The holiday tour at the White House received a special touch this year. The book for the annual Christmas tour is graced with illustrations by students, alumni and faculty from the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Corcoran College of Art & Design. The tour book, Simple Gifts: Holidays at the White House 2010, features detailed descriptions of the festive decorations in each room. A botanical illustration or a holiday scene accents every page. From the gingerbread men and women decorated by servicemembers’ children to the crimson cardinals in the foyer, decorations in the White House bring attention to the many simple gifts present in our daily lives. This includes recipes we share with friends and family. The White House shares two recipes in the tour book this year. One recipe is for homemade gingerbread ornaments and the second recipe is for apple cake with maple glaze.
Botanical artist, Eva-Maria Ruhl describes this very exciting 11-day project:
After a lovely White House tour with White House florist, Laura Dowling, who explained the basic concepts of the decorations to us, we were on our own. [The book] is lovely and we are indeed happy to have our work in the National Archives. One more triumph for botanical art and the Corcoran program!
Artists contributing to the 2010 tour book are: Roberta Bernstein, Wendy Cortesi, Leslie Exton, Charlotte Fremaux, Vicki Malone, Kappy Prosch, Eva-Maria Ruhl, and Ellen Saunders.
Pick up your own copy of Simple Gifts: Holidays at the White House 2010.
Learn more about Corcoran’s botanical illustration program on their website.
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ArtPlantae Today 
I would like to have a copy of the Botanical White House Holida tour book. How do I purchase or receive one. Thank you very much. Barbara Chadwick
Barbara,
To view the tour book, click on Simple Gifts: Holidays at the White House 2010 above.