'We Do Christmas Differently'

EVER SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD, MYRA HARMS’ FAMILY HAS EXERCISED THEIR CREATIVITY AT CHRISTMAS. INSTEAD OF BUYING GIFTS, THEY MAKE EVERY ONE OF THEM!

- Nolwazi Dhlamini

Christmas has always been our favourite holiday. My parents would go all-out every year to make it special with beautiful decorations, a huge, delicious feast – and, of course, presents!

But over time, gifting became less and less affordable for my parents. They realised that giving us four children money to buy each other presents wasn’t sustainable – so they decided that we’d start making gifts ourselves. That way, we could save money and, of course, learn handy skills. Both my parents are creative. Dad’s an architect and although Mom was a schoolteacher, she was always interested in art. She took painting lessons herself and facilitated art classes at the school where she taught.

So this new tradition – which we’ve been observing since I was in Grade 2 – has unleashed the inner artist in all of us. My very first ‘creation’ was a bunch of teddy-bears I made for everyone when I was eight. It still goes down as one of my greatest artworks (even though my mom helped me stuff and sew them together!).

The whole family’s benefited from this tradition, as we’ve all gained a wealth of crafting knowledge. I remember getting a small wooden shelf from my brother, as well as a mirror with a border of glass from broken wine bottles and a beautiful blue glass mosaic picture frame from my sisters.