So it's that time of year again... time for the Pixie Chart.
What the heck is a Pixie Chart, you ask? What???? I thought everyone knew what they were... all the way up until I got to college. When I mentioned it, people looked at me like I had seven heads - that was my first clue. So here's the deal:
I thought this went back to my Gram, but I found out a few years ago that it was actually her father, Papa, who brought the tradition to the family. Pixie Joe is Santa's head elf; he comes around to everyone's house every night in December to check on all of the children for Santa. These days I guess he'd be considered Santa's personal assistant. Anyway, when Pixie Joe comes, he marks everyone's behavior on a Pixie Chart. You are awarded certain color stars based on how you acted that day. Gold stars mean that you were very good. (In the rare occasion that you were Excellent, you get two gold stars!!) Silver means good, green is so-so, red is bad and blue is very bad. Two blue stars? Forget it... you were rotten!!! For every bad star, one present less will be under the tree; two less for very bad! Pretty good bribery tool for the holidays, huh??? My grandparents... they were no dummies!
Now that you know the history, you're probably thinking, "Kelly, tell me now... how do you make a Pixie Chart? I need to know while there's still time!!" Well, here you go:
You'll need a poster board. Along the left side, you list everyone in your family... parents, kids, even pets! Then you make a grid with columns for every day in December up through the 24th. On the bottom goes your star "Key," like a legend. Buy foil stars and leave them near the chart, wherever you hang it, so Pixie Joe will be able to find them. Every morning, the kiddos rush to the chart to see what P.J. thought of your behavior the night before! Like I said, what a perfect form of bribery masked by a holiday tradition!
Here is our chart for this year... Being that I'm the Crafty Insomniac, I went a little overboard with ours. I fired up the Cricut and popped in the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge and went to town!
Blank chart... only the grid drawn!
This little elf had a tragic sleighing accident. We call him "Stumpy."
The cast and crew are assembling in the craft room...
All of our supplies... Ready to go!
We're almost there!
Sassy was more interested in playing with the North Pole friends than helping me put things on the chart...
And Voila! Here we are with the chart, ready for The Main Elf to make his visit tonight.
Of course, once I finally got Sass into bed, I had to add the finishing touches, a.k.a., GLITTER GLUE!
Incidentally, I've seen this "Elf on a Shelf." They're everywhere these days. I think it's the same principle as Pixie Joe, though it doesn't take it as far as the chart. Personally, I think that those people totally ripped off our idea and commercialized it. Bastards.
So there it is... in all its glory! Please tell me if you decide to try this out this year! I'm excited to see how many gold stars we all get this year.
