Let's Make a Jesse Tree

Hello December!!!! The air is crisper. The nights are brighter because of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Yep! Christmas is coming indeed.
How are you preparing for it? Having kids in the house definitely makes the waiting harder.

"When is Christmas?"
"How many days more before Christmas?"
"Is it coming soon?"

Yes, the questions can gnaw on one's nerves especially when there are a million other things going on in my head. Fortunately, there are a lot of Advent calendars available to help countdown to Christmas. While I like the idea, I wanted something more meaningful for the kids.

As I researched for more Christ-centered Christmas countdown ideas, I came across the Jesse Tree. Jesse is the father of David, the great king from whose lineage Jesus was born. The Jesse Tree traces salvation history from creation and fall of man to the birth of the Messiah, Jesus. At the start of Advent or December, a snippet (story) from the long love story between God and His people is read. Then a corresponding ornament which symbolizes that particular story is hung from a banner or tree. The Jesse Tree basically helps us remember how God prepared the world for the ultimate manifestation of His love for us - Jesus.

There are a lot of choices with regard to stories to tell. I've searched in the internet and found a few. There are some differences among them but in the end they tell the same story.

I found this book at Amazon. I did not have enough time to make the ornaments here but I am thinking of starting on this project for next Christmas. I would have really wanted to do these as they seem really simple to make. I just do not have enough time.

As December was fast approaching, I was resigned to having to either put off this project for next year or buy a hodge podge of ornaments to use for these. I also found this site with printable ornaments that I could've used. While I appreciate that it's free, it was not as attractive as I would have wanted.

I also found and printed this wonderfully detailed bible readings from the National Catholic Register. I had decided to use these and modify them to accommodate the ornaments that were more easily available.

Then, I found this at one of my favorite digital scrapbooking stores. Coincidence? I think not! God was looking out for me!!! LOL! It combines the ease of simply printing off the ornaments with the crafty look I wanted. Add to that the fact that I was able to get these at 1/2 off because of the Black Friday sale the designer was having. Oh, God is good indeed!!

I still plan on making my own felt ornaments for next year but for now, this will more than suffice. In fact, I'm even thinking of giving a set of these ornaments as presents to some families I know.

I am sooo pleased!! I have them all cut up now and ready to be hung. Woohoo!

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