Jesse Tree Ornament Swap

In the secular world, it's Christmastime.  For many Christians, especially Catholics, it is almost Advent (this Sunday begins the season and the new Liturgical year.)  One of the traditions that many catholics observe is that of the Jesse Tree.

A Jesse Tree is a depiction of the genealogy of Jesus.  It's sort of his family tree that is orchestrated in a manner meant to show that He springs from the "root of Jesse"  as we read in the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse [David's father], and a flower shall rise up out of his root.

A couple of ambitious young moms threw out the idea on Facebook of having an ornament swap where 28 folks would volunteer to make one of the Jesse Tree ornaments 28 times.  We would gather to swap ornaments and then have a complete set.  Yesterday was the day of our swap and we met at a local park so the kidlets could play while we collected our ornaments. I continue to be amazed by the creativity of the ideas and the interpretation of each of the ornaments. Kudos to you, ladies.  Thank you Dru and Audrey for organizing this effort. 

My ornament was the Chi-Rho (the oldest symbol of Christ - and it's considered his monogram). 

I tried to be simple and spend as little money as possible.  I used felt, pipe cleaners, ribbon and my sewing machine.  I was pleased.

Gianna was impressed.

Can you tell her hair is shorter?

Momma's been a little scissor happy.

She's been asking for a bob for over a year.

She got it!