Elf on the Shelf (@elfontheshelf) began when twin sisters Christa Pitts and Chanda Bell, along with their mother, decided to turn their family's Christmas elf tradition into a book in 2004. The mother-daughter team couldn't find anyone willing to publish their story, so they decided to do it themselves: "You have a good idea, and that's all it will ever be. Or you're going to have to step out in faith and do something with it." When getting started at local Christmas markets, their first hurdle was parents not understanding what they were selling. They needed to explain what the toy actually was, which is a flying elf that ends up in a different spot in the house every morning from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. To get parents and their young children to stop and listen, they started giving away blinking bracelets at their market booth, which was a successful early marketing tactic. After getting the word out, their second hurdle came when they went to ask the banks for money. Like the book, they were rejected again. And once again, they took matters into their own hands, pooling their money. Then they had two big breaks in pop culture: 1. A paparazzi photo of Jennifer Garner holding one of their elves 2. A TODAY Show appearance These both really boosted awareness and eventually led to a CBS animated special, a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon, and their own Netflix show.