Elf on the Shelf: The Giver

Two women instrumental in helping Santa check his list say family must be at the top.
As a child, Carol Aebersold neé Varnadore was visited by a special elf named Fisbee. The elf arrived each holiday season and would return back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. When she married, Aebersold introduced Fisbee to her three children in their metro Atlanta home.
“I have the best memories of Fisbee,” daughter Chanda Bell says. “I remember jumping out of bed and running to be the first to find him. We were all very competitive, my brother, sister and I. It was just such a magical family tradition. I believed I had a direct, physical line to Santa.”
When Aebersold’s daughters and son left to start their own lives, “I had a really bad case of empty nest syndrome. I was depressed,” Aebersold says.
One afternoon Aebersold was discussing her feelings with her daughter, when Bell looked up on the refrigerator, saw Fisbee, and suggested the two write a book about their family tradition.
When “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” received many rejection letters from publishers, the family pooled financial resources. The Aebersolds used retirement savings and daughter Christa Pitts sold her house, offered the proceeds and moved back in with her parents. Credit cards were maxed.
The three women started Creatively Classic Activities & Books in 2005 and self-published the book, making 5,000 copies. Aebersold said sales started by word of mouth and in places like the Junior League of Cobb-Marietta’s Mistletoe Market. The women went store to store for more than two years convincing business owners to carry their book. Aebersold says The Elf on the Shelf really took off when Jennifer Garner was unexpectedly photographed by paparazzi carrying The Elf on the Shelf box.
The Elf on the Shelf: a Christmas Tradition has since been number one on the USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, and had sold more than 7 million copies as of November. It is now being sold in multiple countries.
Family members continue to contribute to the company. Co-CEO Pitts drives the strategic vision, marketing and sales. All three women are co-producers and creative contributors to The Elf on the Shelf, An Elf’s Story, which aired in 2011 on CBS to millions of viewers. Bell called it a thrill to witness her mother’s success, and admits her own success has given her children many opportunities they otherwise would not have.
“I hope I’m successful in all the right ways,” Bell says. “I hope that they see someone who is not driven by money, but driven by something she really cares about. I hope I’m really inspiring them to work hard and follow their dreams.”
Find out more about The Elf on the Shelf at elfontheshelf.com.