieBunnies.co.uk



BoogieBunnies.co.uk is a new site run by Thornton's, the UK chocolate store. You can turn yourself and up to three other people into dancing disco rabbits or a disco sheep and then email the result to yourself or friends. And you can get a discount on great chocolate gifts just for doing it.

Through April 5, Thornton's is offering a 15% discount off some of their delicious chocolate, including Easter eggs, Easter bunnies and chocolate gift baskets (or hampers, as the Brits say). If you're out of the UK, they do offer international shipping, so the discount might help if you decide to order from here.

The discount is just a bonus, but no purchase is required to bunny yourself, so hop to it!




Become an M&M


Turn yourself into a candy character

If you eat too much chocolate, can you really turn into an M&M? Well, only if you visit Become An M&M. As the name suggests, this site lets you create your own personalized M&M character. With the ability to select various eyes, hair styles, facial expressions and more, you'll soon be able to create your own M&M alter ego. You can even get holiday costumes and accessories. Once you finish your character, you save it to your computer to use as an IM avatar or email to friends.




Put Your Photo in an E-Greeting


Sendables from JibJab let you be the star of your own animated greeting


JibJab became extremely popular during the 2004 election when their parody of George Bush and John Kerry singing and dancing in "This Land" became a huge hit on the web. (These are also the folks behind Office Depot's Elf Yourself.) They still create original animated videos, but now they're letting regular folks get in on the act with Sendables Starring You!. The "Starring You!" Sendables are electronic greeting cards that include your own face (or someone else's) in a (typically irreverent) short video greeting. They have cards for all occasions, including birthdays. Some are free and some are available to members only ($12 for an annual membership). Sign up for a free account and you'll get enough credits to send your first greeting.




JibJab in Action

Here's an example of one of the JibJab Sendables that can be customized to include your own pictures. This one features a couple of politicians you might recognize.


var YouTube10965610 = function() {
return {
insert_video: function(vid) {
var vid_el = jQuery('#yt_player_10965610');
var html = '';

html += '';
html += '';
html += '';
html += '';
html += '';
html += '';

vid_el.html(html);
},

swap: function(vid) {
var meta_el = jQuery('#yt_meta_10965610');
var autoplay_url = vid.media_url + '&autoplay=1';

// swap video
this.insert_video(autoplay_url);

// swap meta data
jQuery.post('/utility/youtube_meta', {id: vid.id}, function(res) {
jQuery(meta_el).html(res);
});
},

toggleInfo: function(anchor, vis) {

}
}
}();




Bush and Cheney Tap Dance!
by JibJab | video info

272 ratings | 68,723 views
You don't need a pair of tap shoes to shuffle off to buffalo in this funny video, just upload two faces onto our professional tappers and send your friends this hilarious tap dance JibJab Starring You! greeting. http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/460/Starring_You/Tap

curated content from YouTube


Simpsonsize Me!


Turn yourself into a Simpsons character

If you're a fan of The Simpsons, this is a great way to waste time on the Internet. To promote the launch of the first full-length big-screen Simpsons movie, Fox and Burger King launched Simpsonize Me.com.

Simply upload your photo and then answer a few questions, such as whether you're a dude or a chick, how old you are, and what's your clothing style. You'll then see a legal disclaimer in which you must "acknowledge that the crummy yellow 2-D likeness of my photo... is merely a genius marketing ploy" of Fox and Burger King. Then simply hit the Simpsonize! button and the aliens Kang and Kodos will turn your photo into a character from Springfield. It'll need a bit of tweaking, but with a few adjustments to hairstyles, body types and accessories, you'll soon be ready for Springfield.




Homer Simpson Quote of the Day





Become a South Park Character


Turn yourself into one of these funky cartoon characters

Thanks to lensmaster kab, I'm adding another great site, SP Studio, where you can turn yourself into a South Park character. This flash site was developed by a German South Park fan who started in back in 2001 while still in school. You could easily waste a lot of time on this site choosing your hat, hair, eyes, mouth, and "stuff" for your character such as exotic weapons or motifs for your shirt. You can even type your own text to appear on your shirt. If you're a South Park fan, you'll love this site.




Turn Your Kids Into Their Favorite Characters


Now your kids can star in their own videos

Has your son ever dreamed of being Spider-man? Does your daughter love Dora the Explorer? Now they can star in videos with their favorite characters, thanks to Kideo.com. Try the free demo page to make your kids the star of animated DVDs with Dora, Barney, Spider-man and Care Bears, or check out the rest of the site to see other characters and order your personalized DVD.

I ordered one of the Dora DVDs for my two-year-old's birthday, and she loved it!




Turn Your Kids Into Their Favorite Characters


Now your kids can star in their own videos




Amazon Price: (as of 09/26/2010)


Has your son ever dreamed of being Spider-man? Does your daughter love Dora the Explorer? Now they can star in videos with their favorite characters, thanks to Kideo.com. You can try free demo page to see how your child would look as the star of animated DVDs with Dora, Barney, Spider-man and Care Bears.

The Dora video is also available through Amazon. (Just click the image at left). I ordered one of the these personalized birthday DVDs for my two-year-old's birthday, and she loved it!






Become the star on a Wheaties box cover


Sure, you've seen keychains and mugs with photos, but how about putting your favorite athlete's pic on a Wheaties box or a magazine cover?

PersonalizationMall can make your star athlete a Wheaties box hero, as well as offering several magazine cover options. You can also turn yourself into a magazine cover guy or girl at
Personal Creations.

Both sites also offer many other gifts that can be personalized with digital photos.






Turn Any Photo Into a Talking Character



Move over, Beverly Hills Chihuahua! Now anyone can make their pets talk and sing. PQ Talking Photo by PQ Computing Labs is a software program that will turn any digital image into a talking character.

You can check out samples created by other users or use the demo to create your own talking photo. Just click on the Create My Actor button to upload your photo and then follow the onscreen directions. With the full download, you can create talking photos to save to your photo album, personal page on myspace, facebook, etc, or download to your iPod, mp3 player or cell phone.




And For Offline Fun...


Cardboard cutout photo props to turn your kids into their fantasy characters




My son always loves putting his head into cardboard cutouts for photo opportunities at places we visit. He's been an astronaut, a snowman, a pumpkin, a knight in shining armor and a variety of others. Now you can do this at home! BuyCostumes.com offers table-top photo props to turn your kids into pirates, princesses and other fun characters. And for only $5.99, this is a fun way to turn your kids into their favorite characters or have fun at a birthday party.

Click an image above to see a larger picture or find other photo props at BuyCostumes.]