Using recycled materials to create Christmas décor, a dedicated team from Buffelsfontein Retirement Village crafted decorations for a Christmas tree at Walmer Park Shopping Centre.
“We started the Christmas tree decoration project on 1 September,” Hannelè Coles (61), who has been teaching the crafts class at the retirement village, shared with the PE Express.
“Every week in our craft class, we made specific items such as angels made either from the pages of books or crocheted angels.”
Explaining how the collaboration with the shopping centre came about, Coles shared that their unique decorations caught the shopping centre management’s eye during a market day.
“Last year, the craft group made book angels and paper angels to be sold at our market day, which caught the attention of Walmer Park Shopping Centre management.”
Since being tasked with creating more than 60 Christmas tree decorations the group, which consists of 20 people aged between 60 and 84, exceeded expectations, with Coles noting, “They asked for 60 items, but we made many more. In the first week alone, people contributed 140 angels of their own. We made crochet angels in the morning and hardcover book angels for the craft sessions in the afternoons.”
The ambitious team has set their sights beyond the shopping centre. “We aim to decorate all the trees at Algoa Bay Council for the Aged. They have four facilities, and we’re going to try to decorate all the trees because we’ve created many more items than needed,” Coles explained.
A creative journey
When asked about her passion for crafting, Coles shared her inspiring story: “There’s a story behind this. I had very creative parents, but I never took any formal craft courses. I was working for an insurance company as a nurse when I needed an eye operation and had trouble with my vision. At the time, I couldn’t see well enough to do my work.”
Since then, Coles has been placed on disability leave, which gave her the time to focus on her passion for crafting.
“I met the residents of Buffelsfontein Retirement Village at a charity event when I was part of another crafts group that made blankets,” she added. “They needed people to do crafts and it was always my passion, so I started pursuing it properly.”
Coles, who now lives at the retirement village, is passionate about recycling and sustainability, which she incorporates into her craft classes.
“My passion is recycling. Whatever people give us, I work with that. If someone brings glass jars, we’ll make flowerpots and when we have cardboard boxes, we build memory boxes and decorate them to sell at our markets.”
Reflecting on her creativity, Coles added, “I was born this way. We use old books and wool for Christmas decorations and make the best of what we have to create something beautiful, even with tiles – I’m just creative.”
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