Friday, December 12, 2008

Christina's Christmas Decorations (Part One)

Slowly but surely we are getting our decorating done. After fighting with my "pre-lit" (yes it is in quotations on purpose) tree today, I really wanted to cancel all decorating. So for part one I am sharing a few things that we have mostly done.

At Thanksgiving I was talking to my sister-in-law about the Jesus tree that we decorate each year as part of our Christmas traditions. I thought it might be fun to share it here for her and anyone else who might be interested.

When the kids were younger we felt that we needed to add some more things into our yearly traditions to help us be more focused on the reason that our family celebrates Christmas. There are various ideas on the web and this is what we came up with.

Here are some things that are portrayed on our tree. We mostly use things we have or make. I think that the finding and using things that are around the house helps to get them thinking.










Here is a list of the things that we have on the tree this year.
Lion of Judah (plastic toy lion)
Lamb of God (plastic toy lamb)
My strong rock (a rock)
Bright Morning Star (old mini tree topper found at garage sale)
Righteous Branch (Jesus)
King of Kings (made crown w/glitter)
Light of the World (chandelier bulb w/ribbon-may not be appropriate for very young children)
My hope (word found at Michaels)
My lamp (a Coleman lantern key chain)
Good Shepherd (shepherds crook made out of clay)
My Shield (lego knight's kingdom shield)
Sun of righteousness (made of paper)
Alpha and Omega (made w/paper and glitter)
Pearls for Pearl of great price (dress up necklace)
added this year:
Strong tower (chess piece)
Bread of Life (made of clay)
Some of the ornaments haven't made it out of their tubs yet this year. We also have small nativity ornaments on this tree and really the kids are welcome to put anything that they can think of and we have had various thing come and go over the years.

Our Nativity (Fontanini)

My cake plate.


A sneak peak at part 2.


Stay tuned for more holiday cheer.

For more holiday:
go here for Victoria's Santa post
go here to check out Vic's adorable snowmen
go here for a little touch of Christmas and a yummy recipe
go here for some easy recipes get supper on the table quickly during this busy season.

14 comments:

Victoria said...

The Jesus tree is such a wonderful idea! I think I will definitely do that next year!

The cake plate looks fabulous too and I can't wait to see the tree!

Darlene said...

Morning Christina,

I LOVE your Jesus tree...that is soooo special! Love all of your decorations that you have shown us...is that crown on a chalkboard?? LOVE IT!

I was wanting to get a prelit tree but after hearing so many problems I may just get a new slim tree and we will still string the lights.

Amelia said...

The Jesus tree is wonderful...this could really help the younger ones with the Christian side of Christmas. You are a wonderful Mother!

Sorry the pre-lit is not functioning as hyped!

Cindy said...

The Jesus tree is such a clever idea and puts the focus on where it should be, I love it. I especially love your chalkboard and crown drawing too! :D

c

SmilingSally said...

The Jesus tree is the BEST IDEA I've seen! Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Love it!

jill said...

Thanks for sharing your tree. I love how you embellished the cake plate. Merry Christmas!

Essential Oil Premier University said...

Christina, I LOVE your Jesus tree. What a wonderful idea!!

Merry CHRISTmas!

Blessings,

Sher

Empty Nest Full Life said...

Everything is so pretty, and I sure do like the idea of a Jesus tree. Jackie

Anonymous said...

I love the "Light of the World" ornament! What a great idea!
Merry Christmas...everything looks great!
-Kim

Katie said...

I love the chalk board drawing, who is the artist. I would love to use that or something similar for my photograhy logo.. Cute.

Anonymous said...

I found this post off The Inspired Room...love your home and your beautiful tree! Your background is so pretty and festive!!!

Julie said...

Thank you so much for posting about the Jesus tree. I look forward to doing that in the future. Very creative!!

I found a gift-giving idea to help keep the focus on Christ as well. Giving just 3 gifts representing what the wise men brought - gold/something greatly desired, frankincense/something to help them grow spiritually, and myrrh/something that goes on their body.

Merry Christmas!!

Katherine@Raising Five said...

Oh, I wish I'd seen this before Christmas - RATS. Such an awesome idea! I'm printing this out and putting it in my Christmas boxes for next year!

Love,
Katherine