Family affair: Johnsy (left), assisted by her grandchildren and son Reuben, putting the finishing touches to their Christmas tree.
KLANG: A Christmas tree unlike any other – that’s what Johnsy Vijayarani had in mind when she decided to make all her festive ornaments by herself.
“I kept seeing all the same ornaments repeated in other houses, so I just decided to make my own,” said Johnsy, 59.
The notion of handmade decorations is not foreign to her.
“When I was growing up in Chennai, my brother and I used to make huge star lanterns out of bamboo and glass paper, and put a candle inside. Our Christmas tree was a branch from the casuarina tree, hung with crepe paper.”
Johnsy started making her own decorations in 2008, but last Christmas was the first year her tree featured only her own creations.
Felt and fabric flowers, plastic jewels and beads all wrapped around wire and foam frames, and she makes only one of each design.
Her friends who adore the creations have taken some of them home. “Then I just make another,” she said.
“I get a lot of ideas from the Christmas bazaars I used to visit when I lived for a few years in Belgium and the United States, ” she added.
One of her grandchildren is just waiting to follow in her handicraft footsteps. Six-year-old Genevieve Mayuri Maran helped her grandmother sort beads and felt every night until she fell asleep.
“She says she wants to make her own when she grows bigger,” said Johnsy.
“I love that our tree looks different from everyone else’s,” said Johnsy’s son Reuben Yuvaraj, 33.
“It truly makes me think of a huge, colourful gift. I’m so proud of my mum for using her talents to create something so unique.”
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