With the Advent Season beginning, our family likes to find different ways to put our daily focus on Jesus. An Advent Jesse Tree is my favorite way. So, I want to share with you a little about the Jesse Tree we will be doing this year. This week I went to our Jesse Tree Ornament Exchange with some other mothers and I was amazed at the beautiful ornaments they made! Each of us made twenty-five of one of the 25 ornaments used on a Jesse Advent Tree. If you haven’t ever done one, I highly recommend it. It is not too late!
I was so excited about how the ornaments turned out that I wanted to share it with you in hopes that you might want to either do a tree of your own, or at least use “The Tree of Jesse” to countdown the days of Advent with your family. If you don’t have time to do handmade ornaments this year, be sure to checkout these great Jesse Tree printables we used last year.
What is an Advent Jesse Tree? The Advent Jesse Tree tells the story of God’s redemptive plan for the world through 25 symbols from the Old and New Testament. The Symbols trace the heritage of Jesus Christ from the beginning of creation. A Jesse Advent Tree is a way to celebrate Advent each day using ornaments, each of which have a story you can share in a devotional style, laying out the lineage and genealogy of Jesus Christ.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ~ Isaiah 11:1
We will use The Advent Jesse Tree: Devotions for Children and Adults to Prepare for the Coming of the Christ Child at Christmas by Dean Lambert Smith for our nightly devotionals. I am so excited about this book because each symbol is explained with scriptures, devotions, questions, prayers, a memory verse and songs. Our plan is that each night the children will pull out the wrapped ornament for that day of the month, for example #1 for December 1st and so on. Then after reading that ornaments story, the kids will place it on our Jesse Tree.
I was going to try to make my own tree out of twigs in the yard, and quickly realized we needed something more substantial! I decided on a 3-foot pre-lit tree, but a few of the girls were opting for a 4-foot and some have even decided to make it their main tree.Whatever you choose, the goal is to have a visual and a reminder for you and the children to anticipate the coming of Jesus again.
I posted pictures of some of the ornaments on my Instagram page (follow me there for our daily activity!) and the Faithful Provisions Facebook page last night and got such a great response that I wanted to give you an idea of how each of our ornaments turned out. Checkout all the ornaments from our Jesse Tree Ornament Exchange below.
Have you ever done a Jesse Tree? If so, I would love to hear about it!
Day One: Creation
Day Two: Sin
Day Three: The Ark
Day Four: Abraham
Day Five: The Lamb
Day Six: Jacob’s Ladder
Day Seven: Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors
Day Eight: The Ten Commandments
Day Nine: The Promised Land
Day Ten: Ruth and Boaz
Day Eleven: King David
Day Twelve: The Law
Day Thirteen: The Stump of Jesse
Day Fourteen: The Lion and the Lamb
Day Fifteen: The Prince of Peace
Day Sixteen: The Gentle Shepherd
Day Seventeen: The Suffering Servant (The Cross)
Day Eighteen: The New Covenant
Day Nineteen: Bethlehem Prophecy
Day Twenty: The Fiery Furnace
Day Twenty-One: The Exile (Brick Wall)
Day Twenty-Two: The Star
Day Twenty-Three: The Light of the World
Day Twenty-Four: The Angel
Day Twenty-Five: Baby Jesus
I love this idea, thanks for sharing!
Amie
I have never heard of this. Great way to lead Children to the birth of Christ. Thank you.
Oh such beautiful ornaments!!! What talented friends you have:) I especially love the slingshot!! My husband and I couldn’t find a Jesse Tree out there for our boys, so we made our own! Now I sell the pattern and DIY KIT soothers can make them too:) Here’s the link to my Etsy Shop in case you or your readers become inspired and want to make their own Jesse Tree heirloom for their family! http://www.etsy.com/shop/NavyMango?section_id=11775968
Are there instructions to make these ornaments? I’m especially wondering how the “world” ornament was made. Thanks!
I love all your ornaments! I just did an exchange on Thursday, here is how ours turned out! http://growingandsewinglesa.blogspot.com/2014/11/advent-jesse-tree-exchange.html
Do you have a template for the 10 commandments ornaments? Would love to use these as part of a Sunday School lesson…
Where did you get the birch stumps? Thank you!
We just took a limb off a tree and cut it with a saw ourselves! Super simple.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I was inspired to do my own Jesse Tree ornament exchange party as a result and it was such a wonderful community effort. I’m so grateful I found you through Pinterest; this was an awesome idea!
Help! How did you make the Earth (creation) ornament?
Yes! How did you make the earth ornaments??
Yes, how did you make the earth ornament?
Are there directions on how to make the earth ornament?
My friend made something like this with her preschool class. They squirted a few paint colors on the inside of the ornament and then swirled it around in their hand a bit until the whole inside was covered. Afterward, they placed in paper cups upside down to drip-dry for 2-3 days. I think that is what you can do for the ocean, and then just paint the continents on the outside of the ornament. I am not sure if it makes a difference whether you use acrylic or tempera paint. I am pretty sure she used acrylic though. Hope that helps!