Handcrafted wooden Christmas cribs add festive cheer in Coimbatore Churches

Church stores in the city have displayed a new kind of Christmas crib this year. Ideated and crafted by Coimbatore-based Sudharshan Bellie, they are sturdy, light weight, and can be assembled in under ten minutes. “The idea is inspired by a similar crib that we saw at a church in Vadipatti,” says Sudharshan, who is into e-commerce. He decided to work on something similar.

“I wanted to improve the design into something that is easy to assemble,” he says. Once he came up with the final framework, he got it made at a unit in the city. Their Bison Kovai cribs are made of MDF wood and consist of eight pieces apart from small side wedges. “We first made around 25 units as an experiment and put them up online for sale on November 27,” says Sudharshan adding that to his pleasant surprise, they were quickly sold out.

Sudharshan says that his product is moving fast on platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart and he is working nonstop to keep up with the demand. “The machine we are working with can cut only 40 units a day,” he says.

The cribs can be painted upon and can be done up with lights
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Special arrangement

The crib is a simple structure in brown and Sudharshan has kept it that way so that people can add their own embellishments to it. “The entire family can come together to assemble it,” he says, adding: “It can make for a fun activity for children and will be a memory that they fondly remember.” Sudharshan says the crib can be painted upon, and fairy lights can be strung around it. The possibilities are endless: think glitter paint, cotton, or simply choose to keep it natural and unadorned.

The idea, explains Sudharshan, is to create a wholesome Christmas memory through something they assembled from scratch. The cribs can be dismantled after the festive season and reassembled when needed. MDF wood is lightweight and is popular among manufacturers of STEM toys. “It is engineered wood that comes in thickness ranging from 1.9mm to 8mm,” he says adding that for their Bison cribs, they have employed MDF wood that is 2mm thick.

While Sudharshan initially aimed at selling online, the cribs are now available in select church stories in the city apart from other physical outlets. They were also sold at a stall in front of St Francis Xavier’s Church in Sowripalayam.

Bison Kovai cribs are available at the stores of Infant Jesus church, Kovaipudur; St Antony’s church, Puliakulam; Christ The King church, Kattur, apart from Dennis Hypermarkets and SK Decorations, Town Hall and online. A unit is priced at ₹850. Call 9043544192 for details.