by WASHINGTON (AP) – Step inside the White House during the holidays to walk under the branches of a Christmas tree. Stroll along a hall decorated with oversized holiday candy and other sweets. Watch Santa’s sleigh and his eight reindeer hang over the grand foyer in dramatic fashion.
Jill Biden wants everyone who visits the White House during the holidays to feel like a kid again.
“Each room is designed to capture this pure, unfiltered joy and imagination” so visitors can “see this time of year through the wonderful, sparkling eyes of children,” the first lady said Monday at a holiday reception for of the month at least. Around 100,000 visitors are expected for the holidays.
“Magic, Wonder and Joy” is the theme this year, President Joe Biden’s third in the White House.
Jill Biden said it was “so amazing” to see the Christmas tree atop the entrance to the East Wing when they returned Sunday night after spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
“When Joe and I saw that last night, we were just like mesmerized,” she said.
The dazzling array of decorations is meant to evoke feelings of wonder and wonder that send children over the edge of joy during the holidays, White House aides said.
Throughout the two public floors of the White House, there are several nods in the décor to the 200th anniversary of the publication of the poem and book called “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” (The official title is “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” ”)
The papier-mâché reindeer hanging in the foyer are “so cool,” she said. “It’s like they’re jumping off the pages of a storybook. I don’t know how you feel about it. I think it’s just amazing.”
The Library of Congress provided examples of editions of the book from the past 200 years which are displayed in protective cases along the ground floor corridor. The traditional White Gingerbread House includes a large sugar cookie replica of the book opened to a page that says “Merry Christmas to all, and good night to all”. Santa’s sleigh and reindeer also fly over the cookie-cutter White House.
National Guard families, who joined the first lady as part of her Joining Forces initiative to support military families, were among the first members of the public to see the decorations. The children of these military families and others also starred in a cast-produced performance of the North American tour of the Disney musical “Frozen.”
One of the first Christmas trees visitors see after entering the White House is decorated with wooden gold star ornaments engraved with the names of fallen service members.
The White House’s official Christmas tree, an 18.5-foot-tall (5.6-meter-tall) Fraser fir, stands in its usual place in the Blue Room. The huge tree shows delightful scenes, landscapes and neighborhoods from all over the country. A toy train runs around the bottom.
The State Dining Room has been transformed into Santa’s workshop, with workbenches, stools and elves’ ladders surrounding Christmas trees, while tools and gifts are on hand to complete the décor.
The dining room is the standard stage for the White Gingerbread House, which was assembled using 40 sheets of sugar cookie dough for the book and 40 sheets of gingerbread for the house, 90 pounds (41 kilograms) of pastillage, cake decorating dough, 30 pounds (14 kilograms) of chocolate and 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of royal icing.
The library honors the tradition of bedtime stories with golden moons and twinkling stars; The China Room has been turned into a sweet shop with baked goods, and the Vermeil Room celebrates music with a display of large figures of the Sea Band rotating with trumpets.
Glowing candles and stained glass in the Green Room celebrate faith, while holiday crafts are the theme in the Red Room, where a tradition of displaying toys continues.
The official White House Menorah is displayed in the Hall of the Cross that connects the State Dining Room and the East Room, decorated with trees and various advent calendars.
The decoration also bears resemblances to the family cat Willow and the Dog Commander, who was recently put away after multiple incidents of biting Secret Service personnel.
Ninety-eight Christmas trees, nearly 34,000 ornaments, more than 22,000 bells and more than 350 candles were used in the décor, according to the White House. Lighting of almost 142,500 trees, garlands, wreaths and other displays, and almost 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) of ribbon as part of it all.
There are seventy-two wreaths with red ribbons on the north and south exterior of the building.
About 300 volunteer decorators and designers spent a few days last week collecting decorations from a warehouse. They spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday putting the decorations in their right places.
