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 . There was even paint splatter on the floor. (The paint, Neesley said, was left over from St. Patrick's Day when a leprechaun visited and made a mess.)

“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 . It’s Elf on the S

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