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HEBER CITY — When Farah Sanders saw an invitation by First Lady Jill Biden — on her Instagram account — seeking decorators for the White House, she jumped at the opportunity.
"I reached out to the White House in January and they said, 'We would love to consider you, but not yet,'" Farah said. "And they said, 'We will contact you.' And so they did. In August they sent me an email and they said, 'Here's the application process.'"
She and her husband, Bryan Sanders, own and operate their own flower business: Huckleberry Lane Farm. The couple was able to use their experience as florists and flower farmers on a grand scale at America's Capitol.
"I went to him and I said, 'Let's start a flower farm,'" Farah Sanders said. "We have the land to do it and flowers bring joy and they bring happiness and kindness. So when we applied (to the White House) we told them about ... starting this flower farm."
Farah Sanders explained the application asks for your experience and skill set along with an extensive background check. She and her husband had to apply separately but could indicate on their application that they would be coming together.
"I was in the backyard playing with the dogs and she came outside and said, 'How would you feel about having Thanksgiving in Washington, D.C.?' and I was like, 'OK, great. Sounds good to me,'" Bryan Sanders said.
"I couldn't believe it was happening at first, and I think the pinch-me moment happened when I did walk out the front door of the White House and I thought, 'This is where so much has happened, this is where heads of state have come, this is where the transfer of power occurs. All of those things happen through those doors and under that portico and that was where it was that real pinch-me moment and then I hauled a box of glue sticks into the house," Farah Sanders said.
They were two of 3,000 applicants who wanted to decorate the White House this year.
"Nothing is paid for by the White House. It's all volunteers paying their own way. And that was something that was so neat, was all these people were willing to pay their own way to come. They picked at least one to two people per state," Farah Sanders said.
The couple arrived on Nov. 18 and worked decorating the White House for over a week.
Then, the 300 volunteers set to work.
"Monday morning bright and early at 7 a.m., we reported to the White House and we basically spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preparing for everything that we were going to decorate, so inventory of ornaments, any crafting materials, and things that we needed," she said.
This year, the White House was decorated with:
- Approximately 14,975 feet of ribbon, over 350 candles, over 33,892 ornaments, and over 22,100 bells
- 98 Christmas trees throughout the White House complex
- 40 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 40 sheets of gingerbread dough, 90 pounds of pastillage, 30 pounds of chocolate, and 50 pounds of royal icing used in the Gingerbread White House creation
- Over 142,425 holiday lights to decorate the trees, garlands, wreaths, and displays in the White House
- 72 classic wreaths which adorn the north and south facades of the White House.
Some of those things are new, but Farah Sanders said a lot of the decorations are reused or are even DIY.
"So they're really working on maintaining, you know, reusing, DIY, lots of DIY," she said. "The two of us made a wreath from scratch from leftover garland from years before and that wreath currently hangs over the gingerbread house that is in the White House."
The gingerbread house is a nod to the 200th anniversary of the beloved Christmas classic, "The Night Before Christmas."
This year's theme was the "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" of the holidays. Photos of the interior show incredible candy corridors, brightly lit Christmas, trees, elegant garlands, and whimsical representations of children's dreams.
Bryan Sanders and Farah Sanders worked on many things, but of note, Farah worked on a mantelpiece in the State Dining Room.
"I was able to do the mantel that sits right below the 1869 painting of President Abraham Lincoln," she said. "I'd crawl up on the ladder and I would be right at the feet of the painting; one of the things I had to be very careful of is the garland could never touch the frame of the painting, let alone the painting."
"It was all so whimsical. It was really neat. Everything from a sleigh with Santa's reindeer to represent the night before Christmas, and the ground floor corridor," Farah Sanders said. "The state tree — the fun thing is when you walked straight in to see the state tree in the playroom, Utah's gift tag was right front and center."
"I was actually really excited because I had never been to the White House before and if there was any way to see it, I think that was probably the way to do it. Because you kind of had free rein, almost everything in the White House except the residence upstairs," Bryan Sanders said. "And so being able to just kind of walk freely in and out of rooms and you know, decorating and moving stuff. I mean it was it was pretty awesome."
It is anticipated over 100,000 people will visit this holiday season along with 20,000 people for dinners and gatherings.
