What It Takes To Get The White House in The Holiday Spirit
The White House unveiled this year’s over-the-top decorations and theme
By
MARY BRUCE and DEVIN DWYER
December 3, 2014, 2:37 PM ET
• 2 min read
— -- The holidays have officially arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The White House today unveiled this year's over-the-top decorations and theme, which is "A Children’s Winter Wonderland."
As families across the nation decorate their own homes, and wrestle with those pesky Christmas lights, here's a look at what it takes to bring holiday cheer to the White House:
In all, 106 volunteers from 37 states came together to create this year's White House "Winter Wonderland."
There are 26 different Christmas trees, including 1 official tree in the Blue Room that stands 18 feet high and nearly 12 feet wide and is adorned with 2,000 unique ornaments.
It took more than 1 mile of black and white ribbon to create this year's animated replicas of First Dogs Sunny and Bo.
80 pounds of gingerbread dough, 40 pounds of marzipan and 25 pounds of sugar were used to make 1 massive gingerbread White House.
300 bunches of preserved hydrangea were carefully woven together to create the archway in the East Colonnade.
It took 30 volunteers roughly 350 hours to create the ornate decorations for the columns in the East Wing Hallway.
The first ever White House 3D printed ornament challenge received over 300 submissions, ranging from a holiday Abe Lincoln to happy snowmen.
All of this hard work will be enjoyed by the approximately 65,000 visitors who are expected to visit the White House this holiday season.