Each year, the House and Senate chambers are gaily decked out for the holidays with large Christmas trees—both more than 20 feet tall! Decorating trees of that magnitude presents a challenge, but with the help of constituents, Representatives and Senators do just that.

House and Senate members work with their communities to provide an ornament decorated to represent their districts. Members might engage professional artists, school children, family members, or others, to paint glass balls and/or insert items inside and out to adorn the ornaments.

Since 2009, the House has compiled an album each year to document the ornaments (see right); you can view the current album in the House chamber while the tree is on display through January 2. The LRL has acquired and scanned past albums—peruse them online from our catalog, or visit us to see the books in person!

Clockwise from top: Selections from the 2009 and 2016 'Tis the Season House albums of district ornaments; Sample of a Senate ornament; Sen. Jane Nelson is one of several senators who tweeted pictures from the Senate's tree decorating party; Sample of a House ornament.