44 Bright and Easy Spring Centerpieces
Spring greeting [1]
A clear cookie jar shows off a mix of dyed eggs and a medley of flowers united by their color.
Start with a large-mouth cookie jar or canister, a clear drinking glass that fits inside the jar, dyed hard-cooked eggs and flowers. Center the drinking glass inside the jar and carefully stack the eggs between the glass and jar, alternating egg colors. Fill the glass with water.
Cut the stems of your favorite flowers (we used roses, gerbera daisies, tulips, hyacinths and bells of Ireland) to the desired length and arrange them in the glass.
Colorful boots [4]
Fill colorful rain boots with coordinating colors of tulips or other spring flowers. Use florist water tubes to keep the flowers fresh. Tie on a pretty ribbon for the finishing touch.
Seasonal joy [7]
Greet guests with a front-door display of seasonal joys, such as this vintage watering can. Set floral foam in the can to secure the stems. Fill in with spring accents, then wire to door.
Easter cheer [10]
Trade traditional bunnies for stylish birds on your brunch table.
For the centerpiece, tuck eggs into a nest of dried moss from a crafts store. Arrange it inside a birdcage. Accent with short twigs. Pink blossoms (in floral water picks) and gingham ribbon finish the look.
For the place setting, layer pink gingham and cream ribbons over a napkin. Tuck ends under plates, and top with a vintage or reproduction bird postcard and a single rose.
A bird-theme stamp and ink pad make a coordinating take-home gift. Wrap the ink pad in scrapbooking paper. Nestle items in a ceramic mug or paper bag stuffed with dried moss and faux feathers. Attach a name card with ribbon.
Resources: Camden Sky Dinnerware, Crate and Barrel (crateandbarrel.com [11]); Bird Cage Hand Carved Rubber Stamp (etsy.com/shop/drumchick99 [12]).
Easy patterned eggs [15]
Give Easter eggs more than a dye job using a colorful, patterned washi tape, a paperlike product that originated in Japan. (We ordered our perky pink and blue patterns from cutetape.com [16]). Cut 1-inch and 1/2-inch pieces to create a patchwork effect, or snip thin strips to apply vertically.
Stress-free taping For easy trimming, stick a piece of washi tape to a cutting mat. With a utility knife and ruler, cut to desired size and shape. Tape easily peels off the mat to stick to eggs.
Seasonal chalkboard vases [19]
Isn’t it fortuitous that spring, summer, autumn and winter all have six letters? Stay in season by relettering squares of chalkboard paint on ceramic vases. Keep them filled with blooms that suit the time of year. We painted our vases with Benjamin Moore 1348 Razzle Dazzle.
Petite pretties [22]
Sedums and violets planted in soil-filled, dyed Easter eggs say spring in a simple way. Moss fills empty spots in the carboard egg carton.
Nest of eggs [25]
A handful of dyed eggs and some easy-to-find carnations create a quick, fun spring centerpiece.
Nestle dyed eggs in a small bowl and set in the center of a medium-size footed bowl (prop bowl on a dish if necessary). Fill the footed bowl with a few inches of water. Cut carnation stems about 2 or 3 inches long, and pack the blooms around the bowl of eggs.
All aflutter [28]
Cutouts of bold butterflies alight on branches in a spring-color vase. We hot-glued on the butterflies and paper blossoms. This bold look anchors a buffet table but would brighten any corner of a home.
Capture a theme [31]
Uplift Easter brunch, a wedding shower or any spring event with a tabletop that captures the light and cheery feeling of the season. Start with a theme that celebrates a symbol of spring: a flower, a bird, an egg or a butterfly. Pull the design together with a refreshing color scheme, such as pastel pink and bright teal blue.
To get the look here: Accent vases and place settings with premade paper butterflies. Dress up solid-color napkins with a stamped seasonal design. For a final dash of happy pattern and color, cut place mats from decorative papers.
Showers and flowers [34]
An umbrella transforms from a rainy-day staple into a celebration of cheer when you use it as a clever container for tulips and springtime-trimmings.
Tie a ribbon halfway up a closed umbrella. Create pockets between front ribs and tuck in tissue paper to support a crafts-store bird's nest; blown eggs; and fresh flowers such as tulips and daffodils. Fill in with ferns and moss. To keep flowers fresh, enclose stems in water vials, or tuck them into heavy plastic bags filled with floral foam powder, available at floral supply stores. Wire the arrangement to a door hook.
