New Christmas Tradition {The Jesse Tree}

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Every year as my children grow older, the more important it is to me that they become more aware of our beliefs and what better way to teach them than through traditions.

This year I decided to start a new advent tradition where the focus wasn't just a countdown to Christmas day, but more rather a countdown to the birth of Jesus. I mean after all he is the reason for the season. My daughter who is seven has also started becoming more aware of the Bible and how Jesus came to be our Lord and Savior. Not all of this can be easily to explain to a child so I did some research and I discovered the Jesse Tree.

Jesse Trees are a very old Christmas Tradition and first started in medieval times. The tradition is used as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. They are used to help tell the story of the Bible from creation to the Christmas story using twenty-five symbols each representing a story from the Bible. I went on countless websites and there are so many explanations and ways to go about it that I decided to purchase a book called The Advent Jesse Tree. It is a very easy read and I love that it has devotions for both adults and children.

 I had the intention of making my own ornaments, but in doing research it is a lot of work and making twenty-five ornaments was just a little more than I wanted to take on, so I went on Etsy and came upon the most adorable handmade ornaments.

 



Baby What Knots

As soon as I saw them I knew they were just perfect!
I purchased them from Baby What Knots on Etsy!! I purchased the vellum sticker ornaments which are just as gorgeous in person. The ornaments also match the devotions in the The Advent Jesse Tree book which also was a plus and made it so much fun!

 

These ornaments are amazing and so life like. My daughter actually looks forward to opening the advent bag to see what the next advent story brings. It is so exciting for her to be able to understand the meaning of the stories with these ornaments.

 

 



I put each ornament in one of these muslin bags with a few pieces of candy. It is such a great feeling to have meaning to something which once was just a bag filled with goodies counting down to Christmas. Now it is a bag filled with meaning....

 

 

There is a reoccurring theme in this room which really holds so much meaning and it all revolves around the true meaning of Christmas.

 

 

Traditions are for keeping and this is one tradition that I pray will remain in our family for decades to come. I would love for you to share your favorite holiday traditions!!

If you missed my Christmas vignette you can find that post here.

To start you own Jesse Tree advent tradition you can purchase the ornaments found in this post here.

Have a wonderful weekend!