We first decided that we wanted to make a change to the way we had been decorating our tree the year our oldest son, Jonathan, was born. At the time, I had to pretty much settle for whatever supplies I could find at Wal-Mart. There was one other little store that had some craft supplies, but there wasn't a whole lot of choices when it came to shopping in our town.
This was also before I had access to the internet at home and all the beautiful ideas that are shared out there now. Because of these things, most of the ornaments I made that year used basic supplies and a bit of creativity.
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son... |
The original world ornaments that I made involved covering styrofoam balls with some sort of paste to make them easier to paint, painting them blue, and then painting the land masses on them. I definitely think the new version is easier and prettier. I just hope they hold up better, too.
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Jesus is the light of the world. |
I used quite a bit of felt between the suns and the hearts. For the suns, I first painted wooden circles in various sizes yellow. Then I cut the felt into rough squares. I hot glued one color at a time onto the back and then cut the triangles out around the wooden center. No measuring makes for a quick and easy project. Then I added a piece of twine to the back for it to hang on the tree.
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In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10 ESV) |
For the hearts, I used my very basic sewing skills. I made a template from something relatively thick like card stock or poster board. Then I traced and cut out two hearts for each ornament from the red felt. I used yarn and a tapestry needle to stitch around the edges, and just before I closed each one up all the way I added a fistful of stuffing inside to make them puffy.
Our super simple crosses were made with sticks from our yard and a bit of twine. I think I probably used a bit of hot glue to hold the sticks together while I wrapped the twine around the center.
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Jesus is the Prince of Peace. |
These doves were prefect just the way they are, so we just wrap their little wired feet around a branch, and they sit nicely in the tree.
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“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2 ESV) |
And finally, you can see that the stars are nothing more than a glittery pipe cleaner and a piece of ribbon. I just shaped the pipe cleaner into a star and tied the ribbon on. I actually think that I may have used a cookie cutter to get the star shape started.
Most of these ornaments are still used on our tree today, so they do hold up pretty well. I know that everyone has different tastes in decorations, but my goal was to keep it simple at first. Although, I do tend to be a fan of rustic and handmade when it comes to decorating the tree.
Do you have a great idea for a handmade ornament for a Jesus tree?
i hope you are going to show us a pic of the whole tree. :)
ReplyDeletep.s. do you read the blog, A Holy Experience by Ann Morton Voskamp? This is a link to a free download she has this year....includes ornaments for tree.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/11/free-jesse-tree-advent-devotional-book/