Tie a bunch for brunch [37]
Turn grocery-store staples into clever tabletop details for your Mother's Day brunch or other celebrations. Fresh asparagus stalks cleverly embellish a pretty centerpiece and hold place cards; a knot of chives decorates a napkin.
For the centerpiece, wrap a cylindrical vase with two rubber bands, then slide stalks under the bands to cover the surface. Secure with twine and remove the bands. Fill with your favorite flowers; a bit of water in a bowl will keep the decoration fresh. For place card holders, cut three asparagus stalks to an even length, tie with twine, and slide a card between the tops.
Bowlful of bright [40]
For a fast centerpiece, simply fill a plain bowl with eggs you've decorated with crafts stickers or rickrack.
Cheery trifle [43]
A glass vase or trifle dish filled with layers of dyed eggs and greenery elevates the spring table.
Sweet spring wake-up [46]
Set a pretty Easter tabletop with inexpensive pastel gingham fabrics, ribbons and simple white dishware.
With pinking shears, cut a tablecloth to fit your table. Dress up napkins with decorative trim, such as rickrack. Wrap ribbons around a white centerpiece container and coordinating ramekins (or egg holders) for the place settings. To make place cards out of colored eggs, apply names with adhesive letters from a crafts supply store, or use your own white ink script.
Layer dessert plates for color, then nestle eggs and perky daisies in fresh wheatgrass from a health-food or pet-food store.
Ribbon makeover [49]
Give any plain vase a seasonal makeover with a simple band of ribbon. Here, two overlapping ribbons add an extra spring kick to a container of peonies. Attach with double-sided tape.
Daffodil delight [52]
Bring the cheer of daffodils to your tabletop with a sunny centerpiece or place setting.
Create a centerpiece by stacking citrus, such as lemons or oranges, into a pyramid inside a bowl. Skewers or toothpicks help hold the fruit in place. Fill the bowl with water, and tuck fresh daffodils into the gaps.
Or brighten your place settings by making single-flower posies. Insert daffodils into plastic water vials (available at crafts supply stores) and wrap them with napkins. Tie off with twine.
Nesting eggs [55]
Egg cups filled with eggs is nothing new. But cover those eggs in bright craft stickers or washi paper and you've got a fresh take on the look.
Super-easy spring color [58]
Flavored vinegar, olive oil and white wine bottles yield shapely, sparkly vases with delicate spring color for a mantel or tabletop decoration. Choose a variety of sizes, remove labels, fill with water and tuck in fern fronds, fresh from your spring landscape.
Beautiful blossoms [61]
Hot-glue blossoms cut from craft paper onto branches for early buds. A base of dyed eggs stablizes the branches while echoing the spring vibe.
Carryout bouquet [64]
Carryout boxes made of frosted plastic become elegant containers for floral centerpieces. Place spring blooms such as daffodils and tulips inside a short, water-filled glass before setting in the box.
Artichoke flowers [67]
A bouquet of baby artichokes makes a nice alternative to spring flowers such as tulips.
Cut stems short and poke in floral picks or wooden skewers. Fit the pitcher with floral foam to anchor the skewers, then arrange like flowers. To keep your bouquet fresh longer, store in the fridge at night.
Hats off [70]
Improvise an Easter basket using a sweet straw hat. Fill it with softly colored eggs, either hollowed or artificial. Personalize with rub-on letters or even notes tucked inside, if you're using hollowed eggs.
To empty an egg, use a long needle to gently prick a small hole into each of the egg's two ends. Pierce the yolk with the needle and then gently blow into one hole, pushing the contents out the other end.
Cute cachepot [73]
Repurpose your coffee cups into tiny centerpieces for place settings.
Tuck a small baby's tears plant into a demitasse and add a copper tag. For lettering, try rub-on decals available in the scrapbooking section of crafts stores.
Flower power [76]
Make every egg a star by propping each in its own mini terra-cotta pot.
Dress up the planter by hot-gluing ribbon around the top edge. To decorate basic white eggs, add scrapbooking stickers. These cute paper flowers are easy to wrap around curved edges.
Tabletop spring tree [79]
Let your spring decorating branch out with a tabletop Easter tree.
Stand branches in a pail filled with play sand, then decorate the boughs with paper birds and dyed eggs. To hang blown-out eggs, glue both ends of a loop of ribbon just inside the egg's hole, then glue a button on top of the hole to secure the ribbon ends. To make the bird, cut body and wings from pieces of scrapbooking paper and glue together. Try tiny buttons for eyes.
