Jesse Tree

Have you ever seen a Jesse Tree? Have you ever participated in a Jesse Tree? What is a Jesse Tree? Glad you asked! The traditional was originally started by Catholics (to my knowledge) and while I am not catholic, I do believe it is a great tradition for all families. Here is the general idea behind the tree...You have 25 ornaments and "open" one a day beginning December 1st. These ornaments depict Bible events from creation (day 1) to the birth of Jesus (day 25). There is also a little devotion that goes along with each ornament to help explain it in children's terms. I enjoy this because it helps my children understand what Christmas is really about and takes the focus off of what the world tries to make it. Last year was our first year doing this and we look forward to it again this year. I wanted to give two as gifts this year, so I got a group of ladies together to make the ornaments with me. (Generally, you have 25 women and each woman picks an ornament and makes 25 of that same ornament and then you all get together and swap ornaments so that you end of with one of each...make sense?)

This year the two ornaments I chose to make were the earth (day 1) and baby Jesus in a manger (day 25). Fifty ornaments later, this is what they looked like:And yes, I had the tedious job of painting/drawing the continents. I know they may not be drawn to scale, but I figured the children wouldn't care.


Now of course, not everyone is crafty so you'll end up with some that are less desirable than others. Here are two of my favorite upgrades from last years ornaments. These girls did a tremendous job. Now to appreciate these two ornaments, you really need to see the originals. They really were a little sad (to say the least). I wanted to take a picture of them so that you could see what an improvement they were, but you never know who's lurking on your blog. I'd hate for them to see the ornament they had made being viewed in a negative way.



I want you to take a look at this ornament. It definitely deserves an honorable mention.
Quite impressive. Wouldn't you agree?


If I could show you pictures of all 25 ornaments, I would. However, to maintain my sanity and to keep my blogging time down to a minimum, I had to choose my favorites. If you don't already do this with your family, consider it for next year. If you need any information, I would be glad to help. I guess I should mention that our ornaments are based from the book: "An Advent Jesse Tree" by Dean Lambert. This tradition has become one of our favorite family traditions.