She looked at her watch.I was gone a long time.“I’m sorry. I only meant to be gone like ten minutes. Are they coming back?”
“I don’t think they need to,” Natalie said. “There’s really only one more thing I’m considering doing once we finish tucking all the holly sprigs into place, which you are now in charge of.”
“That adds so much.” She repositioned one sprig and picked up a handful to get to work. “That was a great idea, Amanda.” Sheila leaned in, looking for a wire or hook. “How are they staying in place?” One of the spiny leaves stuck her as she investigated. “Ouch, that’s sharp.”
“Be careful.” Amanda winced. “Glue dots.” She handed over a box of them to Sheila. “It’s simple to just press them in place that way, and easier to avoid the pointy edges, which are a bit unforgiving, as you can see.”
“It’s like a paper cut. Invisible, but it smarts.” Sheila wiggled the branch, and the holly bunch sat steady. “Perfect. I like the glue-dot idea.”
“Yep. Amanda fits right in with us,” Natalie said.
“I’m a glue-dot expert,” Amanda said with no apology. “The permanent ones work almost as good as hot glue, if you ask me.”
“And you can’t see them.” Sheila watched Natalie fuss with a box. “Need help?”
“That depends. I collected these from around the cabin.” She unfolded the top of the box.
“What are they?” Sheila lifted a strange, woodsy, bark-like thing from the box. “A flower?”
“It is now. I made it out of natural things on my property.”
“That’s a sweet-gum ball in the middle. Those hurt like you-know-what when you step on them barefoot.” Sheila cocked her head. “But I’ve never seen those other things.”
“You’re such a city girl,” Natalie teased, fully aware that just a short year ago she had considered herself one. “Look, I gluedmilkweed pods in a circle to make a star-shaped flower. Then, I glued a sweet-gum ball in the middle. If you don’t like them, I might just make a wreath out of them, but I thought they were kind of fun.”
“I like them. I think we have enough ornaments, though, don’t you?” Amanda cocked her head as she eyed the tree, as if trying to decide.
“What I was thinking was to use either white ribbon or natural jute to create a garland out of them. Maybe one every two feet or even three feet apart. Either that or lay out the garland on top of the tree skirt to make it look like a flowery serpentine design.”
“I vote for the tree skirt. I think it would add a lot of interest without taking away from the tree.”
“I have to agree,” Sheila said. “I think anything else we do will only take away from it.”
“Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.” Natalie held up a spool of white ribbon and a wheel of jute. “Which do you like?”
“White,” they both answered.
“Me too.” She unraveled a long length of the white ribbon and started twirling it around on the tree skirt. They played with it until they came up with just the right number of graceful curves, then started attaching the pod flowers to it and glue-dotting everything in place.
From the wide, gauzy red and white sheer ribbons generously woven in and out of the branches from top to bottom, to the lights dancing off of every sparkly accoutrement, the tree dazzled without question.
Each birdhouse had its own personality, and Natalie had jazzed them up with so many tiny details that they earned a deserving pause.
“Who is ready to turn on the tree topper?” Sheila asked.
“I’ve been dying to see what it looks like lit up. I hope it’s bright enough,” Natalie said.
Sheila plugged the topper into the power strip.
“Look!” Sheila pointed to the back of the two-story birdhouse. In tiny drilled-out holes, the letters spelledHOME TWEET HOME.
The girls gathered around, and as if rehearsed, they all let out a simultaneous “Awww.”
Natalie’s eyes glossed over. “He didn’t even know the name of our tree. I swear that man can read my mind. It’s perfect!”
“It is,” Sheila agreed. A tiny green 3D Christmas tree with fairy lights rose from inside the front window of the tall birdhouse topper. “How’d he do that?”
“I have no idea, but it’s pretty awesome.” Natalie couldn’t take her eyes off of it.
