Barbara Bush and the White House Artisans

First Lady Barbara Bush chose a theme of "family literacy" for the Blue Room tree of 1989. She had the Executive Residence staff create 80 soft-sculpture characters from literature. Tiny books completed the motif. In 1990, Mrs. Bush revisited "The Nutcracker" with little porcelain dancers. White House florists dressed the figurines, and a castle from the Land of Sweets was constructed by White House craftspeople. The Saintly Stitchers of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, joined with the staff on the "needle work" tree of 1991. They created a needlepoint village and 92 needlepoint figures for a wooden Noah's Ark built by staff carpenters. For the 1992 tree theme of "Gift-Givers," White House florists fashioned 88 different "gift-giving" characters.