A Southern Season is supporting Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree, a Mitchell County project by featuring a variety of one-of-a-kind handicrafts made by North Carolina artisans including pottery, weaving, furniture and decorative items.

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, a popular children's book by Gloria Houston, inspired the Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree Project.

Facing the loss of over 2,000 manufacturing jobs, leaders in Spruce Pine initiated the non-profit with the aim of supporting and encouraging local citizens to improve their quality of life and achieve financial independence by founding home-based businesses by creating handcrafted items. Currently the project supports eighty product makers from Western North Carolina. A portion of the royalties from the sale of these products will be used for scholarships for Mitchell County high school students.

To date, the non-profit project has received wide acclaim and has been featured on HGTV, and in a PBS documentary. Hand-blown glass ornaments from the collection were included in the 2006 White House Christmas decorations.

Family Circle Magazine and Southern Living Magazine will both have articles about the project in their December 2008 issues. The Southern Living article will appear in their North Carolina and South Carolina editions.

"Craft really is a part of our economic future. What we are trying to do is create jobs that cannot be outsourced," said Shirley Hise, project director.

"We're very excited to offer The Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree Project handcrafts at A Southern Season," added Michael Barefoot, owner. "We are longtime supporters of the bounty produced right here in our own home state, whether it's a cookie, a sauce or a wine. Now we can add hand-blown glass holiday ornaments to our treasures."

The Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree store, located in downtown Spruce Pine, NC is open year round.

A Southern Season is located at University Mall.