Pretty DIY Easter table setting ideas

It’s almost Easter, and along with planning your holiday menu, consider planning your table setting. It doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming to put together a pretty DIY table setting!

Hop to it!

Setting a pretty table for a holiday dinner can be a lot of fun without a lot of fuss -- spring is a great time of year to decorate with the colors, greenery and goodies of the season. Give some of these DIY Easter table setting ideas a try.

Baskets of greens

Round up a few wicker baskets with handles, either from your craft store or a thrift store, and place a plastic liner inside and up the sides. For filling, crumple up a bunch of newspapers and place on top of the liner, to the rim of the basket. Purchase planter moss and layer that over the newspapers, tucking it into the sides of the baskets. From the craft store, find colorful ribbon to tie to the basket handle. Look for Easter-inspired wreath picks with bunnies, flowers or anything spring-inspired and place them around the greenery. Use the baskets as centerpieces or place them on serving tables or mantels.

Natural napkin "rings"

For napkin garnishes, use spring vegetables like whole radishes and carrots (tops included), or asparagus and green onions to decorate your napkins at each place setting. Find napkins that easily fold into a rectangular shape, then lay the vegetable on top of your napkin aligning it vertically, and use twine or heavy string to tie it to the napkin. When dinner is served, pass around a basket to collect the veggies and save them for a spring soup or salad.

Another option is to use your favorite flower. Take one long-stemmed bloom and place on top of each rectangular napkin. Gently tie the flower to the napkin with a pretty ribbon in a corresponding spring color.

Floral arrangements that say "fresh"

Create floral arrangements for the table using fresh flowers from the yard. If you don’t have flowers out back, your local grocery store or garden center should have many options available for the holiday. Measure stems to place in clear glass vases of different heights so the heads of the flowers are right above the top of the vase. Clip the stems accordingly to fit each vase. Fill in the vases with colored glass pebbles from the craft store. Place the vases in an arrangement of different heights, in groupings of three, to add visual interest. Also consider using fresh fruit to fill glass vases about three-quarters of the way to the top: oranges, lemons, limes and pears are festive, as are delicate branches with bright green leaves.

Marshmallow barnyard centerpiece

Especially fun for the kids, this centerpiece is set as a cute display of your favorite barnyard animals -- made of marshmallows! You can include the kids in making this fluffy farm, and you only need a handful of items. For this barnyard courtesy of Country Living, you’ll need regular-size marshmallows for the animals' bodies (some shaping with scissors is involved), marshmallow fluff as the "glue," food coloring, jelly beans as different body parts and sweetened coconut flakes as grass and fur. Kids will love this one!

Get the directions here >>

Daffodil candy cups

Placed on the plate of each dinner guest, these cute floral designs help create a festive table. Leave it to Martha Stewart to think of this easy-to-make place setting. All you’ll need is the following:

Materials:

• Scrapbook paper in fresh spring colors and patterns (polka dots, stripes, florals)
• Mini muffin papers in spring colors
• Candy to fill each muffin cup

Directions:

1. Trace a flower (in this case, to resemble a daffodil) onto the back of the paper. Make sure the flower is about three times the size of the muffin paper.
2. Cut out as many flowers as you’ll need for each setting (use a variety of patterns for added interest)
3. Tape one mini muffin paper to the center of each flower and fill with candy.

Your guests will adore these pretty "flowers," as well as nibbling on the candy!

• Use plate chargers at each place setting.
• Tie spring-colored ribbon around the stems of wine or water glasses.
• Decorate with flowers of the season: daffodils, narcissus, daisies, tulips, pussy willow branches.
• Use one main color for your decorating theme. Use different shades of the same color for added interest.
• If you have pretty desserts to serve your guests and you can keep them unrefrigerated, consider placing them on serving tables off to the side to add some fun to the decor.

The holidays are a great time to put your creative skills to use. A DIY project is always fun and you’ll be impressed with the results!

Spring crafts and activities to try

Kid-friendly crafts for spring and Easter
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How to make a bowl out of buttons