Children are counting down the days until Christmas morning, but there’s another countdown happening in homes across the country. Winter break is fast approaching and that means no homework, staying up late, and sleeping in. This extra time together in the middle of the school year provides ample opportunity to turn off the television and dig into some fun family projects and activities. Here is a list of simple ideas you may want to incorporate into your holiday time together:

Last week we explored “How to Select the Perfect Host Gift." This week we offer shopping tips for all the other wonderful people in your life… from your family member, who seems to already have one of everything, to that special someone, who sometimes leaves you stumped. We’ve checked in with our Mast Store gift-giving experts to help unravel the mystery of finding the perfect gift for just about anyone on your Christmas list.

If you’re planning to attend a holiday party this Christmas season, you have the (sometimes daunting) task of selecting a gift your host is sure to enjoy. Here are a few suggestions that will help you choose a thoughtful gift. We also offer a variety of ideas we hope will bring a smile to your host’s face.

When Mast Store’s newest old location opened its doors in Winston-Salem this past May, we had the pleasure of meeting a woman with close ties to 516 North Trade Street. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Barbara Carter’s father worked in the building that boasted one of the largest retail and wholesale companies in the South: Brown-Rogers-Dixson (B-R-D). After her visit to our Mast Store grand opening in the very same building, Mrs. Carter wrote us saying, “It brought back fond childhood memories of my father and mother, both now deceased, bringing us to visit with Santa at the store.”

This item is a source of curiosity for quite a few folks exploring our home and hearth area of the store. A Mast Store associate shares, “I’m sure to get a great reaction when I show our guests this item and ask them to guess what it is.” Is it a chip and dip tray? Is it used to bake a Bundt or angel food cake?  The answer to these questions is, “Absolutely. But, there’s more!” This handy bowl performs a myriad of functions in the kitchen and just might be the key to helping make your holiday meal preparation a whole lot easier.

If you’ve ever been to Mast Store Hendersonville or enjoyed reading the Fall Foliage Primer over the years, you’re probably familiar with the smiling face below. Janet retired from Mast Store a few years ago and was an invaluable part of our family for over 17 years. Her beautiful autumn photos and leaf gazing updates kept visitors to Western North Carolina abreast of the changing mountain colors in the Hendersonville area year after year.

Woolrich has an incredible, storied history and has long been a favorite of Mast General Store. This heritage brand has been synonymous with quality outdoor clothing for over 185 years.  Fifty-three years before the Original Mast Store opened our doors in Valle Crucis, North Carolina, Woolrich's founder, John Rich, constructed his first woolen mill in Pennsylvania in 1830. The history that unfolded in tandem with the growth of Rich's woolen mill is an incredible story with deep American roots.

While our thoughts are with our neighbors to the south who received the brunt of this past week’s storms, folks in the Blue Ridge Mountains are drying out and hitting the trails in search of brilliant fall colors.  Some leaves fell with the wind and rain, but the good news is that premature color change and bare trees appear to be a minor issue in Western North Carolina. If you find yourself in the Asheville area in the coming weeks, check out a local’s favorite along the Mountains-to-Sea trail just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Beginning with a few random leaves on your lawn in early to mid-September, October cascades into a brilliant wash of color, flaming our hills and valleys with hues we can only dream of creating with a paintbrush. Enter Mother Nature, the master artist. Her palette of reds, golds, greens, and russets creates quite a spectacle, and the changing fall foliage never fails to delight us.

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple,” J. K. Rowling once mused. Local fall foliage predictors are echoing the same sentiment.  Due to drier than usual spring and summer seasons, we're anticipating this year’s color to be more spectacular than we've experienced in many years. Your friends at Mast General Store and the Fall Foliage Primer hope to help you get the most out of your leafing tour this year.