Jeff's New Leaf Blog

Wednesday was New Year’s Eve, and my villagers were talking about the countdown.

I noticed that the northern lights were visible in the skies above Forest, so I stopped to take a photo or two.

Over at the plaza, Isabelle was handing out some sparkling cider, and I bought a blue New Year’s hat from Crazy Redd.

At midnight, we counted down the final few seconds and welcomed 2026.

It’s kind of funny that Rolf is always the villager in these photos. It’s the third year in a row I’ve posted New Year’s Eve pictures, and Rolf is in all three! (Want to see the 2024 and 2025 entries?)

Here is the obligatory “2026” fireworks photo:

On New Year’s Day, my villagers continued to wish me a Happy New Year.

And Isabelle was again at the event plaza, this time to hand out zodiac horses.

This is the first duplicate zodiac animal given out…unless you were playing the Japanese version prior to the worldwide release, or if you time traveled and got it.

I also stuck my face through the face-cutout standee for the occasion.

I rolled up a couple snowballs to make a snowmam, and I gave her some snowflakes I had in my pockets. She gave me an ice vanity in return.

I played again today, and I had an igloo camper at the campsite. But it was Pietro the evil clown, so I had zero interest in asking him to move in. 😛

I found a lost book on the ground, and I returned it to its owner, Mira. At first, she said it was a dermatology handbook…

But then she said she was joking, and that it was just a big comic book. Those would be two books that would be hard to mix up, I imagine. 😛

She gave me a green-bar shirt for returning the book to her.

I wrapped up my night with a K.K. Slider performance of “K.K. Song.” Hamlet and Rodeo were also in attendance.

Happy New Year, everyone! I’ll be back with another entry later in the month.

On December 21st, I played for the Winter Solstice. It’s dark all day, but I played at night anyway, so it felt normal to me. 😛

Boots told me that if I punch through a pumpkin, I won’t catch a cold. (Also, I noticed that festive lights are now on trees.)

Molly asked me to dig up her time capsule, and of course I agreed to help out. She gave me the red tie-dye tee that was inside.

Isabelle was standing at the event plaza to hand out glow wands. Thanks, Isabelle!

I also poked my big head through the face-cutout standee for the Winter Solstice.

I stopped for a photo at my park near the fountain and illuminated arch. One festive tree light was also visible here, so it looked really Christmassy and pretty!

The next day (the 22nd), I spotted Bones up on Main Street! I think this is because of Cube’s departure. That meant that Bones (who moved out in 2018) is now replacing an earlier departed villager on Main Street. I’m not sure who he replaced, but it’s always good to see Bones around!

I also finished collecting all of my Toy Day hints. When Toy Day arrived on Wednesday, I dressed up as Santa for the occasion. Jingle gave me the Santa bag so that I could help deliver gifts to my villagers.

I began making my deliveries, and my villagers enjoyed the gifts!

Here is the full list of what my villagers wanted, and what they got:

• Aurora: colorful wallpaper – kiddie wall
• Boots: white lamp – minimalist lamp
• Hornsby: orange furniture – grapefruit table
• Inkwell: black furniture – weight bench
• Jeremiah: colorful furniture – kiddie bureau
• Lolly: gray lamp – mini lamp
• Mira: aqua lamp – lava lamp
• Molly: gray toy – mini circuit
• Rolf: pink doll – wobbelina

Not to call my villagers boring or anything, but one-third of my town wanted a lamp for Toy Day. 👀

When I was done, I returned to Jingle and he confirmed everything was delivered correctly. He gave me a festive wreath for helping out.

I played again today, and Jingle sent me his photo in the mail. This is my additional reward for successfully delivering all the presents without making any mistakes.

I sold my two Toy Day rewards for a grand total of just 330 bells! In the older games, Jingle gave players valuable Jingle furniture, so it’s disappointing that you can spend all that time and effort, and only earn 330 bells! A single foreign fruit gives you more than that!

Vladimir the bear cub was camping in an igloo today. I stopped in to say hello.

I do have a bit of a soft spot for the big grump, dating back to the early days of my GameCube town. He once lived in the spot where Ursala lives now, so one pink bear cub was replaced with a pink bear. However, I did not ask him to move in here.

Happy holidays, everyone! I’ll be back with another entry in the new year! 🎆

On December 3rd, snow flurries fell for the first time this winter. I took this screenshot between Mira’s house and Molly’s house.

When I went in Molly’s house, she already told me one of her Toy Day hints: She wants something gray this year.

Cube told me that he asked Jingle for a lamp this year.

Fang, who had just freshly moved out of my City Folk town, showed up at my campsite. But I didn’t have space for him here, of course.

The next day, Cube said he was thinking of moving out on December 10th.

This is a scenario I mentioned last month. He’s been in town for 4+ years, and still hasn’t given me his photo. So I decided to let him move out, and I hoped he would send his photo with his goodbye letter. Fast forward to December 10th, which was yesterday. I went in to say goodbye to him.

So long, buddy. I hope Jingle somehow finds you in the void and gives you that lamp you wanted.

Today, I received his goodbye letter in the mail.

For my friend…
The fact that I’m moving today puts butterflies in my stomach. Maybe they’re the reason I’m craving sweets. Before I go, here’s a picture to remember me by.

Best wishes, Cube

It’s sad to see him go, but my gamble paid off. He included his photo! His favorite quote on the back is “Sometimes you gotta learn to chill.”

It’s kinda bittersweet doing it this way. He won’t ever visit to see his photo on display. But on the other hand, four years is way too long to wait for a photo. Befriending a villager should never take that long. This was my 40th villager photo earned.

In other news, snow now covers the ground in New Leaf (and other Animal Crossing games as well). I changed my brick path to the blue icy bricks already.

I had another camper today, Sydney the koala.

For the first time in a while, I actually had a free spot open in town! So I could adopt a villager now if I choose. But in Sydney’s case, I did not choose to. 😛 I have Sydney in the GameCube game, and she’s alright. But I typically only invite campers if it’s one of my favorites. But maybe another day I’ll find one I like!

I might play New Leaf for Toy Day (Christmas Eve) this year, if I get all of my hints in time. So I’ll be back with another entry in a couple weeks or so. Happy Holidays!