Mortonite's touch is on White House tree

Musical ornament she painted is accepted for official Christmas tree

MORTON - There's a purple flute decorated with gold scrolls hanging near the bottom of an 18-foot Christmas tree at the White House.

It's among 350 musical instruments on the official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room, and it was painted by Morton artist Cindy Villa.

Villa is a member of the Society of Decorative Painters, the group that was asked to paint ornaments for a tree at the White House this year. The society mailed 500 various instrumental ornaments to painters in July and selected 350 for the tree. The artists could not select which instrument they wanted to paint.

Villa received a 9-inch wooden flute that could be played.

"I wasn't sure what to do with it," she said.

Other painters received maracas, jingle bells, tambourines, mandolins, guitars, pianos, drums, violins, harps, trumpets and French horns.

At first, Villa wasn't sure how to make her flute stand out among the entries.

"I think I took longer to think than to paint it", Villa said.

She decided to paint the flute purple, one of her favorite colors. She also added gold scrolls to the instrument before mailing it back to the society before the Sept. 10 deadline.

In November, Villa received a card from the White House stating "Mrs. Laura Bush requests the pleasure of your company at a Holiday Reception to be held at The White House on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at two o'clock. East Entrance."

The card instructed Villa to call the White House social secretary with her Social Security number.

She was a little suspicious about the invitation until a few days later, when the Society of Decorative Painters contacted her to let her know her ornament was among those selected.

So on Dec. 1, Villa and husband, George, left Morton at 2 a.m. for a day she said was like magic. They drove to Chicago and then boarded a plane for Washington, D.C.

The Villas took a tour of Congress before going to the White House for the two-hour reception. The artists all stood in line to get their photos taken with Laura Bush.

"You're standing in front of the tree. You're just dying to look around," Villa said.

Of course, all the artists then crowded around the tree to locate their own ornaments. While that was going on, her husband called her to the window to see President Bush playing with his dog outside.

"That was worth losing my spot," Villa said.

She did eventually find her ornament with the help of a staff member who had a map of the ornaments on the tree.

Villa was impressed with the way the White House does Christmas.

"It was a winter wonderland," she said. "There were huge, lavish buffets of baby lamb, shrimp and eggnog. It was like a dream."

But the party was over quickly, and the couple returned to Morton the same day.

She feels honored that her ornament was selected, but this isn't the first time her work has been recognized.

Villa also has an ornament at the vice president's home and one at the Smithsonian Institute. Former first lady Barbara Bush has a porcelain egg painted by Villa, who also painted three projects for a Debbie Mumm stenciling book, "Creative Stenciling."

"I've had a lot of things special happen to me," Villa said.

She began painting in 1979.

"I loved all the things in the gift shops, and I was too cheap," she said.

Now she paints on walls, fabric, wood, tin and does faux finishing in homes. Her own home contains hundreds of examples of her work.

She also paints about 50 dated ornaments each year to give to family and friends. They are sold locally at Step Back in Time in Washington.

The Blue Room Christmas tree and other White House decorations are part of an hour-long special airing on Home and Garden Television called "White House Christmas 2004."