The White House will open its doors to more than 68,000 visitors this Christmas season, now that its elves have finished fastening 70,000 ornaments on trees and garlands, stringing snowflakes from ceilings and whipping up a gingerbread house weighing nearly 500 pounds.
A handful of haute couturiers that included Carolina Herrera lent their talents this year, the second-to-last holiday season the Obamas will spend in the Executive Mansion.
Eighty-nine volunteers, among them floral designer Mary Mazzeffi, 53, from Batavia, helped out. She made the cut after trying for years for one of the coveted spots.
First lady Michelle Obama chose “A Timeless Tradition” as this year’s theme, which was illustrated by items on display including a 18th-century Italian creche and dozens of vintage nutcrackers.
But notes of wit and whimsy enliven the wintry wonderland, too. One is a gumball tree crafted from nearly 4,000 gumballs. Another is a bit of holiday doggerel “to all of America” from the family’s two Portuguese water dogs, Bo and Sunny.
Ninety percent of the ornaments and embellishments are from years past, including previous administrations, the White House said.
Mazzeffi, who has been arranging flowers since she was 15 years old, applied for six or seven years before being chosen for what she called a “surreal” experience. She was teary when she set foot in the White House, her first visit.
The first lady opened the White House to guests Wednesday, welcoming military personnel, their spouses and children for the earliest glimpses.
With 62 trees in all, some are large, like the 181/2-foot Fraser fir from Lansdale, Pa., that rises in the Blue Room and salutes the armed forces.
Some are smaller. Mazzeffi, who works for Toms-Price Furniture and Nona Jo’s home accessory boutique in Naperville, said she was told a 3-foot tree she trimmed was bound for a place only a few will visit.
She was informed it was for “Mr. Obama’s elevator,” but told nothing else.
Her tasks included trimming balsam fir garlands and hanging intricately cut snowflakes, some carrying aspirations from schoolchildren: to be Batman, a cowboy or either “hairdresser or a doctor.” One declared a wish to be president, adding a smiley face and postscript: “I’m a girl.”
“To see how all of us came together and worked together — the whole experience — I’m just grateful and honored,” Mazzeffi said. “It was a new family, new friends. I just loved the rapport.”
“This experience,” she said, “was the best Christmas gift I could ever get.”
Twitter @KatherineSkiba
