Advent is a special time for many families and the choices of how to celebrate and make this time meaningful are bursting up all over the internet. Below are many of the ideas I have found, I recommend choosing one that would work for your family and get cracking. But, don’t feel too badly if you are a Jesse Tree drop out like myself ~ just do what you can! Choose something you can handle and have fun with it! I always used to beat myself up if I didn’t do it “the right way” and then I realized that even my lame-o way {using my 5 year olds terminology} is better than no way.
We will be using Truth in the Tinsel this year, which combines the idea of an Advent countdown with a Jesse Tree all wrapped up in fun crafts for little ones.
Knowing my drop-out tendencies, I knew I needed to prepare in advance and have a simple system. This is what I decided on.
I got 24 brown paper bags, and put the supplies for each day {the small specific ones} in each bag. I used the printable numbers from this site, and laminated them so I could use them again next year. I hung the bags up with thumb tacks on my bulletin board strips that we normally display the kids’ school work on. Hopefully this will be a daily reminder and I won’t drop out this year! I plan to do more than 1 per day on some days since we are traveling this year and also since we won’t be doing the crafts on weekends. We are making it work for us! My motto from last year’s Christmas activities will be in place too: Mommy’s ATTITUDE matters way more than the ACTIVITIES.
Here are my other favorite Advent/Jesse Tree printables online. All of these are free…
- How to Celebrate Advent with a Jesse Tree eBook from Feels Like Home
- Advent Chain Printable from Spell Outloud
- Names of Jesus Advent Chain from Spell Outloud
- Jesse Tree Ornaments from Christmas Your Way
- Jesse Tree eBook from A Holy Experience
I am participating in a 12 Days of Christmas blogging series along with 7 other bloggers, see more 12 Days of Christmas posts using the links below…
- Christmas Decorations ~ Songbird
- Tips for a Healthy Holiday ~ The Thrifty Mama
- Saving Money ~ Surviving the Stores
- Travel Tips ~ Mom’s Travel Tales
- Christmas Recipes ~ Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures
- Christmas Family Fun ~ Life as Mom
- Homemade Christmas Gifts ~ The Happy Housewife