Holiday Tree Ornaments

Back by popular demand!

Local ornaments for Governor’s Mansion

Nearly 200 localities graciously participated in last year’s ornament collection for the Holiday Tree at the Executive Mansion. The tree featured incredible works of art that celebrated the unique history and culture of the towns and cities they represented. Thank you for making that possible!

The Executive Mansion recently announced that the theme for its 2016 Holiday Tree will be “Home for the Holidays.” VML has again been asked to assist in collecting ornaments from Virginia cities and towns for the tree that is displayed in the mansion’s ballroom. (Our friends at the Virginia Association of Counties will be collecting ornaments from the counties.)

Each locality is asked to again submit one hand-crafted ornament that uniquely represents their community. The guidelines for making and submitting ornaments are below.

The holiday tree will be on view to the public throughout the season and will be seen by thousands of visitors to the Executive Mansion. This project is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate what makes each Virginia city, town, and county special. We deeply appreciate your contribution of ornaments.

Step 1:

Please assist VML by letting us know by August 30, 2016, if you plan to participate. Simply e-mail nchafin@vml.org with the subject line: “Yes! We’re sending an ornament.” In the body of the e-mail, please note the name of your city or town along with the contact person who will be coordinating the project.

Step 2: 

Handmade ornaments must be submitted to VML by November 1, 2016. They can be mailed to:

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Guidelines for “Home for the Holidays”

• Each participating locality is asked to submit one holiday ornament.
• The theme of the ornament is totally up to the locality; however, we suggest a depiction of some unique feature that is specific to your community, such as an historic home, a noted person, a natural feature, an animal or plant from the region, etc.
• The Executive Mansion prefers hand-made ornaments as opposed to purchased ornaments.
• Examples of materials that could be used for creating the ornament include: clay, glass, shells, fabric, wood, found objects, and objects from nature.
• Preferred size of the ornament should be no larger than 6 inches in any dimension. Be mindful that the ornament is not too heavy to hang on the tree.
• The finished ornament should be sent along with the name of the locality and artist placed on the back or bottom of the ornament.
• The artist/artisan should reside in or near the locality. As we may feature a children-themed tree in the future, we are asking that this year’s ornaments be created by adults (college-aged and above).
• Deadline for submitting the ornament is November 1, 2016.

We recognize that there will be questions and we welcome you to phone or email so that we can work with you on what we hope will be a fun and creative project that displays our pride in our Commonwealth. You are welcome to contact the VML’s Nancy Chafin at nchafin@vml.org or 804-523-8527 or you may email the Executive Mansion at: stacy.ellis@governor.virginia.gov.

The mansion will officially open for the holiday season the evening of the Capitol Tree Lighting. The tree will be available for viewing during our open house as well as during normal tour hours.  For more detailed information on specific event dates and tour times, please visit www.executivemansion.virginia.gov.