Screw pine stars for a green Christmas
The Hindu
The women artisans of KIDS, Kottappuram, have come up with a range of Christmas decorations made of screw pine
“This would make your Christmas tree look so good,” says Latha Sundaran, holding up a little screw pine star. She picks up a few more from a box and says, “These are 100% hand-made and environment-friendly.” Beside her is a table full of Christmas decorations made of screw pine.
Latha with other women at the Kottappuram Integrated Development Society (KIDS), a non-governmental organisation based in Kottappuram (in Kodungallur, Thrissur district) working with screw pine, has been busy planning their Christmas collection for the past month. “We have made wine bottle holders, hampers, Santa boots, bells, cake boxes and trays,” she says. The women will be crafting more of these based on the orders they get for the season. These come with red and green satin trimmings and bows.
The floor of their workshop, adjacent to the office building, has piles of scraggly screw pine, which would be spliced, woven and crafted into bags, mats, files, boxes, coasters, trays and more. This is their first attempt at making Christmas decor. Deepa John, who helps with project deisgn, came up with the idea and project coordinator Sarath Kumar, facilitated the process.
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