Every day from the beginning of Advent, a symbolic ornament is hung on a leafless branch, which stands for Jesus' family tree. The ornaments represent the stories of Jesus' lineage. (For more about the what, why, and how of the Jesse Tree, click here.)
The ornaments can be home-made or bought. Last year, my daughter and I made our ornaments using simple paper and cardboard. We decorated each one with glitter, felt, colored paper, beads, or yarn. It was a wonderful experience as each of the Bibles stories came to life for us and truly prepared us for Christmas.
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| Can you guess which Bible stories the ornaments above represent? :) |
Jesse Tree Kits by Mano Amiga
If you don't have the time nor the inclination to do the ornaments yourself, you can opt to buy a ready-made Jesse Tree Kit and get you started with a new family tradition right away.
I learned about Mano Amiga's Jesse Tree Kits through Teacher Mama Tina's blog last year, after we've already started with our own Jesse Tree. Though we had a grand time making our own ornaments and wouldn't trade the experience for anything, I have to confess that I still longed for more polished Jesse Tree ornaments.
Mano Amiga is a non-profit organization that provides underprivileged families with education, health, and development services. The Jesse Tree project is one of its livelihood programs for the mothers in the community, and is already on its fourth year.
Now Available
Each Jesse Tree Kit for 2012 contains 23 ornaments for each day of Advent and a CD guide containing the daily Bible readings, reflections, and prayers.
I LOVE the ornaments as the colors are vibrant and have a decoupage effect. Hung on a twig planted in a sand-filled wine bottle, the Jesse Tree is a beautiful and meaningful accent piece for one's home this coming Advent season.
Children will fall in love with this activity/tradition and will make it easier for parents to focus on what is really important about Christmas: Jesus and how he came to earth to save His people. It would make a great gift for family friends too!
Each Jesse Tree set is sold at P1500 and will directly benefit the mothers of the Mano Amiga community. If you are willing and able to pick up your order in Quezon City, we will give you a branch and a sand-filled wine bottle for your tree. You may also arrange with us to pick it up on December 1 at our Preschool Homeschool seminar at Medela House. (It is easy, though, to make your own!)
If you are interested to order, kindly send us an email at shop at thelearningbasket dot com with your shipping address or whether you want to pick up the Jesse Tree set yourself. It would be best to get your order before Advent begins on Dec 2.
Here's to a meaningful Christmas for our families! I am so happy to be able to help the Mano Amiga community as well as provide my readers and loyal customers the chance to embark on a special family Advent tradition.
Make magic!
7 comments:
Oh we did the Jesse Tree last year! I wanted to do something more involved this year (last year I just printed out the ornaments), but I haven't been able to prepare. So I will most likely recycle last year's. Or reprint, rather. What Bible readings did you use? I mean I have the verses, but I was hoping for a more simplified explanation :)
My daughter was just three last year so we read the Bible stories that corresponded with the Bible readings. :) Aside from printing the ornaments, I also cut out circles out of cardboard paper. Then every day we would color the ornament for the day and put some "zing" to it with glitter, beads, etc. So much fun and "involved" as you said :)
great gift idea!
It is! You'll just have to give it really early :D
sayang! i didn't think my toddler will sit around long enough to make the ornaments with me so i went ahead and downloaded a printable from the internet.
i'll remember to get these next year because just like you i like making things with the kids for the experience and bonding. But it is still nice to get ones that are better made. :-)
Sayang! I didn't think my toddler and I would have enough time to make the ornaments ourselves so I just downloaded a free printable and sent it to the printers.
I'll get this set next year. I agree, making things with the kids is a nice experience to share with them but sometimes it's just nice to have stuff that are better made. :-)
Sayang my post wasn't early enough. Mano Amiga wasn't sure when the kits would be available so I delayed writing about it. Next year then! :)
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