Easter Holy Week Advent peg-people Introduction

I created an Advent for Easter and Holy Week in 2023 —a meaningful tradition designed to help my grandchildren understand the significance of these events and celebrate Easter with the same heartfelt joy we reserve for Christmas. I’m sharing this with you to inspire ways to bring the spirit of Easter alive in your own family celebrations.

Understanding the Timeline of Holy Week

As a young girl, I struggled to connect “Good Friday” to “Easter Sunday” based on what was written in scripture. Matthew 12:40 states:

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” – Jesus

This puzzled me for years—until I discovered more about Jewish traditions and High Holy Days. It turns out that a Jewish day begins at 6 PM and ends the next day at 6 PM. For example, Friday at 6 PM marks the start of the Sabbath, which continues until Saturday at 6 PM. This time period is ‘called’ Saturday, and it is considered the Jewish Sabbath day.

Six years ago, I discovered A New Approach to Studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ by Lynn and David Rosenvall. This book clarified how a Jewish day is structured and helped me better understand Christ’s final week. A video I watched also illustrated the symbolism between Passover and Holy Week and reinforcing that Jesus Christ was in the tomb for a full three days and three nights. You can watch it here: The Passover Lamb Video

Through this study, I came to see how Jesus Christ uses every aspect of the Passover feast to teach of His own sacrifice and our deliverance from sin and death. He is so symbolic in all He did.  

Since I’m a visual learner, I created a calendar of Easter Holy Week to illustrate the timeline clearly. Using our daily calendar with the scriptures and the Jewish traditions. You can view it HERE. I’ve also transcribed the video for easier reference HERE.

Mini videos to introduce Easter Holy Week – A and B (will be linked in March)

Easter Holy Week Advent

To make Holy Week even more engaging, I created Peg-People sets representing key events from Christ’s final days. Below, you’ll find instructions for crafting these figures, along with links to each day’s story and patterns.

All artwork and designs are the property of Forever Family Trees. You are welcome to use it for personal projects, but please do not sell my ideas or patterns and please do not re-post without crediting Forever Family Trees and linking to my website. Thank you so much!

Events of Easter Holy Week: (Posts to links below will begin february 25-March 4, one blog posted each day)

• Saturday – Palm Sabbath (Link to Day 1)

• Sunday – Cleansing of the Temple (Link to Day 2)

• Monday – Jesus teaches in the temple & memorializes Mary (Link to Day 3)

• Tuesday – Judas betrays Jesus, the Last Supper, Gethsemane (Link to Day 4)

• Wednesday – Jesus is arrested, falsely tried, carries the cross, is crucified, and buried (Link to Day 5)

• Thursday, Friday, Saturday (Link to Day 6, 7, 8) – Passover dinner, women purchase spices, Jewish Sabbath day of rest Link to Passover Meal. Printable Information Cards about the symbolic food.

• Sunday – Resurrection of Jesus Christ! (Link to Day 9)

Peg-People Sets & Instructions

All artwork and designs are the property of Forever Family Trees. You are welcome to use it for personal projects, but please do not sell my ideas or patters and please do not re-post without crediting Forever Family Trees and linking to my website. Thank you!

Backdrop Creation Methods:

Here are several approaches to crafting the backdrops for your Peg-People story scenes:

1. Scroll Saw Method – Print, cut, trace onto wood, and scroll saw the shape. Sand, transfer details with transfer-paper or graphite-paper, paint, seal, and attach “L-brackets” for stability.

• Modge-Podge Method – Print scanned backdrops me and my mom created and modge-podge onto an 8.5×11-inch wooden board. Attach “L-brackets.”

• Felt Design Method – Cut wood blocks to 8.5×11 inches and cut felt according to pattern, then glue felt designs onto the wood. Attach “L-brackets.”

• Laminated Backdrop Method – Print the backdrops I provided, laminate them, and using a non-permanent tape, attach to a wall or picture frame to prevent from collapsing and act as a display behind the peg-people.  

Backdrop and Accessories Measurements:

All of the wooden backdrops are made from ¾ inch thick wood. Specific items like the tombstone, table, and donkey are described down below and are of different thicknesses. Here are the recommended dimensions:

• Eastern Gate– 8.5” x 11” (Link for Printable – Eastern Gates) (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – Eastern Gate)

• Donkey – 3.5” x 3.5”, 1.5” thick, designed to fit Jesus (this was a favorite among my grandkids—I even made an extra to keep the peace! Haha.) (Link for Printable – Donkey) (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – Donkey)

• Temple – 8.5 x 11 inches (Link for Printable – Temple) (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – Temple)

• Temple Arches – 6.25” x 5.5” (make two) (Link for Printable – Temple Gates-1 , Temple Gates -2) (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – Temple Gates-1, Cut 2)

• Kitchen – 11 x 8.5 inches (Link for Printable – Kitchen) (No traceable pattern for this scene, you’ll have to either print the printable and using graphite paper trace the design. Or be creative and make your own backdrop

• Last Supper Table – 4” x 8.5”, ¼” thick (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – for Table) Really this is not a pattern, just a measurement and placement of table legs.

• Large Tree – 8.5” x 6” (Link for Printable – Gethsemane Large Tree) (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – Gethsemane Large Tree)

• Small Tree – 7.5” x 5” (Link for Printable – Gethsemane Small Tree) (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – Gethsemane Small Tree)

• Gethsemane Rock – 1.75” x 4.5” (Link for Printable – Gethsemane Rock) (Link to cutting wood and traceable pattern – Gethsemane Rock)

• Garden Tomb – 6.5” x 11” plus a base (¾” x 1.5” x 11”) I used a 1” router on the base, leaving a 1/2” lip for the stone to roll in. (Link for Printable – Tomb) (Link to cutting wood pattern – Tomb) (Link to traceable pattern – Tomb)

• Stone for Tomb – 3.5” diameter, ¼” thick (Link for Printable – Stone) (Link for cutting wood pattern)

Peg-People Figures:

You will need the following peg-people to complete the set (Link to photos and how to create designs of Peg-People):

• 20 male figures (3.5” tall) Amazon link

• 7 female figures (3.5” tapered dress shape) Amazon link

• 2 small figures for Simeon’s children (optional)(2.75” tall and 2-5/8” tall)

• Additional small peg-people representing my grandchildren (2.75” tall for youth, 2-5/8” for smaller sizes) They love being part of the Easter Story!

Each Peg-Person is labeled on the bottom for easy identification.

Painting & Final Touches:

To protect your designs, apply a wood sealer to prevent paint chipping. You can find my painted designs of the Peg-People.  

Key Tools & Supplies:

Here are some essential products I used:

Gorilla Clear Micro-Precise Glue – for securing magnets and attachments. Amazon Link.

3mm x 1mm Mini Round Magnets – Mealos brand, silver, with a helpful magnet rod for setting pieces into the holes I drilled on the hands of the peg people. Only drill a small depth 3mm or less. Otherwise the magnet will not be able to connect with objects. Amazon Link.

Brackets for backdrops – I used 2 corner metal zinc-plated braces (2 inch) and then placed several heavy duty 10 inch mending plates across the back for stability. (See photo below – backside of Eastern Gates) I got these at Home Depot.

Other supplies will be listed in each day’s post!

I hope you enjoy these Peg-People Sets as much as my children and grandchildren have over the last couple years!

Rocks work to hold things upright too 😊