“As long as I’m making people laugh and smile, that’s my goal.”

Bringing people joy and giving them something to laugh at has been Teri Curts’ mission since she gained a following by dressing as an elf and sharing photos of herself on social media.

Last year, the Golden resident dressed as an elf and climbed up on the mantle just for fun.

“I was in Walmart one day and I thought, ‘I want to dress like an elf and get on the fireplace mantle,’” she said. “I was just going to do it that one day, and people were like ‘oh my gosh!’”

From there, the online enthusiasm just took off.

As this year’s holiday season approached, people began asking when she would start sharing the photos again. Curts decided to have an elf photo each day from Dec. 1 to 24.

“I just did it being goofy and I had no idea that it would do this. I don’t like taking my picture unless I’m acting goofy. I’m not one of those who likes to do selfies,” she said. “You can only take my picture if I’m acting goofy. I’m serious when I have to be. People call me crazy Teri most of the time.”

Most of the photos are “fly by the seat of my pants” ideas, but a few are thought out.

She and her husband re-enacted the famous “Dirty Dancing” scene at Lake Holbrook over the summer for a recently posted photo. While being held aloft, she heard something pop – she assumes it was a cracked rib.

She’s always thinking of what to do for photos throughout the year.

“There’s really no theme, just goofy stuff. It’s actually kind of stressful because I’m always thinking of what could I do next and I don’t want to disappoint people,” she added. “Some of them are funnier than others, but they’re all pretty funny.”

Curts said she’s gotten several Facebook friend requests, and people have suggested getting on the local TV news. Overall, she said people think the photos are funny and they’re getting a kick out of it.

“It’s just getting the reactions from people and knowing I’m making them smile and laugh. It may be one part of the day. If they’re having a bad day, I made them laugh,” Curts explained. “It’s something to look forward to the next day.”

She also wants to show people who have gone through tragedy that it’s OK to laugh. Her oldest son, Connor, passed away in February 2016.

“The holidays are hard for a lot of people. With our other two kids, I’ve got them knowing it’s OK to still laugh. You have to go on. You can miss them every single day, but you’ve still got to live and have fun.”

After Connor passed away, someone told her that even in the worst of times joy can still be found.

“I think about that a lot because joy can be found in anything,” she said. “Anywhere there’s joy, you just got to look for it. My motto since Connor passed away is to love what matters and that’s my motto. Love what matters. My family’s not the only one that tragedy has ever struck by no means. Everyone has a different horrible the way I look at it, but they’ve got to keep on living, keep on keeping on. You have to. If you don’t, you’re going to be miserable all the time. Joy can still be found in any way.”

She noted that Connor has had an impact on her elf photo series in some way.

“Mainly for Morgan and Ramsey, our youngest kids, just let them know it’s OK to be sad, but you’ve still got to find things to be happy about,” she said. “I know that Connor wouldn’t want us to be moping around. He just wouldn’t. Life’s too short to not have fun and he liked to have fun.”