The Jesse Tree is a Advent tradition I only learned about in recent years. While I participated in a Jesse Tree ornament swap among bloggers several years ago, I wanted to revisit that idea this winter. We have a scout troop that is based at our Catholic school, and so I’m blessed that I don’t feel like I have to separate faith components from scouting.

I stumbled on a new pattern and reflection book recently, Our Family’s Jesse Tree by Faith & Fabric’s Jen Frost. This book partners patterns with daily reflections for us.

For those who aren’t familiar with the concept of a Jesse Tree, it is a daily representation of the genealogy of Jesus using a tree as the base. We’d added our ornaments to our family Christmas tree at home, but Our Family’s Jesse Tree even shows you how to quickly create a custom tree for your child’s use.

The ornaments can be easily adapted for foam, felt or paper. And even if your troop doesn’t offer enough time to craft all the ornaments, there are remarkable templates for the days leading up to Christmas. I love the Mary with her baby, the town of Bethlehem and manger myself, and we’ll offer templates for those to use at our upcycled ornament event next month at the church.

You can order Our Family’s Jesse Tree through Craftsy  and Etsy. The 80-page book is on sale now on Amazon!

Want more ways to mix your faith with scouting?

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