Jasmine Saint-Jean(WASHINGTON) — One office in Washington, D.C., has two Christmas trees — one pine and another inspired by Peanuts cartoon Charlie Brown — snowflakes falling from the ceiling, Christmas stockings, garland and candy canes adorning cubicle walls and even fake snow.
They’re one of the many offices this holiday season getting wild with holiday spirit to boost morale. Law enforcement officer Jasmine Saint-Jean and administrative assistant Kierre Person led the way in this D.C. office. Their cubicles are the first ones you see when you walk through the doors.
Saint-Jean, 33, who told ABC News she has a “visual arts background,” spent approximately $15 wrapping her cubicle completely in gift-wrap. The task took six to eight hours over several work days.
“I call it ‘Festive Functionality.’ So, everything is wrapped but it’s still functional. I can still do my job every day, but literally everything is wrapped in wrapping paper: All of my drawers, my push boards, my mouse, my printer, my monitor. Anything that had a hard surface, I wrapped it in wrapping paper.”
Meanwhile, Person, 34, spent 12 hours and about $50 to transform her cubicle into a winter wonderland. “That’s the theme,” she said. “You have everything — snowflakes, snow men, characters ice skating, you have animals decorating a Christmas tree.”
The two co-workers, whose cubicles sit across an aisle from each other, said what started as an effort to make people smile turned into something much more.
“As I started decorating, I realized it was more therapeutic than anything. We do such serious work it helps to have something to kind of balance out some of the seriousness,” Saint-Jean explained. “And it’s just fun.”
Person said she took her efforts to the office instead of her home because her mom holds down the fort at home. “I try to let her do the decorations for the house,” she said. “I try not to take over because it’s more or less her space, and plus, I planned to do mine at work.”
So, what did their boss think of it all? “She turned red with laughter,” Saint-Jean revealed. “She said, ‘This is amazing.'”
Person added that it’s also brought joy to the office and has even inspired others to decorate their cubicles.
“People’s eyes have been lighting up,” she said. “I’m getting big smiles. One guy even came in and he started singing ‘Jingle Bells.’ Definitely people are loving it.”
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