Disclosure: our stay, several meals and the welcome bag were provided, and our travel costs reimbursed, as part of a hosted trip coordinated by One For The Books (Catherine Campbell). Every item on this page came to us free in that welcome bag. Opinions are our own, and no maker paid to be included or saw this page before it went up.
By Heather, who took this trip with Rob.
The slowest maker in our Asheville welcome bag says holiday orders can take up to 10 business days just to leave the building. Order from Poppy on Monday, December 14, and by the company’s own published window your popcorn may not ship until Monday, December 28, three days after Christmas.
Illustration, not a photo from our trip.
When Rob and I checked in for a hosted weekend in Asheville on November 4, 2026, a bag from seven makers was waiting for us with a handwritten note from Catherine on stationery from an eighth, Provisions, which Catherine told us helped her curate the bag. On November 13, 2026, I read each one’s own website for the current price, where it ships from and how long it takes to ship. Here is what I found, with the order dates worked out so you can give the same bag this Christmas.
Our welcome bag, November 4, 2026.
When to order each gift so it arrives by Christmas
Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday. The table counts weekdays only, from each maker’s own published shipping page. None of these makers published a firm holiday cutoff date that I could find, so these are the processing windows they do publish.
| Maker | Ships from | Published time to ship | Order Fri, Dec 4: ships by | Order Mon, Dec 14: ships by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn | Asheville, NC | Up to 7 to 10 business days in the holiday season | Fri, Dec 18 | Mon, Dec 28 |
| Legally Addictive | Western North Carolina, zip 28787 | Allow 5 to 7 business days | Tue, Dec 15 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| Clark & June | Nashville, TN | Within 5 business days | Fri, Dec 11 | Mon, Dec 21 |
| The High Fiber | Western North Carolina | 2 to 4 business days, then 3 to 5 days in transit | Thu, Dec 10 | Fri, Dec 18 |
| Provisions Mercantile | Asheville, NC | Most weekday orders within 24 to 48 hours, “under normal circumstances” | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 16 |
| Spicewalla | Asheville, NC (its store; the site doesn’t say where orders ship from) | Shown in the site header and cart at the time you order, not as a fixed number | Check the cart when you order | |
| French Broad Chocolate | Asheville, NC | Not published on the pages I checked | No holiday deadline published; check before you order | |
| Dailey Acres | Not stated on the label | Sells on Etsy; the listing shows processing time | Check the Etsy listing | |
“Ships by” is the latest date inside each maker’s window. Only The High Fiber publishes a transit time. Its worst case, 4 business days to ship plus 5 days in transit, still lands on Thursday, December 24 if you order by Friday, December 11. For everyone else, add the carrier’s time on top.
What it means for you: order the popcorn first. Ordering from Poppy by Friday, December 4 closes its own processing window a full week before Christmas. Order the tea towel by Friday, December 11. The rest can follow in the same week, and Provisions is the safest late order.
What waiting costs: a Poppy order placed Monday, December 14 can still be waiting to ship on Christmas Day, by the company’s own published window. A Legally Addictive order placed the same day may not ship until Wednesday, December 23.
What it costs to rebuild the bag yourself
At the makers’ own prices on November 13, 2026, the six items I could price come to between $115.44 and $143.49 before shipping. The low end uses the smaller popcorn bag, the 8 oz candle and an $18 towel. The high end uses the popcorn cylinder, the 11 oz candle and the $20 tomato towel. The crackers and the simmer pot kit are not included, because I could not find a current price for either on the maker’s own site.
Shipping minimums differ by maker. Spicewalla ships free in the US on orders of $49 or more. Clark & June ships free on orders over $75 and charges a flat $10 under that. Provisions charges a flat $10 on every order. Legally Addictive says its rates are set by the carrier, based on distance and weight. So a single $11.99 Spicewalla tin pays for shipping, and a Spicewalla order of $49 or more ships free.
1. Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn: Reindeer Crunch
- From our bag: Reindeer Crunch. Poppy describes it as its salted caramel popcorn with pecans and almonds and a dark chocolate drizzle.
- Price on November 13, 2026: $13.95 for the bag, which is what was in ours, or $21.50 for the gift cylinder.
- Where it is made: Asheville, NC. The company says its popcorn is hand-crafted there.
- Worth knowing: according to the company, Ginger Frank, a single mom in Asheville, launched Poppy in 2014.
- Give it to: the neighbor who takes in your packages all December.
- Shop it: Reindeer Crunch bag or Reindeer Crunch cylinder.
2. French Broad Chocolate: peppermint bark and classic milk hot chocolate
- From our bag: peppermint bark and Classic Milk Hot Chocolate Mix.
- Price on November 13, 2026: $35 for a 14 oz peppermint bark. $19 for the 8.4 oz Classic Milk Hot Chocolate Mix.
- Where it is made: Asheville, NC.
- Worth knowing: according to the company, founders Dan Rattigan and Jael Skeffington ran a cafe in Costa Rica before moving to Asheville. It says its factory moved in November 2018 to a 14,000 square foot space near UNC Asheville that can make nearly 50 tons of chocolate a year.
- Give it to: your child’s teacher, with the hot chocolate on top.
- Shop it: Peppermint Bark and Classic Milk Hot Chocolate Mix.
Illustration, not a photo from our trip.
3. Spicewalla: mulling spice
- From our bag: Mulling Spice, in the 2.3 oz big tin. The product page calls it a limited seasonal release.
