If you aren't familiar with how the ornament exchange works, here's a brief explanation. A group of 25 ladies each sign up to make a different ornament, and each person makes 25 copies of their one ornament. Then we all get together and share our ornaments before December so that we all have one for each day. This makes it so much easier and cheaper to get a whole set of ornaments.
I was so impressed with all the ornaments this year. They are all unique and beautiful!
Day 1: The Light in Creation - she used her son's handprint for the green land, which I thought was such a sweet touch!
Day 2: The First Sin
Day 3: Inside the Ark
Day 4: The Call to Abram
Day 5: Isaac and the Lamb - to make the lamb, I wrapped yarn around a mason jar lid, then glued a felt piece on for the face. Simple!
Day 6: Jacob's Ladder - she added the feather since there were angels in Jacob's vision too. Never would have thought of that!
Day 7: Joseph's Coat of Many Colors - I love her choice of fabric. Probably more true to what the coat might have actually looked like than the vibrant rainbow colored coats we usually think of. Or maybe not. What do I know? Either way, I like it.
Day 8: Moses and the 10 Commandments
Day 9: Canaan, the Promised Land of Blessings - she glued pom pons onto a grape air freshener. Now our ornament sets will forever smell like grape bubblegum!
Day 10: Ruth and Boaz
Day 11: King David - I love the simplicity and authenticity of this one. She glued small pebbles onto the slingshot for the stones David used to kill Goliath.
Day 12: Josiah Finds the Law
Day 13: Prophecy of Shoot from the Stump of Jesse
Day 14: Prophecy of the Lion & Lamb Resting Together - when you turn it over there is the face of a lamb on the other side.
Day 15: Prophecy of the Prince and Peace
Day 16: Prophecy of a Gentle Shepherd - the woman who made this one had written a devotional previously (which she shared with us at the tea) about how a shepherd sings to his sheep and they know his voice, hence the music note. The staff is a broken bobby pin, how clever is that?!
Day 17: Prophecy of the Suffering Servant
Day 18: Prophecy of the New Covenant - I love how she incorporated the Bible verse into this ornament.
Day 19: Prophecy of Bethlehem - she made these out of foam craft paper.
Day 20: The Exile - This is the story of the fiery furnace. These ornaments can be opened and snapped shut, and so we can insert little men characters inside to be Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Day 21: The Return to the Land
Day 22: The Star
Day 23: The Light of the World
Day 24: Angels Proclaiming the Coming of Christ
Day 25: The Birth of Jesus - the woman who made this one shared with us that when she told her young son that this was the ornament they would be making, he went and got his Bible and told her that they needed to read the story so they would know how to make the ornament. How precious is that?! And the entire reason why we are starting this tradition with our children - to teach them God's word and the story of Christ.
