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Since "The Elf on the Shelf" and Facebook were both created in 2004, the two have become as inseparable as Santa and his sleigh. In fact, the merriest holiday meme online right now is the storybook elf depicted in a variety of naughty or nice Christmas capers. Created by Carol Aebersold who lives in Marietta, Ga.,"The Elf on the Shelf" is cute, rhyming Christmas story that explains how Santa Claus knows who is behaving (or not) by sending scout elves to visit children between Thanksgiving and Christmas. When a family adopts one of these little spy guys and gives him a name (for example, Buddy, Elfis, Tinsel or Peppermint), the elf receives his Christmas magic, enabling him to fly to the North Pole each night and report to Santa.
The boxed set with book and doll sells for $29.99. In 2012, Fortune magazine reported that sales of "The Elf on the Shelf" now average about $10 million a year.
Its gimmick is that each night when the elf returns home from his check-in with Santa, he perches in a new place, making a natural game of hide-and-seek when the kids wake up. (Parents have found that the kitchen refrigerator is an elf favorite because it's cold like his North Pole home.) But evidently, an elf with too much time on his hands turns to mischief to ward off boredom. Elf hijinks are fueling innumerable parents' Facebook and Pinterest posts to share their midnight mischief.
The Times Free Press asked readers to post photos of what their elves have been up to on the newspaper's Facebook page. Judging from the numerous posts, which totaled over 100, local elves have a propensity for potty humor (pooping chocolate drops or peppermint stick pieces, in some cases), love to roll Christmas trees in toilet paper, spill confectioners sugar to make snow angels and play card games with the dolls from "Frozen."
Lisa Davis says her children woke up one morning to find their elf taking a bubble bath in a sink filled with cotton balls. Rossville's Amber Fletcher sent a photo of a baby doll with red lipstick smeared across its face the unfortunate result of their elf's "blindfolded makeup challenge."
Check this story online at timesfreepress.com for more photos of what Santa's scout elves have been up to.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.