Radish garnish [82]
Give elegant china a casual treatment by setting it on woven chargers and topping with a heavy linen napkin tied with twine and a radiant radish.
Party buffet [85]
An inexpensive terra-cotta saucer becomes a serving tray. Next to the tray, fresh garden vegetables fill the lower tiers of a wire basket, and flowers nestled in a bed of lettuce top it off.
To create the fruit and flower arrangement, soak fresh vegetables in cold water, blot dry and arrange just before guests arrive. For the bouquet, bundle flowers and secure with a rubber band. Place in a small jar of water and camouflage the jar with lettuce or cabbage leaves.
Touch of whimsy [88]
A tiny Hungarian porcelain rabbit adds a whimsical touch to elegant place settings. If you'd like, lean a place card against each bunny. A patterned china plate sits on top of white embossed dinner plates and grape-leaf trivets used as chargers. You could make similar decorative chargers by decoupaging artificial grape leaves onto heavy cardboard rounds.
Sunny spring [91]
Spring cheer blooms in this table setting. Bright yellow unites the striped tablecloth, striped dishes, yellow-handled silverware, daisy dessert plate and lemon centerpiece. Anchor a few long branches of forsythia with green jelly beans inside a vase for another touch of spring.
Sunny cheer [94]
Place yellow flowers--in this case, double yellow tulips--in a clear vase with festive kumquats and water. They'll add a touch of spring to your dining table or any corner of your house.
Simple egg display [97]
Create a quick-and-easy centerpiece by mounding hard-cooked brown and white eggs on a garden of lettuce in a footed china compote. Vary the look by using colored or even chocolate eggs, or by trying ferns or other greens instead of lettuce.
Sinuous charmer [100]
Snake a garland of dyed eggs along the middle of the table for an enticing look. Thread plastic or blown-and-dyed eggs.
Floral nests [103]
Speckled eggs nestle in a white peony bloom set in a compote dish of water. Hop several down the center of the table for a fragrant look.
Tulip time [106]
Rain boots come in a rainbow of colors, so fill some in your favorite hue with coordinating tulips. Afraid of puddles? Florist water tubes keep the tulips fresh.
Bounty of color [109]
Rubber bands around eggs dipped in dye create funky linear designs on these eggs secured in bird's nests from a crafts store (see next slide for a closeup of the eggs). Add height to the look by placing them on a cake stand. The place cards have ears cut into them for a bunny look. We used coral, turquoise and white for a springy look.
Banded eggs [112]
Place rubber bands around eggs before dipping in dye to create pretty linear designs.
Sunny setting [115]
Scattered sunflowers seem to grow from a burlap-covered table. Green-and-brown tableware continue the earthy theme, while sky-blue jars hold candles.
Sweet tea [118]
Look to your china collection for captivating vase ideas. Here, lilies of the valley in sweet teacups provide sweet touches. Florist frogs hold stems steady. Use several of these as a centerpiece, or put one at each place setting as an accent.
Pastel hues [121]
These muted Easter eggs radiate calm with subtle colors. Tuck them in a basket filled with pink paper confetti.
Lovely lilac [124]
Spring green paired with lilac is nature's perfect palette. A purple charger sits under a plate featuring a green swirl that reminds us of a curled fern bud. Our simple centerpiece is a silver basket filled with pink paper confetti and softly tinted eggs (see next slide for a closeup). A pitcher of fresh-cut lilacs finishes this setting.
Pink apple blossom [127]
This table setting draws its colors from pink apple blossoms. A plaid fabric tablecloth sets off flower-accented plates. Green livens things up on a bowl of strawberries and frosted vases holding blossoming crabapple branches. We wrapped our lemonade pitcher with a plaid napkin, and put a pink paper drink umbrella on the place setting for a final touch.
Spring under glass [130]
A family photo, silver antiques, a childhood drawing combine for a sentimental scene. A pop of purple blooms and greenery draw eyes.
Towering topiaries [133]
These Brussels sprout-covered topiaries began as 15-inch foam cones and a pair of footed soup tureens. Use long T-shape pins to attach Brussels sprouts to the foam, placing them as close together as possible. Fill in open areas and spruce up the bottom with sphagnum moss. The arrangement should last about a week.