Santa's Little Spy Turns 20

A few years ago, Kurt Neesley of Redondo Beach, California, was brainstorming where to put his family's Elf on the Shelf for his three kids to find the next morning. He decided to make it look like the doll, named Elfie, had painted on their kitchen wall. Neesley used Tootsie Rolls to build an elf-size climbing wall, posed Elfie on it with a paintbrush, and painted a message in green reminding the kids to behave. "Three glasses of wine usually gets the creativity flowing," said Neesley, who had planned to repaint that kitchen wall anyway. "Elf on the Shelf can be very stressful." This isn't just the holiday season, notes the AP: It's Elf on the Shelf time, and parents like Neesley need ideas for Santa's little spy, who turns 20 this year.

• A wee history: The idea of small, mischievous elves who protect the home—if they are treated well—is found in Scandinavian folklore. The modern Elf on a Shelf began in Atlanta in the 1970s, when Carol Aebersold introduced her twin daughters to a magical elf doll named Fisbee. The sisters, Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts, remember telling Fisbee what they wanted for Christmas. "It's the most wholesome thing you'll ever see," said Bell, who also recalls that the elf would be placed up high so they couldn't touch it. (This is now part of the lore. Children must not touch the elf because that will take away its magic.)
• Going commercial: In 2004, Aebersold and Bell self-published an The Elf on the Shelf book that came with a doll. Pitts helped with sales and marketing. It eventually took off.

• Parental mischief: Antonia Katsanos of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, has made her family's Elf, Twinkle, a year-round presence for her two daughters. "The elf is watching, you have to eat your dinner. You can't just be good at Christmastime," she'll say. One morning, the girls found Twinkle seated in the shower by the soap, dressed like a mermaid. Other days, she was in the ice machine or hanging upside down in the car. "I am a creative person, but you do go dry at some point," says Katsanos. "I Google ideas and look at Instagram. ... I've popped up from sleep at 3:30am remembering I need to move the elf."
• Draft the elders: One option for parents fresh out of ideas is to recruit a kid who has aged out of the experience. Reacher star Alan Ritchson says his older son has done just that and it's worked brilliantly. "Here's the cheat code: You get a 13-year-old who figures it out a couple years earlier than he should, and then he becomes your little Elf on the Shelf weapon. So they get excited. They'll never miss a night. And you get a kid who's coming up with ideas for you," he said.