This year marks Dr. Jill Biden’s first Christmas as the nation’s first lady as the White House recently unveiled this year’s Christmas decorations. Dr. Biden also unveiled the theme for this year’s set of Christmas decorations.
Photos of the White House Christmas decorations have been released along with the theme chosen by Dr. Biden for 2021 called “Gifts from the Heart.” Speaking with CNN, East Wing Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander said that the idea for Dr. Biden’s theme was to showcase “things that unite and heal and bring us together.”
Planning for the year’s Christmas decorations started during the summer. There are a total of 41 Christmas trees, 6000 feet of ribbon, over 300 candles, and over 10,000 ornaments used in this year’s White House Christmas decorations.
The decorations in the public rooms of the White House that are currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic represent an individual theme. The Library Room reflects the “gift of learning,” while the Vermeil Room represents the “gift of visual arts” that include Pantone paint color sample ornaments and paintbrush wreaths.
The State Dining Room has two trees decorated with photographs of past presidents and their families at the White House during the holidays. Never-before-seen photos from Dr. Biden’s private archive are also included on the trees. There were also photos from the past administrations pulled from the White House archives, such as the Kennedys, the Clintons, the Reagans, and even a photo of the Bidens’ immediate predecessors, Donald and Melania Trump.
The fireplace in the State Dining Room also features six stockings for the Bidens’ six grandchildren made by the same artisan in Delaware as the actual Biden family Christmas stockings.
Dr. Biden also held a Christmas story reading as part of the unveiling of the decorations to a small group of children from a school in Maryland the picture book she wrote. Dr. Biden paused to ask the children how much money they received from the tooth fairy or if they had any pets. A young boy recalled that he had hamsters and hedgehogs and revealed that one of them died from getting suffocated under the cage door.
“Oh my word! Okay, let’s move on to happier things,” said Dr. Biden, who then resumed the story.