Our Jesse Tree/Advent Tree

My dear friend, Rachel, invited me to participate from-afar in a Jesse Tree Party that she hosted out in Colorado Springs.  Several of her friends gathered together to do an ornament exchange - each of us were assigned to make 25 of the same ornament, for a specific day of December that coincided with the Bible verse or theme we were given.  (While I missed out on the party, I did get all my ornaments in the mail just a few days after - so it's something you can do even if you're not near your friends.)

Have you heard of a Jesse Tree?  It's an advent tree of sorts that walks your family through the Biblical events leading to the birth of Jesus.  Each day in December, you add one ornament to the tree and read the verses associated with that ornament.  It starts with Creation, goes through the Old Testament - covers the Fall (Adam & Eve), the Flood, prophesies of Jesus, etc., then walks you all the way through to Jesus' birth.

Rachel's beautifully hand-crafted tree!

My (I'm too lazy to make my own...) West Elm Wooden Wall Tree - before & after I added all my ornaments.  (Note: West Elm is out of the tree online, but they still have them in some stores!)

Here is a list of the days of December, associated ornament themes, and Bible verses for the Jesse Tree:

Day 1:   Earth/Globe - Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-4

Day 2:   Apple & Snake - Genesis 3:1-10, 23; Isaiah 53:6

Day 3:   Ark & Rainbow - Genesis 6:5-8, 7:17-23, 9:16; Romans 6:23

Day 4:   Camel & Tent - Genesis 12:1-7

Day 5:   Lamb - Genesis 22:1-13; John 1:29b

Day 6:   Jacob's Ladder - Genesis 28:10-17

Day 7:   Colorful Coat - Genesis 37:3-36, 50:18-21; Romans 8:28

Day 8:   Tablet with 10 Numbers - Exodus 32:15-18, 20:1-20; Psalm 119:11

Day 9:   Cluster of Grapes - Numbers 13:1-2,17-23,27; Psalm 103:2

Day 10: Sheaf of Wheat - Ruth 1:16, 2:5-17, 4:14

Day 11: Slingshot - 1 Samuel 16:1,13; 1 Samuel 17:1-9,40,45-50

Day 12: Scroll - 2 Kings 23:1-3; Psalm 119:105

Day 13: Stump with Leaf - Isaiah 11:1-5,10; John 1:14a

Day 14: Lion & Lamb Together - Isaiah 11:6-10

Day 15: Dove & Crown - Isaiah 9:6-7; John 14:27

Day 16: Shepherd's Staff - Isaiah 40:11; Psalm 23:1-2; John 10:27

Day 17: Cross - Isaiah 53; Luke 2:8-18; John 19:11-18; John 10-15

Day 18: Heart with Writing - Jeremiah 31:31-34; Acts 16:31

Day 19: Bethlehem - Luke 2:4-7

Day 20: Fiery Furnace - Daniel 3:19-29; Jeremiah 1:8

Day 21: Brick Wall - Nehemiah 1:3, 2:18, 6:15-16; Malachi 3:1; Revelation 22:20

Day 22: Star - Matthew 2:1-12; Revelation 22:16

Day 23: Candle/Light - Luke 1:26-38, 2:32; John 8:12

Day 24: Angel - Hebrews 1:14; Luke 2:8-14; Romans 6:23

Day 25: Baby in Manger - Luke 2:1-10; John 3:16-17

The cross ornament I created with metal washers - I was assigned Day 17, a cross.  Instructions for making these guys can be found {here}.

It's really neat how we all came away feeling more educated about the Biblical "genealogy" of Christmas - the events and timing behind the why, how, and when Jesus came...the fulfillment of God's great plan!  It's a wonderful thing to focus on with the family every day of December, leading up to Christmas.

While you could definitely create all your own ornaments, the cool part about doing the "party" concept is that all of us who participated worked alone on our individually-assigned ornaments but then joined together and distributed our hand-crafted ornaments to create a beautiful tradition for all of our families to enjoy.  It's also a lot easier to create the same ornament 25 times, than 25 different ornaments...just sayin'.  What a treasure for years to come!

(Please let me know if you have any questions about what ornament was made for each theme - there are ideas all over the web, especially Pinterest!)