Busy Philipps (born Elizabeth Jean Philipps), the outspoken, Illinois-born actress that you may know from Dawson’s Creek, Freaks and Geeks and currently Cougar Town is fast becoming one of America’s darlings.

Cougar Town is returning for its fifth season early next month, and according to her Instagram, it looks like Busy is keeping herself…occupied by placing her elves who reside on shelves in random scenarios.

Before we go any further, maybe this should be explained a bit more.

The Elf on a Shelf is Santa’s ordained helper that sits anywhere it pleases, just waiting for a reason to snitch on any sign of mischief in a home.

If that didn’t help any, here’s an explanation from The Elf on a Shelf’s creators:

The Elf on the Shelf® is a special scout elf sent from the North Pole to help Santa Claus manage his naughty and nice lists. When a family adopts an elf and gives it a name, the elf receives its Christmas magic and can fly to the North Pole each night to tell Santa Claus about all of the day’s adventures. Each morning, the elf returns to its family and perches in a different place to watch the fun. Children love to wake up and race around the house looking for their elf each morning.

It gets better:

There are two simple rules that every child knows when it comes to having an elf. First, an elf cannot be touched; Christmas magic is very fragile and if an elf is touched it may lose that magic and be unable to fly back to the North Pole. Second, an elf cannot speak or move while anyone in the house is awake! An elf’s job is to watch and listen.

The Elf is on the Shelf, kids. And it’s Watching You.

Now that that’s settled, Busy Philipps is on Instagram straight flexing The Elf on the Shelf’s limbs into some pretty interesting poses. Check out some of the stand-outs:

Very cute. Maybe we’ll see one with a stuffed cougar chasing the elves to promote her show’s new season. Stay tuned.

Image via Youtube