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Glitterville continues to be a bright spot in Knoxville

Creator Stephen Brown is taking the Christmas destination to new heights this year.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Glitterville is like a little slice of colorful Christmas heaven and it's right here in East Tennessee.

Year after year around this time, we catch up with king crafter Stephen Brown to see what he's up to, and this year it's all about newer, bigger and of course Oprah.

So much sparkle. So much Christmas. So much fun.

Life at Glitterville in downtown Knoxville is really good.  Stephen Brown is so busy that even a pandemic couldn't slow him down, although it did change things.

"There's no people anywhere, it's so quiet, and we're not going anywhere, and we can't travel, what are we going to do? So I started doing Instagram lives, and started making things and doing crafts," said Brown. 

It's been a new way for Stephen to connect to people all over the world from his studio here in Knoxville.

"Everybody was captive and what better time to capture the world and make them craft. When everybody's at home, it has time to do it," said Brown.  

Something else Stephen does every year--- O Magazine's December cover with Oprah.  This year was a little different, no extensive photo shoot like usual, but he made his mark.

"Wrapping Oprah's Favorite Things is a monumental project. And this year when people looked in, it was funny because all the boxes were red and green. And you know there's two Christmas colors you never find at Glitterville and that is red and green. So if you see red and green, you know that Oprah is probably behind it," said Brown.  

Another big milestone for Glitterville a huge deal with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus.

"This year Glitterville was chosen as like the brand of the year at Neiman Marcus and we were so excited, that's a real honor," said Brown. 

The retailer's challenge for Stephen: do a window display different than anything else.

"What can I do that makes Glitterville the most sparkly thing ever? Like how can I up our glitter? And the answer to that was by using crystals, real Bohemian crystals that are made in the Czech Republic," said Brown. 

He chose Sugar Plum Pixie to get a major glow up with thousands of crystals.

"It took me 16 hours a day for a couple of weeks," said Stephen. 

So year after year, project after project, how does Stephen keep coming up with new things?

"I take things that surround you in your everyday life and sort of Glitterville-ize them, which is usually making them pink and, and fanciful," said Stephen Brown.

Stephen also has a children's book in the works that will be out next Christmas and a TV show!

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