For 25 years St. Nicolas has worked with a small Christian charity in Thailand that helps disadvantaged rural women find work in their community, rather than being forced to leave home to work in a factory. Today, some 200 skilled women work at home sewing our decorations, and many of them have been doing so for more than 10 years. All the historical figure decorations are made in this way as well as numerous other designs. The Indian Christmas decorations are made using the traditional method of zardozi embroidery. Zari (meaning gold) embroidery originated in Persia and reached India in the 12th century. It is a highly skilled embroidery technique that traditionally used gold wires and jewels to embellish courtly robes. Zardozi work is a rare and respected craft, the skills of which are handed down from generation to generation.