jQuery DOM element shuffler

gistfile1.js

// jQuery shuffle plugin usage $('el').shuffle();
(function($){
 
	$.fn.shuffle = function() {
	
	  var elements = this.get();
	  var copy = [].concat(elements);
	  var shuffled = [];
	  var placeholders = [];
	
	  // Shuffle the element array
	  while (copy.length) {
	    var rand = Math.floor(Math.random() * copy.length)
	    var element = copy.splice(rand,1)[0];
	    shuffled.push(element);
	  }
	
	  // replace all elements with a plcaceholder
	  for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; i++) {
	    var placeholder = document.createTextNode('');
	    findAndReplace(elements[i], placeholder);
	    placeholders.push(placeholder);
	  }
	
	  // replace the placeholders with the shuffled elements
	  for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; i++) {
	    findAndReplace(placeholders[i], shuffled[i]);
	  }
	
	  return $(shuffled);
	
	}
	
	function findAndReplace(find, replace) {
	  find.parentNode.replaceChild(replace, find)
	}
 
})(jQuery);