Easy Easter Centerpieces
Nothing completes a celebration table like an original centrepiece. Easter centrepieces needn't be difficult and can certainly be unique with a little effort and imagination. Using Spring colours and Easter or Spring themes, an Easter table can look beautiful in a matter of moments.
A couple of quick points:
Try to keep a supply of materials in the home. Dried or fake flowers, tissue paper, candles and ribbon are always handy.
Scour thrift shops for pretty and unique vases, trays and bowls in which to set displays.
1 – Easter candles – Choose a flat bottomed bowl, plate or tray to hold the candles. Gather up a selection of pastel-coloured candles, slender ribbons, some glass or real pebbles and some dried or fake flowers. - Real ones can be used but they tend to wilt too quickly to remain gorgeous.
Make bundles of flowers, securing them with ribbon. Use the tail ends of the ribbons to tie the flower bundles to the candles. With a wider ribbon, secure groups of three candles together. These can be equal in size, but they look lovely with a group of different heights.
Place three groups of three candles onto the chosen display base – Securing the candles to the plate with a little blu-tack helps prevent toppling – with the flower bundles facing out. Use the pebbles to cover the base plate, leaving the rim on show if it is particularly appropriate or decorative. Voilà, elegance, sophistication and unique to each table.
2 – Chocolate Heaven – Begin with a wide-based but shallow tray or plate. Gather up desiccated coconut, green food colouring, a small bar of chocolate, chocolate eggs (keep their colourful paper on if aiming at a young audience, remove it for a more sophisticated, older celebration), toy chicks, chocolate bunnies, matchstick style chocolate sticks, some cocktail sticks, and gold, edible glitter if available.
Start by putting the coconut in a bowl and dyeing it green with food colouring. Scatter most of this – reserve a little for later decorating - across the base of the chosen dish. Aiming for a pyramid shape, use the cocktail sticks to skewer the large chocolate eggs together, building a base almost the size of the dish base and working up to an inverted cone shape. This will take a little time, but will move quicker once a rhythm is attained. Leave one space at the very top (it will look a little like an open-topped volcano rather than a pointed mountain).
Place the chocolate 'mountain' onto the 'grass' base. Melt the bar of chocolate and use this to 'glue' the bunnies up and around the mountain. Use the chocolate matchsticks to create a nest on the mountaintop. A little more melted chocolate will help keep everything in place. Fill the nest with chicks (and mini eggs if desired). Scatter the remaining coconut grass over the mountain and top with golden glitter, if using.
A stunning, professional look centrepiece without the cost and with minimum effort.
3 – Flower power – Take a look around in the garden, at the park, even on the pavement, and gather up lots of interesting twigs, various heights, but none too short. The centrepiece also requires a selection of spring flowers, a glass vase or block of florists foam (and a base to contain the foam in) and a pretty, chiffon-type scarf (Hit those thrift shops for this kind of detail). The flowers can come from the garden, if available, but may have to be bought.
Give the twigs a good brush down to remove any lurking bugs; wash them if necessary. Allow them to dry completely. At this stage the twigs can be painted with spray paint in a preferred Spring colour, or in silver and gold.
Begin by placing a variety of the twigs into the vase (or push them into the foam). Pour a little water into the container to keep the blooms fresh, then add a variety of flowers between the twigs. Make sure there are a variety of heights to add interest and try to avoid leaving any gaping holes. The aim is to look lush and vital. Finish the display by wrapping the filmy scarf around the vase and letting the ends drape gracefully around the base.
For further inspiration, ideas can be foundhereandhere. Happy Easter.
