VICTORIA -- Tanya was clearing out her crawlspace when she discovered boxes filled with memories of Christmas presents past.

“The kids were like, ‘I remember that!’” Tanya smiles, pulling out the random assortment of small plastic toys they started reminiscing about. “That was fun!”

While each toy transported her almost-grown children back in time, Tanya was taken to what seemed like just a few moments ago.

“My son used to be crazy about toy cars,” Tanya smiles, before showing me a video of when he was a year old. He’s sitting in a highchair pretending to drink a toy truck out of his cup and laughing. 

“My daughter used to have these plastic animals she’d carry around when she was three,” Tanya adds, showing me pictures of the girls clutching elephants in both fists, and cuddling giraffes. 

“They are very ordinary things that you get to give pleasure to the people you love,” Tanya says. 

They would have remained ordinary things imbued with extraordinary meaning if Tanya hadn’t heard the news about all the Santa Claus events being cancelled because of the pandemic. 

So Tanya decided to help save the season by re-gifting those old toys and reimagining them as small pieces that could be assembled into a large present for the public. 

She built a 3.5-metre Santa sculpture from all those toy cars and plastic animals. The red toys were used for his suit and the white ones for his beard. You can see it at 1337 Fairfield Rd. in Victoria

The sizeable Santa also inspired Tanya to rewrite a seasonal song beginning with the dozen red stripes that make up his legs. 

“On the twelfth day of Christmas,” Tanya starts singing, “Santa gave to me, 12 Hot Wheels tracks.”

The song continues with a list that includes Legos interlocking, polar bears surveying, and gears turning. Tanya posted the lyrics on a nearby sign, so you can search for what you’re singing about. 

“Four rubber chickens, three wooden blocks, two Transformers,” she sings, before taking a breath to belt out the last lyric. “And a homemade bumblebee!”

Tanya’s daughter made the bumblebee that’s now Santa’s belt buckle in shop class. Her son suggested the sculpture turn into an advent calendar of sorts. 

“Every day through Dec. 24, I will be adding a new toy on Santa,” she explains.

If you can find the daily addition and tell Tanya through her “Victoria Drifter” Instagram account, she’ll enter you into a draw to win one of her handmade birds. 

“What I hope is that it gives people a little joy,” Tanya says. “Puts a smile on their face.”

And perhaps reminds us that our big, enduring memories are made from life’s small, yet meaningful moments.