Thank you to Karen for hosting this swap along with a second swap as well! That is over 60 sets of ornaments to sort and mail, and all during her first trimester no less… Amazing!
A Jesse Tree Ornament Swap
Remember that “Choir of Angels” I was crating for a Jesse Tree Ornament Swap? Well our set of ornaments arrived the day before Thanksgiving and I finally had a chance to photograph them to share with you all!
We opened the box on the first day of Advent and the children all enjoyed looking through the box and choosing their favorites! They also commented on how the ornaments were all so different from each other and ultimately they decided, as unique as the ornaments are from the swap (as you will see they are made with such a large variety of supplies including: paper, wood, felt, clay, popsicle sticks, foam, etc) they prefer our old Jesse Tree (the one we have been using since they were babies) and the set from Jesse Tree Treasures we added a couple years ago. It made me happy to see how much they love the traditions we have established over the years!
The ornaments and the bible stories for each of the ornaments in this set coordinate with those used in the Holy Heroes Jesse Tree DVD. The videos are short so they have left plenty of time for our usual readings from the New Catholic Picture Bible. Snuggles and Rose have been enjoying coloring the corresponding ornaments provided on the DVD as well and adding these new ornaments to a branch we are using as a “tree” for this set.
.: Jesse Tree Swap Ornaments :.
Day 1 Creation: Genesis 1:1-23 – Made by Mary S.
Day 2 Creation: Continued – Made by Pamela @ Created to Mother
Day 3 Fall of Man: Genesis 3:1-15, 20-23 – Made by Deb
Day 4 Noah: Genesis 6:5-20, 7:1-23, 8:1-17, 9:1-13 – Made by Sarah M.
Day 5 Abraham: Genesis 12:1-5, 13:14-16, 18:1-10, 21:1-3 – Made by Sarah
Day 6 Isaac: Genesis 22:1-14 – Made by Karen @ Karen’s Adventures in Mommyland
Day 7 Jacob: Genesis 27:41-44, 28:10-17 – Made by Vicki
Day 8 Joseph: Genesis 37:3-4, 17-28 – Made by Tacy @ Picture a Skyline
Day 9 Moses: Exodus 2:1-10, 3:1-12 – Made by Kelly K.
Day 10 Moses Continued: Exodus, Chapters 7-14, 19, 32 – Made by Lena @ JOY{filled} Family
Day 11 Ruth: Ruth 1:1-16, 7-22 – Made by Kacky K @ Beginning with the Assumption
Day 12 Samuel: 1 Samuel, Chapter 3- Made by Jessica D.
Day 13 Jesse: 1 Samuel, Chapter 16 – Made by (my local friend) Trina
Day 14 David: 1 Samuel, Chapter 17, 19:1-2 – Made by Josette
Day 15 Solomon: 1 Kings, Chapter 3 – Made by Michelle Y.
Day 16 Elijah: 1 Kings, Chapters 17 & 18 – Made by Lucy C. @ Time for Buttercups and Daisies
Day 17 Elisha: 2 Kings 5 – Shannon C @ Homeschooling Papist
Day 18 Isaiah’s Prophecies: Isaiah 8:6-7 – Made by Karen (?)
Day 19 Isaiah: Isaiah Chapter 6 – Made by Mel @ Slightly Crunchy Catholic
Day 20 Daniel: Daniel 6:11-17, 19-25 – Made by Melody @ Blossoming Joy
Day 21 Jeremiah: Jeremiah, Chapter 31- Made by Veronica
Day 22 Angels: Luke, Chapter 1 – Made by (me!) Jessica @ Shower of Roses (tutorial here)
Day 23 Zechariah, Elizabeth and John the Baptist: Luke, Chapter 1 – Made by Katie @ Raising Young Ones
Day 24 Blessed Virgin Mary: Luke, Chapter 1 – Made by Charlotte @ Waltzing Matilda
(tutorial here or buy one here!)
Day 25 The Visitation: Luke 1:39-56 – Made by Marie @ Joy Beyond the Cross
Day 26 Joseph: Matthew, Chapter 1 – Made by Micaela @ California to Korea and Back Again
Day 27 The Nativity: Luke, Chapter 2 – Made by Maggie OFS @ Holiness is for Everyone
Day 28 Magi: Matthew 2:1-12 – Made by Beth
.: O Antiphon Ornaments :.
The O Antiphons begin on December 18th.
(You can find all our past O Antiphon Activities here.)
O Antiphon: O Wisdom – Made by Karen @ A Servant’s Memories
O Antiphon: O Lord of Lords – Made by Eliana
O Antiphon: O Flower of Jesse’s Stem – Made by Shannon C @ Homeschooling Papist
O Antiphon: O Key of David – Made by Erin @ Growing With My Girls
O Antiphon: O Radiant Dawn – Made by Alysha
O Antiphon: O King of All Nations – Made by Lindsay K
O Antphon: O Emmanuel – Made by Marines @ Thy Will – 2 plus 3
~ A collage of the Jesse Tree Ornaments with days and symbols ~
I ran out of time to create another for the O Antiphons! 🙂
It was a fun experience and we have some more lovely ornaments to add to our collection! I have been asked if I would participate in a swap again… Honestly, probably not. Between the many hours I spent painting and assembling the angels, and then adding in the cost of craft supplies and shipping two ways (I split the shipping on a large flat rate box with a friend so it was “only” about $17 each, otherwise it would have been about $26 – a local swap would be much less expensive) I would probably opt to put that towards one of the gorgeous sets from Jesse Tree Treasures (I especially love that they have a custom set option now!) or work on crafting a new set of our own.
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Prayer of Mothers
Father in heaven, grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity which you have conferred on me. Let me realize that not even the Angels have been blessed with such a privilege—to share in your creative miracle and bring new Saints to heaven. Make me a good mother to all my children after the example of Mary, the Mother of your Son. Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary I ask your continued blessings on my family. Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven. Amen.
Wow! So wonderful to see the creativity and artistry in each of the ornaments! I can tell that all of those involved in the swap took a lot of time and care in the making of each one (and shipping them, too!). God bless you all. Happy Advent! Bernadette 🙂
What an awesome box to receive, I wanted so much to participate but in the end could not thanks to a very painful clot in my arm. Seeing all that work makes me realize that I probably won't be able to participate next year either – but oh what a gift!
This was so fun and I love how you photographed and organized them all here. Karen really blessed so many by organizing this.
Thanks for your sweet creation. Your angel will be treasured for many years.
Awesome! I absolutely love these ornaments and can assign my students to make one to bring to school to share with the class. We won't exchange them this year but maybe in the future we can. However, I can put them on display.