White House holiday decor invites visitors to embrace ‘their inner child’

The White House is aiming for visitors to embrace “their inner child” with its annual holiday decor, with a theme “inspired by how children experience this festive season.”

The theme, “Magic, Wonder, and Joy,” the White House announced Monday, attempts to capture the “pure, unfiltered delight and imagination of childhood.”

Each room at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., first lady Jill Biden said in remarks released by the White House ahead of a Monday event unveiling the decor before National Guard families, is designed so guests “see this time of year through the wondrous, sparkling eyes of children.”

The festive decorations include nearly 15,000 feet of ribbon, more than 142,000 holiday lights, more than 33,000 ornaments and 22,000 bells.

(Greg Nash)

“Each room evokes a different childhood memory,” Elizabeth Alexander, Biden’s communications director, said.

Several of the spaces include a nod to “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” — the classic poem and book is marking its 200th anniversary this year. Several editions of the work from the last two centuries were provided by the Library of Congress and are on display as part of the White House’s adornments.

(Greg Nash)

The famed Gingerbread White House also gathers some sweet inspiration from the Christmastime poem, with a sugar cookie replica of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The gingerbread version of the executive mansion took 40 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 90 pounds of pastillage, 40 sheets of gingerbread dough, 30 pounds of chocolate and 50 pounds of royal icing to create, according to the White House.

The hardest part of crafting this year’s gingerbread creation, White House executive pastry chef Susan Morrison told ITK, was making the book “because of how large it is.”

(Greg Nash)

“But nothing is too difficult,” Morrison added with a grin.

Candies and confections make multiple appearances throughout the White House’s halls, with oversized ice cream cones, macaroons and other sweet treats hanging from the ceilings, as well as a “White House Sweet Shop” scene set up in the China Room.

The National Confectioners Association (NCA), which represents the candy industry, said Monday that it “collaborated” with the White House to bring “to life the magic of chocolate and candy and the joyous spirit of the winter holidays.”

The NCA said in a statement that it provided “custom, oversized candy sculptures” as well as “chocolate and candy used to create wreaths, ornaments and other décor and custom chocolate bars that White House visitors will receive during the holiday season.”

The Blue Room features this year’s official White House Christmas tree: an 18 1/2-foot Fraser fir from North Carolina. The chandelier in the Blue Room is removed each year to fit the massive evergreen.

Despite several reported biting incidents by President Biden and Jill Biden’s dog, Commander, this year’s décor continues a tradition of including ornamental odes to the first family pets.

Several sculptures of the Biden’s two-year-old German Shepherd, along with their cat, Willow, are included in the Christmastime lineup.

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“Magic, wonder and joy,” Jill Biden said in her prepared remarks.

“I know they can feel hard to find sometimes — as days grow shorter, and the weather colder; as our hearts grow heavy in the face of a tumultuous world; as we miss those who are no longer with us, an empty seat at our holiday gatherings.”

“But it’s in these times, when we are searching for hope and healing, that we need those points of light the most — that we need each other the most,” Biden, a Northern Virginia Community College professor, said.

(Greg Nash)

“It’s in these times that I hope you remember, if even just for a moment or a season, how you saw the world as a child,” the first lady said.

More than 300 volunteers from across the country devoted a week to decorating both the interior and exterior of the White House.

Approximately 100,000 visitors are expected at the White House throughout the holiday season.

—Updated at 11:11 a.m.