According to my sweet friend Jacki at The Jesse Tree Project:
The Jesse Tree is a way of telling the story of God’s plan from the beginning of time to redeem His people by sending a Savior. It follows the lineage of Christ’s family and key people in the Old Testament that God uses to tell His story from Creation through Christ’s birth. It is a countdown daily to Christmas with the telling of a story, and an ornament that acts as a symbol and visual reminder of the story.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
Isaiah 11: 1-3
Once the kids were old enough to really sit and listen to a story (3ish? for us), I jumped on the bandwagon with the Jesse Tree Project and ordered the devotional book download. While the Jesse Tree Project is really meant to be done as a group of women each making one "day" of ornaments to share with the group, I went solo with this and created my own set of ornaments, using various sources for inspiration. I actually made two sets, so that each of my daughters could have one of their own one day. I made them with felt and embroidery thread and they have proven to be my kids' favorite tradition that they start asking about as soon as Thanksgiving is over! Each ornament correlates to a story in the Bible that we read every day in December as we lead up to Christ's birth.
My setup: I had tons of this brown felt, so I used it as a backing for all the ornaments. I cut different colored circles for each design background. After I embroidered each felt piece as necessary and attached with a blanket stitch, I placed a small circle of batting between the front and back circle, and attached a small loop of white ribbon to hang each ornament.
The Root of Jesse
Creation
The First Sin
Noah and the Flood
Abraham and God's Promise
The Offering of Isaac
Jacob's Ladder
Joseph and His Coat
Moses and the Passover
Moses and the 10 Commandments
Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
Ruth and Boaz
God Chooses a New King
Elijah and the Big Fire
Jonah Hides
The Coming Light in Isaiah
Daniel and the Lions
Queen Esther
God's Messengers
John the Baptist
Mary and Joseph
Christ Born in a Manger
The Big Announcement
Follow the Star
Isn't it fun? I've tossed around the idea of producing some sort of pattern that others could use to cut out the shapes and make there own. If you have interest in me doing that, just let me know!
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