[Christmas music]
* Sleigh bells ring
- If I could, my tree would be up starting October 1st.
- Angela: To say Collin O'Brien
enjoys decorating for the holidays
would be an understatement.
- Looking back, I'm sure my reason was
I'm just Christmas-obsessed.
- Angela: That obsession will serve Collin well.
- Collin O'Brien: When I first applied, they wanted to know,
"Why you love Christmas?
What does it mean to you?"
In a humble way, I think I am talented.
But I think maybe I was chosen
because I just purely love the idea of Christmas.
It was just about having the honor
of going to the White House.
- Angela: Yep, the White House.
- Collin O'Brien: If you are a Christmas fanatic,
what better house to decorate, besides yours,
than the White House? [chuckles]
- Angela: It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
or so Collin thought.
- It is very crazy because the first year you go,
you meet these hundred-some volunteers
from across the country,
and we all have the same coalescing feeling that,
"Oh, my gosh, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
I remember when I got invited the second year,
I thought I should get a lottery ticket.
This is amazing.
- Angela: For six straight years,
Collin has given up his time with family at Thanksgiving
to decorate the executive mansion.
- Collin O'Brien: It's weird
'cause it's technically a museum and home all in one.
But when you're there, it does feel homey in a weird way.
Some people stay in one room the whole week,
depending on how big the design is.
Like, if you're doing the Blue Room tree,
which has the official tree,
that's like 20-foot tree, super wide.
- Angela: For the volunteers,
not every project is met with a twinkle and a smile.
- Collin O'Brien: I remember one year I did the Blue Room tree.
We were on scaffolding,
and you were inside the tree wrapping lights.
And I was going home covered in sap.
Clothes were ruined.
It was not a fun year. [laughs]
- Angela: Other years, the fun comes in twos.
- Collin O'Brien: One year during the Obamas,
they made these eight-foot-tall statues of their two dogs,
Bo and Sunny.
One by one, volunteers made thousands of pom poms.
And the pompoms that were hot glued
onto the chicken wire to look like the dogs.
- Angela: Volunteering at the White House
also has its perks.
- You get to see the First Lady
actually walk down the residential steps.
She thanks everybody.
So, this was the year with Melania Trump.
This was Michelle Obama that was coming down to chat with us
with, of course, [laughs] Secret Service behind her.
So that was a memorable experience.
- Angela: With every passing year
came new memories and milestones.
- I got to do the Palm Room two years in a row,
where they gave me tons of spools of ribbon,
and they said, "Can you make a plaid weaving through the walls?"
That took a lot of time and effort.
- Angela: In 2021,
Collin added another honor in the nation's capital.
- This year, I got offered the opportunity
to decorate Blair House.
I didn't know what to expect.
I knew it was the official President's guest house.
So this was the Truman Room I got to decorate.
There's a lot of deep reds and golds.
- Angela: On Collin's home tree,
there are reminders of his days at the White House.
- This is kinda like our White House room. [laughs]
And on here,
I have ornaments that were actually hung in the White House
that were gifted to me.
This is a big ornament that was hung
during the Obamas' last two years.
So, really special unique things
that, obviously, you can't buy.
- Angela: For Collin,
this unique opportunity isn't easy to explain.
- As like the year of the White House and we all--
It's such a niche experience.
It's hard to describe it.
Hard for everyday people who have not done it
to get a sense of what it's like.
It's a rush of adrenaline and emotions.
It has definitely given me more confidence
than I've ever had in life.
And it really empowers you to be yourself.
I remember one year
I wore a full ballgown skirt inside the White House
'cause I wanted to do that.
That felt right to me.
And no one bats their eye.
In my way, this is my service to the country.
It is my way of giving back.
It's doing what I can do.
It's just a sense of pride every time I go in there.
[Christmas music]