Decorator Shares Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Creating White House Christmas Look

Published: December 25, 2025

By Movieguide® Staff

Decorator Christy Schaper recently got the opportunity of a lifetime — she was chosen to help decorate the White House this Christmas.

“I was just really overcome,” she told Movieguide® of being chosen.

Schaper was one of 145 people selected from 47 states to decorate the White House this year, chosen from 15,000 applicants.

In an interview with Edglen Today, she said, “You have a greater chance of getting into Harvard than you do decorating the White House for Christmas. There’s a little under a 1% chance that this was going to work out the way that it did. I’m grateful to represent Alton and the Alton community and the Riverbend community at the White House.”

“The space was amazing,” she told Movieguide®. “My favorite space, I think, is in the Blue Room. That is home to the National Christmas tree. It’s a 25-foot tree and it always represents the 50 states…this year, there were all these amazing 3-D printed ornaments, each with the state flower and the state name, and they were just glowing. It was beautiful.”

The theme of the White House’s Christmas decorations this year is “Home Is Where The Heart Is.”

“In every community, we are lifted by simple acts of kindness that reflect the enduring American spirit of generosity, patriotism, and gratitude,” a statement issued by the White House said. “These moments remind us that the heart of America is strong and that Home Is Where The Heart Is.”

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS ❤️

America’s Christmas at the White House. pic.twitter.com/acueX2bKjz

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 1, 2025

Schaper also remarked on the people she met while working on the Christmas decorations.

“The people themselves were amazing,” she said. “I encountered just so many incredibly faithful people, so many people that really just fostered and generated that enduring American spirit of kindness and generosity and hard work, service, humility. Just amazing people.”

Schaper and the rest of the people decorating only had 72 hours to pull it all together but explained that that’s “the beautiful thing about the American spirit, that when we’re working together on something that’s larger than ourselves, it’s amazing what can be done and in very little time.”

“That’s the enduring American spirit, the generosity, the idea of serving our country, the idea of joining together for something that’s bigger than ourselves. It’s about preservation and history and coming together,” she said in her interview with Edglen Today. “We are an incredible nation still, and we have an incredible history as we embark upon our 250th anniversary. I think we should go back and honor all of the places and spaces and Presidents and First Ladies who have all made incredible contributions to the country we are today. Nobody is perfect, but it goes well beyond politics.”

For Schaper, getting the chance to decorate the White House for Christmas was a wonderful way to display both her decorating skills as well as her patriotism.

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