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First lady Jill Biden unveiled the 2022 Christmas decorations on Nov. 28 and thanked volunteers from across the country who helped decorate the White House to celebrate the season. Beginning in the Eisenhower Administration, a large Christmas tree has been consistently featured in the Blue Room. The centerpiece of the holiday season, an 18 ½ foot Fraser Fir from Jefferson, North Carolina, stands floor to ceiling and fills the oval room. Every year, the room’s chandelier is removed to accommodate the Christmas tree’s full height.
White House 2023 Christmas decorations by Glitterville of Knoxville - Knoxville News Sentinel
White House 2023 Christmas decorations by Glitterville of Knoxville.
Posted: Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
White House wreaths
The first Christmas tree featured inside the White House is adorned with wooden Gold Star ornaments that are engraved with the names of fallen service members. The Gold Star tree honors the heroic men and women of our Nation’s military who have laid down their lives for our country, those who are Missing in Action, and the families who carry on their legacies. 83,615 lights were used to decorate the trees, garlands, wreaths, and displays in the White House.
"We the People"
The White House says its pastry team used 55 sheets of baked gingerbread, 120 pounds of pastillage sugar-paste icing, 35 pounds of chocolate and 25 pounds of royal icing. The display features a gingerbread hospital, police station, fire station, gas station, school, post office, and grocery store. The China Room displays tableware and china sets used by past presidential families. The Library decorations are dedicated to educators who "found ways to connect with students in new and innovative ways, pushing through the challenges of the pandemic," according to the White House Holiday Guide. The gold star ornaments feature the names and ranks of the fallen soldiers, as well as their dates of death. The theme of the White House Christmas decorations is chosen by the first lady every year.
White House Christmas Tree
The State Dining Room has been transformed into Santa's workshop, with elves' workbenches, stools and ladders circling the Christmas trees and tools and gifts-in-progress rounding out the décor. Glowing candles and stained glass in the Green Room celebrate faith, and holiday craft-making is the theme in the Red Room, where a tradition of featuring cranberries continues. The State Dining Room has been transformed into Santa’s workshop, with elves’ workbenches, stools and ladders circling Christmas trees, and tools and gifts-in-progress rounding out the décor. An array of winter-themed Christmas decorations are on display at the White House in Washington, D.C. Christmas decorations are displayed in the Cross Hall of the White House on Nov. 28, 2022. The decorative trees lining the East Colonnade of the White House are intended to represent a first woodland snowfall.
With bright colors and three-dimensional elements, guests will gaze in wonder as they are taken on a delightful adventure around the tree. A replica of a vintage passenger train, on loan from the Train Collectors Association, magically weaves through the tree’s base. In the Grand Foyer and Cross Hall of the White House, metal ribbons are inscribed with the names of all the 57 states, territories, and the District of Columbia, and mark the year each entered the Union. Mirrored ornaments and reflective surfaces ensure that visitors can see themselves in the décor, noting that the strength of our country—the Soul of our Nation—comes from We the People. In the Red Room, towers of candles and glowing stained-glass windows reflect the comfort, peace, and strength we find in faith. It’s often in quiet, candlelit rooms when we can see most clearly and feel most connected to ourselves and the world around us.
Thank You For Playing, and Happy Holidays From The White House!
Hanging from the fireplace in the State Dining Room are the Biden family stockings, which will get filled with an orange in the toe — a tradition from the first lady's grandmother. The East Colonnade of the White House is decorated with winter trees, animals and lanterns. On Monday, first lady Jill Biden revealed this year's Christmas decorations, under the theme "We the People," which she selected months ago.
Red Room
Every year, the Blue Room’s chandelier is removed to accommodate the Christmas tree’s full height. Each room and design element throughout the White House holiday display encourages you to embrace your inner child, indulge your senses, and delight in the “Magic, Wonder, and Joy” of the season. As the largest room in the White House, the East Room has hosted public receptions, ceremonies, bill signings, and other memorable occasions. It also features a portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt, who helped establish 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks, and 18 national monuments on over 230 million acres of public lands. Winter trees, handmade woodland animals, and glowing lanterns line the journey down the East Colonnade, evoking the feelings of peace and tranquility after the first snowfall. The entrance to the East Wing of the White House displays the "We the People" theme that first lady Jill Biden picked earlier this year.
Winter Holidays and the White House
Among them will be French President Emmanuel Macron, who will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday and be honored at a state dinner, the first of the Biden administration. This holiday, as you gather hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart around the dinner table, we hope the China Room inspires you to share healing laughs, comforting meals, and warm memories with loved ones, extending the Gift of Friendship and Sharing. Wrapping the branches of the room’s Christmas tree are garlands of intertwined hands symbolizing friendship, fellowship, and merriment. To celebrate the Gift of the Visual Arts, the Vermeil (French for “gilded silver”) Room glows with bright, bold, colorful paint brushes and paint swatches, representing the diverse American artists whose talents bring delight to all. From historic portraits to graphic art displays, from light installations to marble sculptures, from wood carvings to children’s handprint art, the visual arts bring us joy, calm our minds, and inspire our imaginations. The stunning tree celebrates cheerful scenes, landscapes, and neighborhoods from all across the country, with names of every state, territory, and the District of Columbia, showcased throughout the decor.
This family's game board is a treasured Hannukah relic
The room was dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to serve as the White House Library in 1935 and now holds approximately 2,700 volumes of books, focusing primarily on American history and literature. Dating back to the Eisenhower administration, a large Christmas tree has been consistently featured in the Blue Room. This view shows the White House from the Ellipse, where the National Christmas Tree is surrounded by smaller trees representing the 50 states. The room also displays a Nativity scene with over 40 figurines that dates back to the 18th century. The gold-star ornaments are engraved with service members' names, ranks, and dates of death.
The White House says more than 150 volunteers came together to decorate the building over the course of a week. It has eight detailed replicas of community buildings to honor front-line workers, including a hospital, police station and fire station. As part of Joining Forces, her White House initiative to support military families, Jill Biden was joined by National Guard leaders from across the country, as well as National Guard families. Stockings hang over the fireplace in the State Dining Room, which is decorated to reflect the theme "The Gift of Family." The White House is illuminated and decorated with wreaths, with the National Christmas Tree lit up on the Ellipse, surrounded by smaller trees representing the 50 states. The official 2021 White House Christmas tree, displayed in the Blue Room, is an 18-and-a-half-foot Fraser fir from Jefferson, North Carolina.
A Christmas tree stands in the Red Room during a press preview of White House holiday decorations on Nov. 29. The official White House Christmas tree, an 18.5-foot-tall (5.6-meter-tall) Fraser fir, stands in its usual place in the Blue Room. The massive tree highlights cheerful scenes, landscapes and neighborhoods from across the country. “Each room is designed to capture this pure, unfiltered delight and imagination” so visitors “see this time of year through the wondrous, sparkling eyes of children,” the first lady said Monday at the first of a month’s worth of holiday receptions.
Each set reflects the presidents and first ladies who selected their designs and recalls the State Dinners and celebratory meals that have brought together world leaders and diplomats. Holiday greenery and red cardinals line the columns and beams of the East Wing Lobby. Many people believe that red cardinals signify the presence of lost loved ones.
