Beginning to Look Like Christmas, Clinton-Style

The ghosts of the Clintons’ Christmases Past have all gathered for one last cup of eggnog. Decorations for White House Christmas 2000 are a Bill and Hillary Greatest Holiday Hits collection, including the angels that were Chelsea’s favorite in 1993 to the 1999 ornaments highlighting American history.

“We went back and reprised all the themes,” first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said at the official unveiling of Holiday Reflections recently. “We reused seven years of decorations for the eighth and final year.”

They’re baaack: The Christopher Radko glittery ballet scene made for the Green Room mantel (1996) and the eight towering cone-shaped wire topiary trees in the Grand Foyer designed by Robert Isabell and laden with the same baroque finery (1999).

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Staffers, headed by White House chief floral designer Nancy Clarke, hit the attic, where they picked out the best of about 10,000 ornaments the Clintons had commissioned during the two administrations. Think recycling: 81 volunteers from across the country ironed ribbons, dusted off pine cones and fluffed up previously used bows.

The only major additions this year: a seriously fringed burgundy velvet tablecloth for the State Dining Room and a huge needlepoint kissing ball by Washingtonian Hyla Hurley.

The public can sneak a last peek through Dec. 29, when the ornaments will be shipped off to Little Rock, Ark., to be stored until the Clinton Library is ready for them.

Meanwhile, the official White House Christmas card this year was taken from a watercolor by Ray Ellis and shows the rarely seen Yellow Oval Room upstairs in the private quarters. “This is where we have our personal Christmas tree. That’s why we saved our own for last,” Hillary Clinton said.