Jesse Tree... all in one place

A few years ago, I made these coloring page Jesse Tree ornaments to go along with the reflections that my SIL, Erin Manning, wrote but they were scattered all over in different files. I finally have them collected all in one place.
This is a Jesse Tree that is only for the month of December, so it started yesterday. I meant to get it out then, but it took me longer than I thought to figure out how to merge pdf files. Sorry.

Jesse Tree Reflections with Colorable Ornaments

Click on the link above to download the single file that includes all the reflections and the coloring pages. If you've never tried a Jesse Tree before, this is an easy (and free!) way to try one.

Hoping your Advent has been everything you want it to be!

Jesse Tree Treasures

{Please note… I am closing down my Etsy shop for the Christmas Season on December 13th. All orders for embroidery kits placed prior to that will be shipped out on December 15th at the latest.}

Hi. I'm Charlotte… and I'm a Jesse Tree addict. This year, I did NOT participate in a swap so, I'm working on moderation. I did however agree to accept a beautiful set from Jesse Tree Treasures in exchange for a review so… there goes moderation, I guess. I promise, it's going to be an honest review for anyone thinking about ordering their own. (And of course there is still time… Advent's not over yet!!!) Here is what I like:

The artwork is nicely done
While I have enjoyed my experiences in the world of Jesse Tree Swaps, there is just something to be said for a set that looks like it was put together by the same artist. The colors are complimentary. The style of the art is similar on each piece. Also… I love the bare wood on the backside. Wood is so beautiful, it should never be painted unless is absolutely has to be.

Cupcake loved looking at all of the pretty pictures.

Uniformity of size
Each piece is the same size. Some of the swaps I've participated in had dimension limits on the pieces being made but you still ended up with a variety of sizes. Some teeny tiny things, some 4x4 numbers. I think everyone has their own idea of where they are going to hang their Jesse Tree symbols and that influences the proportions  of the pieces they make. But to me, uniform pieces mean a nicely balanced, even look to wherever you decide to hang them. In our case, it's a skinny little 6 foot fake Christmas tree.

Options!!!
This is probably my most favorite thing. There are so many options with this set. We have a felt Jesse Tree that a sweet SIL made us that is starting to show it's age… it's been well loved. That Jesse Tree only has enough symbols to go from December 1st through the 25th. But some years… Advent starts in November! With this set from Jesse Tree Treasures, you can decide when you'd like to start your Jesse Tree. And some of the symbols can be used for different stories. If you have a Bible storybook that your family loves, I'm sure you could find symbols for the stories that you want to include. If you decide you want to focus on the female characters in Christ's genealogy, you can do that too.

Let's say you want a strict story telling focus, not a people of the Bible focus, you can do that with this set. You can tell the story of Moses' trip in the basket, the burning bush and the Ten Commandments all with different ornaments!

Right now, we are following my SIL's reflections (see her right side bar). Hers are based on the old felt version that we both have (same SIL made one for each of us) and we have been able to find symbols in this set to work for each of the original symbols. Next year, we might try a different line-up. It's the options that this complete set provides that I love.

But in case options make you break out in hives because…ahhhhhhhh... too many choices... this set comes with blank cards that you can fill in with the name of the symbol, the verse or story and create your own order to be used year after year without thinking about it. Jesse Trees should not cause you to sweat.

Now, I told you this was an honest review… so, here is what I don't like.

Hangers
The set comes with thin little pieces of thread to string each ornament up with. Little wisps of thread that are way too hard for a toddler's uncoordinated hands to figure out. That's just not going to cut it for Miss Cupcake who wants to do everything by herself these days. (Pray for us, please!) I'm planning to get some thicker thread or string or ribbon to use instead so that it's easier for her to hang them on our tiny little tree. The holes that are in each ornament aren't very big so as not to obscure the lovely artwork, of course, but that means it's going to be tricky to find something that will work. I think I can do it. Maybe I'll try some wire twisted into an S shape. I'll let you know what ends up working.

Trying to decide on a favorite...

And finally…my one neutral thought:

Durability
Some of the ornaments that I've received in Jesse Tree Swaps didn't hold up against the heat of a Texas garage in the summer time and I just don't have enough closet space to store everything inside. These little ornaments seem like they will survive better but since I just received them a few weeks ago, I can't really be sure until we've lived through another summer. I'll get back to you on that.

Advent Day 2: Links

Ahhhh…it's already going too fast! I love Advent but I don't love these short ones as much. Here are some clickety-clicky links that I thought you might like:

1)  Kimberlee's idea for a sewn book bag is just delightful! We have done the gift wrapped books for several years now, but I like to change things up a little bit every now and then. I already mentioned that I wasn't going to wrap them this year but did at the last minute. I'm thinking next year a book bag might be the way to go.

