Jesse Tree Take 2...

Well, back in June I posted about participating in a Jesse Tree ornament exchange. Since then I've had our basket of ornaments stashed in my closet waiting for the holiday season. In the mean time I began to brainstorm what type of tree I wanted to use. Ideally, I'd like to have a small 3-4 foot tree for the kids to decorate in their play area. However, I'm not really sure how Avi-Kate will do this year with the tree and since these ornaments are handmade I don't want to tempt fate. I think in a few years I'll probably look to do something like that...back to the drawing board I went. I then began to brain storm what Christmas stuff we have and where it all goes. I could put the ornaments on our big tree but I don't want them to get lost on the tree. (We usually end up with a 8 foot tree that we cut down...I think they get bigger each year.) I then began to mull the possibility of putting it on a table/counter. After much brainstorming I finally decided that I wanted to put it on the kitchen table so that it would be easily seen by the kids and we could talk about it each night at dinner. (This required me to rearrange some of the other small trees we have... particularly my Starbucks tree that usually sits on the kitchen table. I have found a new home for it and I think this will work out quite nicely.) 

Once I settled on the spot I had to find a tree...I've been searching for weeks and didn't find anything that I loved so I decided to repurpose a tree I already had. Now the only downside of putting the tree on the table is that there is no outlet on the wall the table sits on. And I, of course, want this tree to be lit. Thankfully, I was able to find some inexpensive battery powered light sets at Hobby Lobby last week.  We spent yesterday at home in pjs because we've all passed around a lovely cold and a virus. (I had to reschedule our big Thanksgiving meal with our college students that was suppose to be tonight for next week...I figured their parents didn't want me to send them home sick with what we've had.) All that to say, we started pulling out Christmas stuff yesterday. I can get a head start on trying to get the house decorated. This morning I decided to make sure I could fit all the ornaments we have on the tree I want to use. Thankfully, they all fit with a little room to spare. Here's what our table will look like this Christmas season. I need to fill the votives on either side of the tree with coffee beans and tea lights. (We'll use those for our Advent candles.) 

A little sneak peek:

In my research I've found that there are several different types of Jesse Trees. It's the same concept but usually the order is switched around. For our exchange we are doing the following order:

1. The Light in Creation

2. The First Sin

3. Inside the Ark

4. The Call to Abram

5. Isaac and the Lamb

6. Jacob's Ladder
7. Joseph's Coast of Many Colors
8. Moses and the Ten Commandments
9. Canaan, the Promised Land of Blessings
10. Ruth and Boaz
11. King David
12. Josiah Finds the Law
13. Prophesy of Shoot from the Stump of Jesse
14. Prophesy of the Lion and Lamb Resting Together
15. Prophesy of the Prince of Peace
16. Prophesy of a Gentle Shepherd
17. Prophesy of the Suffering Servant
18. Prophesy of the New Covenant
19. Prophesy of Bethlehem
20. The Exile
21. The Return to the Land
22. The Star
23. The Light of the World
24. Angels Proclaiming the Coming of Christ
25. The Birth of Jesus

There you have it. Our Jesse Tree is ready to go for the very first time and I'm very excited. Now to get the rest of the house decorated for the holidays...