Recycled Jesse Tree Ornaments

I'd been kicking the idea of a Jesse Tree for a few years now, but it usually was in the middle of December, when it was far too late.

Then I got the email yesterday morning: Walking the Seasons had a last-minute need for a Jesse Tree ornament swap, and would I be interested? 

Interested, yes. Time and cash-strapped, most definitely. Add in the fact that I needed to get them in the mail this weekend, and I just eliminated any hope of running to the store for last-second supplies.

The solution? A recycled Jesse Tree ornament that ended up being a whole-family affair.

Here's how we pulled off 28 ornaments in little time, all by using items in our home.

1) We took cardboard boxes we'd yet to recycle and mod-podged scrapbook paper to it for a background.

2) We traced a cup lid for the round ornament shape and cut them out. We free-hand cut tear drops, the shape we were assigned to, and adhered them to the ornament, then covered them all with a layer of Modgpodge to ensure no loose ends.

3) I had  bottle of pearlized coating for stamping that my mother had given me some time ago that I had not used, so we used a small layer on that to add additional shine to our tears.

4) We punched a hole in the top and threaded some leftover ribbon through.

Simple but effective for symbolizing tears of pain and abandonment in the Old Testament.

I'm excited to see how the others turn out and introducing this new tradition into our home!