From tobacco leaves to tinsel

What would Christmas be like without the people who create the festive atmosphere that complements the gaiety in our hearts?

Now, I am all for not losing sight of the true meaning of Christmas, but we are human beings who are swayed by our moods, human beings who respond to feel-good stimuli – a well-lit Christmas tree, a luminous parol swaying in the chilly December wind, or a heart-tugging Christmas carol sang by a children’s choir. What would Christmas be like without them?

Tami Filler Leung has been making Christmas decor for almost 20 years now. From a home-based hobby (she actually began by making wreaths and bows out of tobacco leaves) – into a full-blown export business that counts among the top US department store chains as outlets, Tami’s Christmas decor business is a Christmas carol in itself. It spreads cheer – from the people she employs in her factory all year round (400 on lean months and 1,000 during peak months) to the thousands of people who display her decor in their homes and offices during the yuletide season.

As a little girl growing up in Baguio, Tami Filler (now Mrs. Nelson Leung) would start preparing for Christmas as early as August, when her mother would remind her to save part of her allowance for Christmas gifts.

But more than the gift-giving, it was the traditional decorating of the Christmas tree that always kept the young Tami in awe of Christmas. Living in Baguio, the "City of Pines," made it easy for the Fillers to "think" and "smell" Christmas.

The preparations would start the moment the Fillers selected a pine tree, cutting it from the top and leaving the base to grow again. The entire family would participate in decorating it with precious glass ornaments that their mother would carefully wrap and store after each holiday season. 

As a young wife, Tami and her husband Nelson lived in the Ilocos region, where Nelson supervised a tobacco company. This time, Tami lived amid tobacco plants and they, too, ignited her creativity. She would collect tobacco leaves, spread and dry them. Then she would sprinkle gold or silver dust over the leaves and fashion them into wreaths and garlands. They were arrestingly beautiful and turning them into Christmas ornaments kept Tami from being a bored housewife in the boondocks of the north.

"To me, Christmas is a feeling. It’s not so much of a season. It’s really a whole-year- round thing that you have in your heart. It’s that extra magic. Life should always be like that. You know decorations (per se) are something totally unnecessary. But you’re augmenting what you have in your house, you’re putting magic by adding these decorations. So for me, they’re adding magic to your life. I tell some people, ‘You’re like Christmas to me.’ So it’s not only a season, it’s a general feeling that you must have in your heart all the time," Tami believes.

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A cursory visit to CITEM almost 20 years ago changed Tami’s life. She was hastily included in that year’s FAME exhibition when CITEM officials saw her Christmas decor, which at that time she would only give to friends as gifts. 

Tami’s exhibit of a tableau of a sitting room complete with a fireplace drew attention and she immediately landed a big order. More orders then started coming in.

"I didn’t know anything about exporting. I didn’t even know that you have to get a customs broker. I tried doing everything myself," recalls Tami.

Financing became a concern as the business grew and Tami had to hire more people and buy more materials.

"I would just ask money from my husband and back then, most of his salary went to financing my hobby-turned-business. The father of my son’s teacher also helped us secure a loan. He happened to be a vice president in a bank."

Nelson later on quit his job and now manages the financial side of the business. Tami takes care of design and creatives. The husband-and-wife team has become a formidable tandem. They would travel together all over the world attending fairs during the early years of the business. Nowadays, they present to buyers in US, Europe and Asia. They also look at trends and source new materials when they go abroad.

The ’90s were their best year, a boom decade as far as Philippine exports were concerned. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington DC also saw a dip in orders. But, as to be expected perhaps from someone whose business it is to bring a glow into other people’s eyes, Tami remains as optimistic as ever.

Her showroom on P. Guevarra street in San Juan is a place Santa would never leave. Trees, garlands, wreaths and tabletop arrangements come in a myriad of designs and colors.

Each corner has a theme – a white Christmas, a minimalist Christmas, a harvest Christmas (with pomegranates galore), a golden Christmas (this year’s "in" colors are amber and gold), even a metallic Christmas! There are also traditional Christmas trees, for Tami has seen through the years that, "People will always like to have the traditional red, green and gold. Sometimes, different shades of red. And the green also, what they do is they pick out a lime color."

According to Tami, the "in" colors for Christmas 2006 are lime green and purple. "Talagang purple na purple," she stresses.

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Tami’s unique style of fusing natural materials like seeds, pods, cones, leaves, branches and vines into a work of art has not gone unnoticed. Aside from being a Golden Shell Awardee for the year 2000, Tamilee Decors has also been cited as the Most Outstanding Hardgoods Vendor by numerous bodies like the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines, Associated Merchandising Corp., Frederick Atkins Corp. and the May Company. Tamilee Decors also received a special award for Countryside Development from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Tami still spends her Christmases in Baguio, where her eldest son, a doctor, has chosen to practice. The joy and wonderment she felt as a little girl growing up amidst the scent of fresh pines has led to a fascinating business that lights up people’s lives the whole year through.

(Tamilee Decors is located at 325-A P. Guevarra St., San Juan with tel. nos. 724-9110 and 726-7609.)

(You may e-mail me at [email protected])