'Gifts from the Heart': how Jill Biden decorated the White House for Christmas

The White House unveiled its holiday decorations in line with the theme chosen this year by First Lady Jill Biden, who called her inspiration "Gifts from the Heart." What the White House looks like on the eve of Christmas, the newspaper said CNN.

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East Wing Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander said the idea behind Biden's theme was to showcase "things that heal and bring us together." Biden and the East Wing began planning holiday decorations in early summer, narrowing down ideas and starting to visualize how it would be implemented.

Each of the White House rooms, which remains closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has a personalized presentation of the theme. The butterfly-decorated library room reflects the "gift of learning," while the Vermeil Room celebrates the "gift of the visual arts" with Christmas wreaths and various ornaments.

At the China Room, which displays the official porcelain collection of previous administrations year round, the table was set in "grandma's calm," according to Alexander, as a tribute to Biden's favorite family dinners, with candles and flowers in the center. The Christmas trees in the room, decorated in the theme of "the gift of friendship and care", hung ornaments in the form of paper hands, forming circles and stars. This idea also belongs to the first lady.

On the subject: The only working first lady of the United States in history: Jill Biden goes to work full-time

In the dining room, two large Christmas trees were decorated with framed photographs of the first families in the White House during the holidays, as well as several images from the Biden private archive that have never been published before.

"The First Lady spent the last few weekends while at home in Delaware looking through photo albums and choosing her favorite photos," Alexander said.

There were photographs of previous administrations taken from the archives of the White House: Kennedy, Clintons, Johnsons, Reagans, as well as Trumps.

There are six stockings hanging by the fireplace in the dining room for each of Biden's grandchildren. Letters to President Biden adorn the tree in the East Hall.

There are 41 Christmas trees, 6000 feet (1,8 km) of holiday ribbon, more than 300 candles and more than 10 decorations, according to the White House.

However, there has been and is a lack of abundant furnishings over the past few years. More bare corners, less fake snow and flickering lights, the Christmas trees in Cross Hall don't bump into the ceiling or crowded together. The Green Room only has two Christmas trees and purple orchids, some of Biden's favorite flowers.

The East Wing said in a statement that the first lady was "inspired by the small expressions of kindness and emotion that lifted our spirits this year and throughout the pandemic."

The annual White House gingerbread house - a 350-pound (158 kg) replica of the original that took executive pastry chef Susan Morrison and her team several weeks to build - was accompanied by other smaller "buildings" made from gingerbread and icing. including a hospital, fire station, police station, warehouse and school.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

White House public relations spokesman Carlos Elizondo said the idea was to pay tribute to the workers who keep the country running at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.

Elizondo added that the first lady also wanted the White House gingerbread this year to include something that had never been done before, so Morrison attached a large, illuminated wreath at the top of the North Portico.

US President Joe Biden and the First Lady inspected the jewelry on November 28 in the evening after returning from Thanksgiving in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Jill Biden set up the last edible figurine: a tiny teacher leaning against the railing of the stairs.

“Everything except the board it sits on is edible,” Morrison said.

Jill Biden personally thanked the more than 100 volunteers who hung decorations over the past week. Many of them arrived before Thanksgiving to begin work; by Sunday everything was “ready to go,” Alexander said.

Typically, volunteers from all over the country apply for finishing, but due to the pandemic this year they were only selected in Washington DC.

Read also on ForumDaily:

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'Melania ruined everything': Americans ask Jill Biden to redo the White House garden

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