"Shine, Give, Share" is the theme for the White House's Christmas 2011, and one of its emphases is sharing time with family and loved ones. And for the First Family, that includes their furriest member: First Dog Bo.
That's why Bo is an important element of the White House's official 2011 Holiday Tour -- a lot of Bos, in fact.
There's a topiary in the shape of the nation's most famous Portugese Water Dog in the East Garden Room, for example, and four more Bo-piaries along the tour route, as well as many ornaments in the dog's likeness, big and small.
"We have so many Bos this year -- all sizes and shapes," said floral designer Heather Cooper, who worked hard on decking the White House halls. The Bos are made of many materials: buttons (318 of 'em), pom poms (a total of 750), candy (1,911 pieces of licorice, plus marshmallows to reproduce Bo's white markings) -- even 6,850 trash bags. And 35 yards of wool felt went into making an all-felt Bo who's four and a half feet tall: "I measured him myself," Cooper said.
Watch the video to learn how Cooper makes the littlest Bo out of buttons -- and to see Bo himself pose proudly next to his all-felt replica.