‘My Christening Box’ modernise religious icons

·

Marble, Onyx, Brazilian crystal and Terrazzo. All luxury materials which most people don’t typically associate with religious icons.

That is until co-founders of ‘My Christening Box,’ Mary Panayi and Soula Violakis, came along with their brilliant and innovative idea to modernise and customise religious icons according to the needs and style of their business clients.

“We came up with the idea during COVID. Soula lost her job and I decided to leave an industry that I was in for 25 years,” Mary tells The Greek Herald exclusively.

Co-founders of ‘My Christening Box,’ Mary Panayi and Soula Violakis. Photo supplied.

“During this time, we recognised people were still having christenings without the celebrations as people still needed to christen their children. The thought was to create the essential christening box with a personalised icon to lower costs for an unpredictable future.”

From there, Mary and Soula, who have known each other for seven years, decided to launch their small business ‘My Christening Box’ and now offer “an Australian made perspex christening box with all the essential items included.”

“We decided to customise our icons with different types of marble, onyx, Brazilian crystal and terrazzo that is designed in Sydney for us and sent to Italy,” Mary explains.

“We crack the stone ourselves and then… transfer [the image] onto the cracked stone. We hand paint around the icon and then we use resin for a sleek finish.”

Modernised religious icons by My Christening Box. Photo supplied.

Although this process is clearly a time-consuming one, Mary says it’s rewarding and humbling to see how emotional clients get when they receive their icons.

“We strive to execute every single icon to perfection… We believe that our icons attract a Greek target market because it is a modernised take on a religious icon,” Mary says.

“Soula and I feel that if it is not up to us as parents to educate our children with our religious beliefs, it will all get lost. Our parents came here from Greece and passed on these beliefs and now it is our duty to do the same.”

If you would like your own personalised icon or christening box, you can find ‘My Christening Box’ on Instagram.

greek film festival sydney new

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Greek Australian Jono Petrohilos leads global fitness education evolution

Greek-Australian entrepreneur Jono Petrohilos shares how he turned his passion for fitness into a global education success story.

Greek Film Festival makes historic debut in Western Sydney

History was made in Parramatta as the 30th Greek Film Festival of Sydney held its official Western Sydney opening at the Riverside Theatres,

Brisbane Roar’s Georgios Vrakas eyes Socceroos future

Brisbane Roar’s new midfielder Georgios Vrakas says he would “love to play for Australia” as he prepares for his A-League debut.

Melbourne Shrine, a symbol, shines light on Greek government’s commitment to diaspora

At Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, Greece’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Loverdos honoured shared battles.

‘You are a living piece of Greece’: Loverdos moved by Melbourne Greeks

Greece's Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Loverdos was visibly moved during a warm welcome at the Greek Community of Melbourne.

You May Also Like

WWII Submarine HMS Trooper finally discovered in Greece

For years, recovery teams tried to locate the wreckage of the HMS Trooper submarine, last reported seen on October 14, 1943.

‘Lives in our hands’: Pauline Maniskas on helping people with a disability surf in NSW

Pauline Maniskas shares with The Greek Herald what it's like to help people with a disability surf in New South Wales.

170 kg of marijuana seized by police at Turkey-Greece border

Turkish customs officers seized 177 kilograms (390 pounds) of marijuana in an anti-narcotics operation at the Greek border.