2) We are joining in on the Wise Men Adventures. We pulled out the Playmobil Nativity set and have already sent the Wise Men on their first adventure. When searching for the Baby Jesus, it's a pretty wise idea to check the baby toys first! But inside the hippo? Really Balthazar?

My big kids have come up with a rotation. They will each take turns staging a new scene every night for everyone else to discover in the morning. This is gonna be fun! I can't wait to see where those silly Wise Men turn up next. And can I just say that this is a lot less creepy than the Elf on the Shelf. Something about that doll's face give me the heebie jeebies.

3) I don't know who Sam Rocha is, but my friend Calah seems to like him a lot and I like what he has to say in this post here. Look, you could make an argument for just about anything. I could even see someone arguing that celebrating Advent in a more Christmassy fashion is like celebrating a baby's impending arrival before they've arrived with things like baby showers and shopping trips. But Sam's post makes sense to me and fits well with what we've always done. I don't think it needs to be a strict observance though and I think common sense should always take precedence. If you turn the Christmas music station on in the car to get a break from the newest pop phenom station, there is nothing wrong with that. And as I pointed out to Sam on FB, those of us with children who are musicians or choir members know that practice makes perfect and sometimes those Christmas tunes start getting practiced in October.

4) If you are looking for a super simple Jesse Tree, my SIL and I created this one last year. I drew the symbols and she wrote the reflections. You can do the longer Bible readings if you want or just read the verse and the reflections. You can find all of her reflections gathered in one document here and you can find my symbols here:
Jesse Tree Symbols Page 1
Jesse Tree Symbols Page 2
Jesse Tree Symbols Page 3

Jesse Tree Swap #3!

Hi… My name is Charlotte… and I'm a Jesse Tree Swap addict.
But this is my last year, I promise. You know, I can quit anytime…

Seriously, my kids love when that box arrives and we open the ornaments one by one and try to figure out who they represent (or in some cases, what they are). They ooh and aah over every teeny, tiny detail and delight at the creativity of so many friends we've never met and yes, sometimes chuckle at the different interpretations of the symbols. (Not in a mean way! Nonononono! In an I-never-would-have-thought-of-that kind of way)

This year, we are participating in Karen's swap and I chose Mary. I wanted to make something similar to the St. Elizabeth I made last year for Jessica T's swap. Since this was supposed to be Mary from the Annunciation, I didn't need to make her visibly pregnant like St. Elizabeth so after trying a couple of different variations… (like this flying nun version)...

I settled on a white, painted body with an embroidery thread belt and a blue felt veil that was pinned down to the sides with a little dab of glue lest a good, strong breeze carry Our Lady away. Just like last year's St. Elizabeth, there is an embroidery thread hanger attached to the top of the veil.

I was going to do a wordy tutorial showing you step by step how to make this and apologizing for my unattractive fingernails but I didn't know if anyone would really be interested (unless maybe you are doing a Jesse Tree Swap too) so I just put this little collage together instead and I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

Advent?

I wasn't even thinking about Advent yet until Miss Jessica forced me encouraged me to commit to another Jesse Tree Swap. I've done TWO already. This will be the third. But really, it's so much fun to get your box and unwrap each ornament with the kids as they try to guess which symbols the ornament represents. Anyway... if you are interested in a Jesse Tree swap, then head on over to Karen's and sign up quick before Jessica cons anyone else  the spaces are all gone.

Colorable Jesse Tree Symbols Pg.2

My SIL, Erin, has posted more Jesse Tree reflections based on the readings for the felt Jesse Tree we both have. Here are the second set of symbols to go along with the first. You can print them in colorable form or pre-colored. There is one more coming for the 25th.

Jesse Tree B&W page 2

Jesse Tree Color page 2

UPDATED to add:

Jesse Tree B&W page 3

Jess Tree Color page 3

You can find links to page one over in the sidebar and to the individual reflections.

 

Colorable Jesse Tree Symbols

My SIL is embarking on a project for Advent. She's written some reflections based on a Jesse Tree that we both have versions of, made by the same sweet Sister sister-in-law. Our little felt figures are looking pretty worn so that's why have found other Jesse Trees to use in years past. We don't want it to wear out too soon. We like to give it a break every now and then. Well, I made some colorable symbols to go along with her reflections and I'm offering them there and here for anyone who just can't pull off the craftier ones and just wants something simple:

Jesse Tree B&W Page 1

(These are the first 12 symbols. I'll get to the rest later. This Jesse Tree always starts Dec. 1.)

And if you want pre-colored ones, you can click here:

Jesse Tree Color Page 1

Again, she's posting the readings and reflections to go with these symbols at her blog. You can find the first two here:

Jesse Tree Reflections 1&2

Happy (almost) Advent!

UPDATE: Page 2 & 3 of the symbols can be found here.

