Jesse Tree: Jonah Ornament and Other Ideas

Oh, I love how this one turned out! Here is the Jesse Tree ornament for our Jonah devotional during Advent. I used a pattern from this Softies book: I just scaled it down to ornament size and omitted the little bird from the top of the whale. Cute, huh? And the cost, less than $1.50, makes it even cuter somehow.

Hey, I'm making a pretty good dent in these ornaments. Hopefully I'll get them all finished before December rolls around. We'll see.

My friend Becca had some great suggestions for other ways to create a Jesse Tree. She thought of buying a bunch of picture frame ornaments and putting a picture of each symbol in them. This would make quick work of assembling a set and the tree would have a very uniform look to it.

Another of her ideas is to use a tree branch instead of a large Christmas tree. You could hang gift tags with the symbol drawn on them instead of ornaments. She also suggested using this wire card holder as the "tree". These are great ideas if you don't have the space for a Christmas Tree. Thanks for sharing, Becca!f

Jesse Tree: Lamb Ornament

I just finished the lamb ornament for our Jesse Tree. The lamb {or ram} is the symbol for our devotional during Advent about God calling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and then providing a ram instead.

My mother-in-law and I were at Crate & Barrel after Christmas this year and found this little guy on sale for like $1.

I snatched him up and brought him home with plans to transform him from a shabby gray sheep into a nice white lamb {ram} for our Jesse Tree. Even though I didn't start from scratch, you easily could if you want to make something like this.

The following is what you would need:
One small sheet of white felt
White yarn
Small wooden knob
Black and white paint
One small dowel rod
Hot glue
Fishing line

Here's how I transformed this little guy. First, I tore him apart and gave his old gray fur a toss.

I cut out two circles of white {or in my case, off-white because I already had some} felt and hot glued them together.

His legs are 2 1/2 inch lengths of dowel rod painted black. I glued those onto the felt circle. Ignore the remnants of gray yarn and dried hot glue from his previous life.

I'm thinking for the head, you could use a small piece of wood or even a small wooden knob. Paint it black and make two white dots for the eyes. Cut two small ovals out of black felt and hot glue them to either side of the head for ears. Glue the head to the center of the felt circle on the same side as the legs. I obviously just put his old head back on.

For the fur, hot glue thick white yarn to the felt circle. Start near the head and coil the yarn around as you glue it until it covers the entire circle. Do the same for the back side.

I had some white yarn already that I wanted to use but it was a bit thin to just glue on as is. Instead, I knit a cord of it for either side, making it thicker and fluffier.

To hang, thread a strand of fishing line through the top of the ornament with a needle and tie ends together.

That's it. Little time, little money. That's my kind of project!

I have a couple more of these ornaments in the "nearly-done" phase and I'll post them here soon.