Decorated by Mrs. Emma King

CEBU, Philippines - Plenty of homes in Metro Cebu turn vibrant during the holidays with the creative touch of Mrs. Imma King, wife of Juanito King and Sons Inc. director Luis King.

Mrs. King, a registered nurse by profession, shared that she already has this fascination for knick-knacks in her younger years and that, in fact, she has looked forward to every Christmas because this is the best time of the year to sit down and pour out her creativity in designing Christmas symbols like the wreath, candy cane, sock for Santa’s gifts, bells and balls, lantern, and many more.

“Decorating started as a hobby. Pang-pastime. I come up with kani bitawng mga cute nga decors; nya I love to make pieces nga ako gyod ang nag-design,” she said.

Mrs. King said she used to decorate Christmas trees as a way of bonding with her family. But later on, some friends of hers began asking her assistance in accessorizing their Christmas trees at home.

“Word of mouth ra man gyod ning tanan.Wala gyod koy plan at first to make this as an official business venture. But friends began telling others that I have very beautiful imported pieces. That I assemble the pieces myself,” she said.

“Then clients started calling me if I could offer the service to them also. Now, I get several calls that I advise them to place the order one to six months ahead of December to give us enough time to discuss with them their specific needs and the period of putting up the Christmas tree,” Mrs. King further said. She spends around a week for each home to attend to adjustments on the tree that the client might request.

She also mentioned that she allows clients to order certain pieces at a time. “If they could not afford to purchase every thing they fancy, I tell them nga they can certainly keep the old ones and have new items the next year. Mag-accumulate ra man na. In the long run, ma-purchase ra nila tanan nilang gusto nga items i-hang sa ilang Christmas tree.”

After-sales service includes the wrapping of the Christmas tree decors after use. Mrs. King emphasized that she “also does it for them para dili na sila mahago. I see to it that they can make good use of the items for the following year considering that these can also be treated as heirloom – things they can pass on to their children.” (FREEMAN)