The White House Christmas Decorations: HGTV Goes Behind the Scenes

As you can imagine, it takes a lot more than a few boxes of LED lights and a dozen candy canes to decorate the White House for Christmas. This year's decorations include a 350 pound white chocolate replica of the White House, 19 trees, and TONS of natural decorations made from wood, paper, leaves, fruit and veggies. The holidays are serious business at the White House, and it takes a serious staff of over 100 volunteers to get everything ready.

But don't take our word for it. See for yourself on Dec. 12 when HGTV airs (for the 11th year in a row) "White House Christmas," a one-hour special hosted by designer Genevieve Gorder that gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how this year's decor theme "Simple Gifts," is brought to life. To give you an example of the detail that goes into decking the halls of the White House, we hear that two doorways in the visitors' entrance area are decorated with surrounds of roses which are handmade from dried oak leaves collected from area homes and neighborhood parks. Whew! If that doesn't give you inspiration to finally unpack and put up your tinsel, we don't know what will!