I missed Oprah’s Christmas at the White House television interview with the president and first lady, but I got a chance to get up close and personal — with the decor at least — during a White House holiday tour on Monday. Several AAUW staff and I joined hundreds of guests to take a self-guided tour through the East Wing. We stopped to make a holiday wish and to help decorate the recycled cardboard wish tree, to see the 18-foot White House Christmas tree laden with more than 800 refurbished glass ornaments from previous administrations, and to check out the White House gingerbread house including a replica of the White House garden and a miniature of Bo.
The White House Christmas Tree
View more photos from our tour on Flickr.
The theme of this year’s holiday decorations — Reflect, Rejoice, and Renew — focuses on using and reusing natural materials. Of course the White House decorations put those on my 4-foot Charlie Brown tree to shame, but I think I’ll follow the White House example … with a twist. Rather than purchasing new decorations this year, I’ll stick with the unnatural craft art foam and glitter ornaments made by my then 3-year-old son. You can’t beat a mitten with 20 googly eyes to help you reflect on happy memories and to rejoice in your blessings.
Oh, you’ve got to see this new book then. Christmas at the White House was written by Jennifer Pickens, a political fundraiser with lots of access to the White House, so she got some amazing photos and stories to go with them, starting with the Kennedys and going through George W. All six living first ladies wrote their memories for the book. to see more you can go here: http://www.christmasatthewhitehouse.com