Our Elf is certainly not shy when it comes to making new friends – he loves nothing more than meeting pals both new and old every December.

But everyone needs a special buddy and now our dear old elf has just that, with the arrival of our beautiful Girl Elf – and just in time for International Friendship Day!

Friendship Day was originally launched all the way back in 1919 by card manufacturer Hallmark as a marketing pitch encouraging people to send each other cards to celebrate their friendship. However, the idea never really took off and the market had completely dried up by the 1940s.

Leap forward to 2011, and the United Nations declared that henceforth they would officially recognise July 30 as International Friendship Day. Most countries now celebrate International Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August, which this year falls on August 7.

Whichever way you choose to celebrate International Friendship Day this year, just remember the first law of elf friendship: “Good friends get you out of mischief. Best friends get you into it.”