Jesse Tree -- Advent

I'm normally a total procrastinator. I'm that student staying up until 4 a.m. to finish reading the book for the book report that's due the following day. I tend to order birthday presents the day before people's birthday and look at them shockingly the next day and say, "I'm so sorry! Your present hasn't arrived yet!" (I totally just blew my secret)

But this year, I actually had some sort of forethought. I actually did some planning ahead. I know. Shocking. My dad probably just fainted.

I began thinking and planning for Advent this year at the beginning of November. Seriously. Don't be too proud of me. This sort of planning ahead doesn't happen too often around this household!

It began with me thinking through putting up Christmas decorations and imagining little hands stealing my carefully placed ornaments on my Charlie Brown-ified Christmas tree. I began thinking of creative ways to keep them off my tree. 

Brandon suggested an electric-shock fence. 

I decided to go with a little less call-CPS approach...

Make them their own tree!!

My initial idea was to make a bunch of cutesy fun ornaments. Maybe three with each of their names on it. Stars. Gifts. Glittery balls. Anything that might distract them from pulling the cherished ornaments that I drug across the ocean with us off of the already-leaning tree.

But as the idea continued to develop, I imagined how I could incorporate our Jesse Tree tradition into this. Because last year our Jesse Tree Garland was a little pathetic. I'd suddenly remember it was time to do that day's JT Devotion and would scrounge around in Salem's toys for his plastic snake to string up on the garland for the story of Adam and Eve. That was the total procrastinator coming out in me. It was a sad and pathetic little gathering of random toys (does a Lego man count for Moses?!) and coloring pages.

So I set out for Pinterest, despite my previously mentioned dislike for all things Pinteresting, to find some ideas on how to make advent-ish type felt ornaments. Sure enough, Pinterest did not disappoint and I found lots of inspiration. I geared ours more toward our choice of Jesse Tree devotionals. 

And then I began sewing my fingers raw...

Here's a few of my faves.

Adam and Eve and the Stump of Jesse

I had a lot of fun figuring out how to put some of these ornaments together.

Jonah and The Flood

Creation and Bethlehem

Is it a little strange that my globe doesn't even have The Big Chicken pictured on it? 

Abraham and Isaac (and the Ram) and Elijah

The Angel and The Lion and the Lamb

All 27 of them...

(That was before the final finished product with the red border.)

I'm slightly terrified they'll be ripped to shreds, the kids will yank all the buttons off, or Caleb will eat one of the ornaments. So maybe for this year we'll hang it out of reach. So much for the hands-off-my-Christmas-tree idea. :) 

But I know they're really excited about it. Which makes it worth all the work and anti-procrastination efforts, especially if it helps them treasure the significance of Jesus' birth.

It starts tomorrow, ya'll!!