Memories of Christmases Past

By Isis Hiroe

When Carol Bustin was growing up, her family didn’t have much money and the only time anything new came into her home was at Christmas. As a kid, it was a time of year to dream of all the possibilities.

Bustin couldn’t give her parents a list of presents she wanted. She’d ask for one thing, and she would always put great thought into it. She’d carefully go through the Eaton’s catalogue, page by page.

“Looking back,” says Bustin, “if someone were to hand me that catalogue today, I’d look at it and wonder why on earth anybody would want any of that stuff!” 

As much as Bustin poured through the attractions in the Eaton’s catalog, it was her mother’s homemade presents that stuck with her more than any of the purchased gifts.

“I found myself following in my mother’s footsteps, making many presents all throughout my adulthood.”

One year, Bustin remembers making nine Holly Hobbie dolls, each of their clothing pieces matching the rooms of the girls she was giving them to. She’d sew little dresses, pinafores and pantaloons. She curled yarn for hair and stitched it all into place. 

When Bustin went into teaching, she was thrilled to share her love of Christmas gift crafting with her students. Soon enough, other teachers asked if she could teach theirs too, and Christmas crafting with multiple grades became an annual role. Most of Bustin’s favorite Christmases were filled to the brim with teaching and craft making and Christmas craft stories.

One year, while Bustin was teaching, straw wreaths were a popular thing.

 “I wanted to teach my students how to make straw Christmas wreaths, but there wasn’t any money to spend on supplies.  So, I contacted a local farmer and went to his place with my students. I showed up with around two-hundred kids,” Bustin said.

 Each child had arrived with a hanger and a ball of yarn. They collected heaps of straw and sat on the ground, shoving it into bags, adding pine cones for decoration. 

While the straw bags sat in the classroom, waiting to be braided and decorated, a little mouse decided to live amongst the straw. Bustin and her students called him George. “We’d all talk to him, almost as if he were a class pet,” says Bustin. “The kids truly loved that he was living there.” 

Unfortunately, George was a short-term resident. Bustin remembers being in a teachers’ meeting and hearing the principal being called to her classroom over the loudspeaker. George had emerged while the Home Economics teacher was supervising.

George was history. But to this day, when Christmas is around the corner, you can be sure that Bustin is still making crafts.