BEHIND THE SCENES: A look back at White House Christmas elegance

buzzz worthy. . .

By Mona Austin

From  shops and stores, to office buildings and homes, in the Capital area it still looks a lot like Christmas everywhere you go throughout the month of January.  Decorations enable us to carry  the bliss of the season into the New Year.  To kick off Christmas in Washington, designers from all over the country went all out capturing the awe and wonder of Christmas  for the the residents and visitors of  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  The elegantly decorated White House indeed  leaves a lasting impression.

This year I attended a preview of the 2014 White House decorations.  The theme  "Children's Winter Wonderland" intended to capture the pureness of Christmas through the eyes of children.
at t Take an inside look at the decked halls that kicked off Christmas at Americas most famous address.

Plan ahead.  Use this behnd the scenes look at White House décor as a model  for future inspiration while holiday decorations are at bargain basement prices at after-Christmas sales.

It is Obama family tradition to spend Christmas in President Obama's native Hawaii.  Before leaving the family aptly celebrates the season in Washington, DC  hosting military families and entertaining the staff and  guests from near and far.

Theses designers f involving technology, 26 trees on display in public rooms and an enormous amount of sugar.

Think of the time and attention to detail it takes to prepare for a VIP dinner guest to walk through your doors, then multiply it by thousands to get a sense of how much work goes into readying the White House for the holiday season.

"Here at the White House, the holidays are a chance for us to show what our country is grateful for this holiday season, and that’s all of you, the military families who serve our nation proudly and give us all so much.  Because we know that too often, your stories of courage and strength often get lost in the shuffle.  And there are a lot of people who don’t realize what you all go through."

It all starts just after Thanksgiving as the official Christmas tree arrives on a Clydesdale drawn carriage.  This year on November 28 First Lady Michelle Obama, Sasha, Malia, Bo, and Sunny greeted the 18.5-foot-tall Concolor Fir, along with the Botek family -- who grew the impressive evergreen on the Crystal Spring Tree Farm in Leighton, Pennsylvania. This tree was the grandest of them all, said First Lady Obama, so large the doors of the White House were removed from their hinges to bring it into its official spot, The Blue Room, where it was covered with 2,000 ornaments.

The mother of all  interior decorating feats was left in the hands of over 30 volunteers from around the country who  feverishly styled the halls of the White House in less than a week for its projected 65,000 visitors over the holiday season.   The "Children's Winter Wonderland" theme is worked throughout the opulent decor, perhaps the highlight of which are the interactive Bo and Sunny replicas displayed in the Booksellers hallway.  A 420-pound Ginger Bread House sits in the  Room.  TheState Ding

Continuing support for the Joint Forces initiative she and Dr. Jill Biden head up,  First Lady Obama hosted military families as the very first guests of the season to view the decked halls on December 3. 

The first tree indoors (of the 26 total) that greets visitors honors verterans.  It sits alone adorned in patriotic ornaments, some bearing the names of fallen veterans written on ceramic stars lined in gold supplied by the White House.

The aroma of fresh evergreens fill the wreath lined hallway. A total of 26 Christmas trees throughout the house were decorated in themes for each room. The two most creative trees await visitors in the Vermeil room in place of traditional trees.  Metal dress forms were transformed into stunning, avant guard "tree-dresses" A volunteer explained a dress in a New York City store window inspired First Lady Obama to recreated the idea with Christmas flair. Designer Alexis Bittar created the hand-sculpted Lucite ornaments and jewelry for the dress forms. Bittar designed flower ornaments in muted pinks, purple and ivory with crystal centers and hand-blown birds. The hand-sculpted necklaces on the bust form are composed of Lucite ivory pine cones and interwoven with vintage broaches.

Jewelry and ornaments  by jewelry  designer Alexis Bittar adorn Christmas tree dresses in the Vermeil Room in the White House.  An out-of-state volunteer designer poses with the unique design.

Photo: Mona Austin

The White House and Eisenhower Building Photo: Mona Austin

Journalist Mona Austin at the 2014 White House Christmas Decor Preview.

     But I have to tell you that your presence here today is a powerful reminder for all of us what this season is really all about.  So often, we get caught up in the holiday rush –- all the plans for the menu, the logistics traveling to families, the shopping for people, the making your list, checking it twice.  Sometimes we get caught up in all of that, but ultimately, that’s not what this season is about.  It’s really about serving others. It’s about giving more than we receive.  And it’s about showing those we love how much they mean to us.

     And that’s one of the reasons why, here at the White House, the holidays are a chance for us to show what our country is grateful for this holiday season, and that’s all of you, the military families who serve our nation proudly and give us all so much.  Because we know that too often, your stories of courage and strength often get lost in the shuffle.  And there are a lot of people who don’t realize what you all go through.

