Jesse Tree Ornaments Days 1-5

     I've heard about a Jesse Tree for years, and know several people that have one, but never looked into what it was all about.  I knew it had something to do with hanging little ornaments on a tree every day for Advent, which sounds a lot like my advent calendar, so I really wasn't interested in adding that to my Advent traditions.  But I have been looking for ideas on what to do for Advent devotionals.  I tried reading Jotham's Journey last year, and found it not really to my liking.  No offence to all the people I know who love that series.
      Then I saw a picture of a Jesse Tree on Pinterest, and realized that these weren't just random little ornaments; they told the big picture story of Jesus!  I thought, "Wow, how cool is that! " and I've been hooked since.  I've become totally inspired by all the little handmade ornaments that others have created, and have spent way too much time on Pinterest, pinning my favorite examples to copy for my own tree.  I think it is safe to say that I am a little obsessed with making these ornaments. Ideally, I will have finished them all before December. We all know that "ideally" rarely happens, however, that's the goal. These are the first five.  I'll keep posting pictures as I make them.

  Day1: Creation

     This is supposed to be a globe.  I had thought about needle felting one, but I don't want there to be too many of one type of material, so I painted browns, blues, and greens on watercolor paper, and used that to make my globe.

   

Day 2: Fall of man.

      The apple is needle felted, and the serpent is a pipe cleaner wrapped in tapestry wool.  Bead eyes, and a felt leaf are the finishing touches.

 Day 3: Flood

     This is totally copied from somebody else, but it's a great idea, so I copied it as closely as I could.  The ark is cut out of half inch pine, and the rainbow is crocheted.  So that I didn't have to go out and buy really fine yarn in all the colors of the rainbow, I used embroidery floss. 


Day 4: Call to Abraham.

     I was very uninspired about the tent.  I mean, it's a tent.  I didn't want to put a camel on it either.  For some reason that just looks odd to me. The little bit of machine embroidery around the edge is my attempt to fancy it up.  It looks ok.

 

Day 5: The offering of Isaac.

     The devotional I am going to use says to have a lamb for the symbol on day 5.  However, the Bible says God provided a ram for the offering, so that's what I made.  It is needle felted, except for the horns.  They are made from a felted sweater cut into spirals and sewn on. 

     

       That's it so far!  Hopefully I'll have five more made up in a couple of days.