 

A Jesse Tree St. Elizabeth

Here is our St. Elizabeth for Jessica's Jesse Tree Ornament Swap. Please tell me you think this looks like a pregnant lady and not just a fat lady wrapped in brown felt. Actually, it doesn't matter because they are in the mail on their way so there is nothing I can do about them now.

My inspiration was this beautiful one made out of Model Magic clay. I loved it but I'm not so good with sculpting and I probably couldn't have made 32 of them look as beautiful as that one. So, looking around at what I had, I came up with a peg doll version.

First, I glued a flat decorative vase stone to a blank peg doll (that's St. John the Baptist in there) and after lots of trial and error, cut out a dress shape from the felt.

I found that adding a little touch of hot glue at the chest area, helped secure the dress when I wrapped it around her. It also helped accentuate the belly (which is not what most pregnant woman want, I know). I centered the V-neck over the belly and wrapped the shape around, glueing in the back and trimming things up afterwards. The v-neck helped it look more like a dress and not like a Muumuu according to my kids. I tried to pull the felt around her belly so that she looked more pregnant, less pudgy.

The veil was a 3inch square piece of felt.

I secured it in the front with a dot of hot glue on her forehead and then secured each corner at the base of the neck in the back.

Right about here is where I would usually burn myself and leave a light layer of flesh and fingerprint behind on every doll. You're welcome! :)

This is what she looked like at that point.

I folded the veil flat behind her and then folded each side flap in and secured with more hot glue (and skin). Do those low heat glue guns actually work? Do they still burn your fingers?

Jessica asked that they be ready to hang, so I added some embroidery thread as a hanger.

I was able to use everything I already had with the exception of needing more peg dolls and brown felt. Sadly, my craft store was out of plain brown felt, so I got some embossed felt which some of my kids actually liked even better. I really liked the way she turned out. I started wondering if I could make a whole Jesse Tree out of peg dolls and felt. 

Hmmmmm.... a project for another year?

Jesse Tree Ornament Swap!!!

Remember Lori's awesome Jesse Tree Swap? We made the fiery furnace! Well, my friend Jessica,...um... I mean, my OTHER friend Jessica is doing one but it's on the super duper, get your craft groove on RIGHT NOW side! Who's up to the challenge? Come on... you know you want to! You make 28 of the same ornament assembly line style and you get an entire Jesse Tree in return! What a deal!

Sign up now!

 

A Note on Jesse Trees

Hand-made and well-loved

I read somewhere that the idea of doing a Jesse Tree was causing some stress. Let me just say first, that I never had a Jesse Tree growing up. Had never even heard of one! It wasn't until my SIL made one for Husband and I for our wedding that I even knew what such a thing was.

So, my introduction to the Jesse Tree idea was a late one. And you would think that being given one would mean there was nothing to freak out about. Hah! You don't know me very well. The depths I can plumb for reasons for freaking out are vast and wide, my friend! Are we doing this the right way? Do we light the Advent Wreath before or during? Is there a prayer to say before reading the verse? Should the Jesse Tree reading take the place of night-time prayers or should it be in addition to? Etc...

Let me just put your minds at ease... there is no "right way" to do a Jesse Tree. Being a private devotion, it is what you need it to be. Also... and it took me several years to figure this out... there is no one particular set of Jesse Tree readings. There are so many to choose from. Some of them will have the same images, some will be different. This year, while I tend to making some repairs to our original gifted Jesse Tree, we will be using Ann's chosen Bible verses and the lovely images contained within (although it doesn't appear to be available anymore). My girls have also requested that one of these years we include more women of the Old Testament in our Jesse Tree readings. And you know what...you can do that! Isn't it great?

Also, with little ones, don't worry about trying to do all of the readings from the Bible. Some of them were rather lengthy (at least they seemed like it to our little ones). When mine were littler, we used to read the stories out of a Bible storybook we had or sometimes, Husband would just tell them the story of the person who's figure was being placed that night.

For anyone just starting out with a Jesse Tree, do yourself a favor and use a prepared one. You can make changes once you get going. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Updated to add:
Vee over at Paper Dali has free printable Jesse Tree ornaments you can color yourself

From Aquinas and More:
Jesse Tree Kit
Jesse Tree Ornament Kit

From Christianbook.com:
Jesse Tree Advent Activity Kit

Books from Amazon:
Let's Make A Jesse Tree ~This is the book ours was made from. This is not a kit. These are just instructions.
Jesse Tree Devotions: A Family Activity for Advent ~includes a poster and pictures to cut out and stick on
The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean ~No ornaments with this book! We have read it and didn't much care for the way the old man treated the young boy at times but you might like it.
The Jesse Tree: A Family Craft for the Story of Advent ~Not a kit, just a resource for making your own.