     They don’t know that military spouses often have to pick up and move their families again and again and again, often at the expense of their own careers.  Many people don’t know that you all are parents and grandparents and siblings, like Susan, who have lost those you love most in the world.  And of course, they don’t know about you kids and all that you have to go through.  They don’t know that oftentimes military kids have to start at a new school every couple of years, which means a tough transition for some of them, although they do it so bravely.  And they’re so smart, but they have to adjust to new classes and new friends and new teammates, and that’s not always easy, right?  But you guys get it done, but a lot of people don’t know that.

     But no matter what you all are going through -- this is the thing that really keeps me going -- is that you guys always, always step up.  So many of you are the ones who are doing all the volunteering, more so than many average Americans.  You’re the ones who are cooking the meals for your neighbors and taking over the carpool.  You guys are the ones who are organizing food drives and sending care packages.  You guys are the ones who are volunteering everywhere -- in your congregations, school fundraisers, stepping up whenever your families and friends need you. 

Photo: Mona Austin

     And as First Lady, one of my most important missions is to make sure that you feel this country’s gratitude for everything that you do.  And that’s one of the reasons why Jill Biden and I, we’ve worked so hard through our Joining Forces initiative, because we want to make sure that you guys are honored and supported every single day.  And that’s why, once again, we are celebrating our military families with our holiday decorations here at the White House.
 

     I don’t know if you’ve noticed that, again, in the East Room [Landing], as Susan mentioned, we’ve got a tree adorned with ceramic star ornaments trimmed in gold and signed by Gold Star family members to honor their loved ones.  That’s how you kick off your experience here at the White House -- that the first tree you see.  And then once again, we’re giving folks a chance to pledge to serve their community here at the White House in honor of our veterans or military families, because we want to make sure that we’re not just honoring these families during the holidays, but we’re honoring you every single day of the year.  And we get a wonderful response every year to those commitments, those pledges.

     And then this year, our official White House tree, the big huge tree -- have you guys seen the biggest, hugest tree?  Have you seen it?  I think this is the biggest tree we’ve had.  And this tree is in honor of our men and women in uniform.  It is beautiful.  We’ve got a tree that was so big that we had to take the hinges off of the front door and take the doors off -- literally -- just to get this tree in.  Can you imagine that?  (Laughter.)  It’s huge.  It’s the biggest tree ever.  But it’s beautiful, because it has patriotic ornaments and ribbons that read “America the Brave,” as well as some wonderful cards created by children across the country to thank all of you for your service to our country.  It’s beautiful.

     And in addition to these really wonderful tributes to our military families, we have some of a -- a few of the special touches to really build upon our holiday theme this year, which is “A Children’s Winter Wonderland.”  I wish you could see their faces.  (Laughter.)  They’re giving me a lot of personality here. 

     But this year, we’ve got some new twists.  We’ve got a lot of fun, new technologies; we’re playing with technology this year.  For instance, in the Booksellers, where you saw the Bo animals -- did you see Bo and Sunny?  Did you notice that there’s a beautiful interactive snowscape projection on the East Wall?  I haven’t seen it yet.  Did you see it?  And you can wave your hands around and it can -- it looks like you’re playing in the snow.  You haven’t seen it.  Well, I haven’t seen it either, so we’ll make sure to get that covered.  (Laughter.) 

     Have you seen the animated versions of Bo and Sunny?  I haven’t seen those yet either.  Sunny’s eyes move with a motion sensor.  I hope it’s working.  (Laughter.)  But it should be fun.  And then we’ve got a selection of the winners of our 3D-printed ornament challenge that are displayed throughout the house, so that’s something you all can try to find, where those ornaments are.

     And, as always, we have all of the wonderful things that make the holiday season at the White House so unique and special -- guess how many trees we have here scattered all throughout the White House?  But no matter what you all are going through -- this is the thing that really keeps me going -- is that you guys always, always step up.  So many of you are the ones who are doing all the volunteering, more so than many average Americans.  You’re the ones who are cooking the meals for your neighbors and taking over the carpool.  You guys are the ones who are organizing food drives and sending care packages.  You guys are the ones who are volunteering everywhere -- in your congregations, school fundraisers, stepping up whenever your families and friends need you. But no matter what you all are going through -- this is the thing that really keeps me going -- is that you guys always, always step up.  So many of you are the ones who are doing all the volunteering, more so than many average Americans.  You’re the ones who are cooking the meals for your neighbors and taking over the carpool.  You guys are the ones who are organizing food drives and sending care packages.  You guys are the ones who are volunteering everywhere -- in your congregations, school fundraisers, stepping up whenever your families and friends need you.

 
First Lady Michelle Obama