- Price on November 13, 2026: $11.99.
- Where to find it: Spicewalla’s FAQ lists its retail store at the Grove Arcade in Asheville. It also has a store in Georgetown, DC. The FAQ says you can choose to pick up an online order at the Asheville store.
- Worth knowing: according to the company, Spicewalla was founded by chef Meherwan Irani, who founded the Asheville restaurant Chai Pani in 2009. We ate at Chai Pani on the Thursday of our trip.
- Give it to: whoever hosts Christmas Eve, so the house smells like mulled cider when everyone walks in.
- Shop it: Mulling Spice.
4. Clark & June: “Home for the Holidays” candle
- From our bag: the state version of “Home for the Holidays”: North Carolina on the label, cinnamon, orange and cranberry, 11 oz, 100% soy wax, according to the label. The maker also sells a version with your town on the label in fir, evergreen and pine.
- Price on November 13, 2026: $36 for the 11 oz candle and $17.50 for the 8 oz, in either version.
- Where it is made: Nashville, Tennessee, according to the company. This is the one maker in our bag that is not from Western North Carolina.
- Worth knowing: according to the company, the 11 oz candle is poured into a 13.5 oz rocks glass you keep once the candle burns down, and each candle sold provides a meal for a child in need.
- Give it to: a friend who moved away from home, with their home state on the glass.
- Shop it: Home for the Holidays in “Your State” or Home for the Holidays in “Your Town”.
5. Dailey Acres: simmer pot kit
- From our bag: a Holiday Simmer Pot Potpourri pouch. Through its window you can see dried orange, apple and eucalyptus.
- Price: see the Etsy listing. We couldn’t read it when we checked prices on November 13, 2026.
- Worth knowing: the label’s instructions: add the contents to a small pot with 2 cups of water, simmer on low, add water as needed, and reuse it one or two more times.
- Give it to: a friend in a new home this year.
- Shop it: Dailey Acres on Etsy, the address printed on the label.
6. Legally Addictive: crackers
- From our bag: a bag of Legally Addictive crackers.
- Price on November 13, 2026: the maker’s online shop listed packs, not single bags: $42.99 for a party pack of four of The O.G., and $72 for packs of eight. Every product showed as sold out when I checked, and single bags weren’t listed, so check the shop for restocks.
- Where it is made: Western North Carolina, zip code 28787, which is Weaverville, according to its shipping page.
- Worth knowing: the company says no prices or receipts are ever included in the box, and you can add a gift note in the cart. That makes it an easy one to ship straight to someone.
- Give it to: the sibling who lives out of town, shipped straight to their door.
- Shop it: Legally Addictive shop.
7. The High Fiber: hand-printed tea towel
- From our bag: a hand-printed cotton towel with green pine trees. Its band says it was designed and printed in North Carolina.
- Price on November 13, 2026: most single towels in the maker’s shop are $18, including its Christmas designs. The tomato towel is $20.
- Where it is made: Western North Carolina, according to the company, and the towel’s band says it was designed and printed in North Carolina.
- Worth knowing: the company says each design is drawn in its studio and screen printed by hand on unbleached, recycled cotton flour sack fabric with water-based, non-toxic inks.
- Give it to: the cook in the family, wrapped around the Spicewalla tin.
- Shop it: The High Fiber shop.
8. Provisions Mercantile: the shop behind the note
- From our bag: nothing to eat, but Catherine’s note was written on Provisions stationery, and Catherine told us the shop helped her curate the whole bag. We stopped at the shop, at 728 Haywood Road in West Asheville, on our way out of town.
- Price on November 13, 2026: its Asheville Makers Collection “Asheville Home for the Holidays” gift box is $175. The listing does not say what is inside.
- Where it is: 728 Haywood Road in West Asheville. That is Haywood Road, not Haywood Street downtown. The site lists hours of 10 to 5 Monday through Saturday and 12 to 4 on Sunday.
- Worth knowing: according to the shop, Asheville natives Heather and Matt Wright opened it in 2019, inspired by the general store Heather’s grandmother ran in the basement of her West Asheville home in the 1960s.
- Give it to: a client or coworker, when you want one box that covers a lot of local makers.
- Shop it: Asheville Home for the Holidays collection. It ships to the continental US only.
Illustration, not a photo from our trip.
If you are in Asheville, skip the shipping
Spicewalla’s store is in the Grove Arcade, and Provisions is in West Asheville. If you are driving in for a weekend, as we did, you can buy from both in person and carry the gifts home. Our cozy Asheville weekend by car covers the rest of the trip, including what the one-lane stretch of I-40 means for your drive.
Keep going
- Our cozy Asheville weekend, stop by stop
- Vintage Christmas kitchen decor ideas, for the tea towel and the simmer pot
- Our holiday gift guide
Sources
- Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn: Reindeer Crunch, Reindeer Crunch Cylinder, Our Story, Shipping policy.
- French Broad Chocolate: Peppermint Bark, Classic Milk Hot Chocolate Mix, Our Story.
- Spicewalla: Mulling Spice, FAQs, About us.
- Clark & June Candle Co.: Your State candle, Your Town candle, Shipping policy.
- Legally Addictive Foods: Shop, Shipping policy.
- The High Fiber: Home, Shop, FAQ.
- Provisions Mercantile: About us, Shipping information, Asheville Home for the Holidays.
- All pages read November 13, 2026. Dates in the order table count weekdays only and do not allow for carrier holidays. Prices are item prices before shipping and tax.
