Deborah Ajaja is the Founder of Colour Celebrations, a company offering luxury milestone cards for black and mixed-race babies. After searching for meaningful and representative gift items for her son, she started creating milestone cards 2 years ago to celebrate black culture, hue and heritage and has since expanded to create cards for babies of mixed ethnicity. She has also launched the Colourful Motherhood Campaign, celebrating the British Motherhood experience raising black and mixed race babies. Visit the website to find out more.
This Christmas is going to be a little different this year for many families, what have you got planned?
2020 has been a crazy year! And this year, there is a possibility we may not be able to see our loved ones like the years before. But we are so thankful for life and the ability to celebrate the festive season. It will also be my daughter’s first Christmas, so we plan to keep things simple, and focus our time on making sweet memories that will last forever. This includes taking family pictures including My First Christmas milestone photo, getting our new BBQ out and grilling up some dishes to accompany our Afro-Anglo Christmas dinner fusion including turkey and jollof rice. If we can’t have our family over, we will definitely have a cyber family Christmas dinner, complete with place settings and FaceTime!
What are your favourite Christmas traditions?
The lead up to Christmas is genuinely my favourite time of year. I love everything from listening to Christmas songs (as early as October… yes I’ve been listening to my Christmas playlist all month long!), ordering Christmas inspired drinks from my local coffee shop and ordering matching Christmas pyjamas for my family. The day itself is always centred around family and is a pretty chilled affair, consisting of presents, photos, music, lots of food and even more laughter.
Who’s gift are you most looking forward to choosing this year and what have you got planned?
I can’t wait to get gifts for my children. I love personalised items and spending meaningfully, so I’m excited to see what I can find that will be a wonderful, tailored touch for my little treasures. We’re also in the process of decorating our new home, so I’ll definitely be getting some cool pieces from Mini Maison for the kids’ rooms and play spaces.
Who’s the trickiest to buy for and what have you got planned?
My husband! I have no idea what to get him, so if you have any pointers, please share!
What’s the one thing that makes Christmas, Christmassy for you?
Christmas wouldn’t be the same without family! Which is why we’ll be making an extra effort to connect and celebrate with one another this year. it’s really important to me to spend time with them, making memories. It won’t be the same this year, but I still look forward to being around the people I love most during the most wonderful time of the year!
Quick Fire round!
Star or fairy? STAR!
Roses or Quality Street? Roses! Who likes Quality Street? Yuck!
Turkey? Yuck! Try duck
Sprouts? Yes please!
And finally, what are you hoping to find in your stocking this year?
I am so happy to be alive and well. Life is a gift and so, if I am able to wake up on Christmas morning, surrounded by the people I love most, that will be gift in itself.