When I started writing my book, The Jesse Tree for Families, I knew that one of the non-negotiables for me was having a set of beautiful ornaments that go with it.
So many ornaments out there are (in my opinion) underwhelming, not beautiful or enticing to a child. And for me that’s part of what makes the Jesse Tree tradition so special- it helps make the abstract concrete. The ornaments give my kids something to hold and to touch, and engaging as many senses as possible has been shown to boost the likelihood of knowledge (in this case the story of salvation history) being internalized.
So OSV and I went back and forth about ornaments. There was never, ever any doubt that Amy Heyse would paint gorgeous symbols for the book, but the bigger question was how to get them into families’ hands in a way that was both practical and affordable.
And as always, OSV came through in a big way. They found a way to put not just one, but 2 sets of ornaments into the book. One is a set printed on a thick paper that is actually the book’s dustjacket. The second set is printed on glossy paper at the back of the text.
How to use the Jesse Tree ornaments?
With each set you have several options. You can cut them out, punch a hole in them, add some ribbon, and use them as is.
But if you’re looking for a way to make the ornaments more durable and create some heirloom quality Jesse Tree ornaments, Amy and I did some brainstorming and came up with a couple of options.
I took my set, snagged this pack of tree slice ornaments, and used matte mod podge to create these beauties.
And in truth, my 5 year old did quite a bit of the mod podging, and they still turned out amazing.
Amy found frame ornaments from Hobby Lobby and a different set of wooden ornaments and did something similar. She’ll walk you through both in the video below (which also contains a peek into the books).