Create a Living Easter Centerpiece

Would you like to create a living Easter centerpiece? I created this simple and inexpensive spring centerpiece using a few items I had around the home and spring bulbs I picked up at Home Depot. These spring plants can likely also be found at your grocery store or local nursery. This is a sweet arrangement you can leave on your table a few days before Easter and then use as your centerpiece for Easter dinner. And once spring is over, this centerpiece can be reimagined to display summer or fall plants. This post contains a supply list and simple instructions to pull this look together quickly.

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Choosing Your Plants

I have a few tips to choose the best plants for this centerpiece. Note that I used potted flowers grown from bulbs, rather than cut flowers. My number one tip is to choose plants that look healthy and haven’t bloomed yet. The tulip flowers should be unopened and the grape hyacinths should be tight little bundles. Purchasing the plants before their peak will ensure that your display lasts at least a week and up to two weeks. Displaying your flowers in a cool, not-too-bright setting will also allow your arrangement to last longer. My grape hyacinth plants are single bulbs and the tulip pot has five white tulips.

Colour Schemes

I used a white wooden box, 3 white planters, and two water hyacinth planters. These neutral-toned vessels will work with just about any colour of flowers. First, choose two different tones of flowers. I chose white and purple, but there are many possibilities. I also love yellow and purple, pink and purple, yellow and white, and pink and yellow for spring. Tulips can be found in many colours and hyacinths are commonly available in purple, lavender, and white. You can create a living Easter centerpiece with any other flowers that are in season at this time of year.

The Wooden Box

This post doesn’t contain a detailed tutorial for the wooden box, but I will provide you will the basic instructions here. It’s very simple to make and can be completed in under an hour, including the first coat of paint.

The box consists of a base piece to which 4 side pieces are attached with a brad nailer. The end pieces and side pieces are attached to the sides of the base piece so that the base cannot be seen on the outside of the completed box. Have your pieces cut at Home Depot or you can cut them at home if you have a circular saw or compound mitre saw. All the boards are ¾” thick consisting of 1 by 4’s for the ends and sides and a 1 by 6 for the base. The cut base piece should be 5½” by 30¼”. The two end pieces should be 3½” by 5½”, and the long side pieces should be 3½” by 32”. Attach the two end pieces to the short ends of the base piece using wood glue and at least 3 brad nails per end. Then attach the two side pieces to the long sides of the base with glue and at least 6 brad nails per side. I then stained and painted my box with two coats of Fusion Mineral paint in Raw Silk.

Supplies for the Living Easter Centerpiece

• A wooden box roughly 32” long by 7” wide by 3.5” high- check the garden department of your hardware store
• Three white planter pots smaller in diameter than the interior box width- The larger middle pot was from Home Depot (painted with Fusion Mineral Paint Raw Silk) and the smaller pots were from IKEA
• Two natural-toned planter pots- I used water hyacinth pots from IKEA
• Spanish moss
• Two moss balls (5-6” diameter) or two Styrofoam balls, glue gun, heat-protective gloves, and loose reindeer moss
• One pot of tulips
• Two grape hyacinth plants
• Three small faux Easter eggs (my painted egg tutorial can be found here)

Directions for the Living Easter Centerpiece

First, ensure that your five pots fit neatly within the wooden box.

Make and Place the Moss Balls

• If you purchased ready-made moss balls, then simply place them in the two water hyacinth planters.
• If you are making your own moss balls, then preheat your glue gun and prepare a working surface with newspapers to help keep the mess contained.
• Put on your heat-protective gloves and apply hot glue to a small section of the Styrofoam ball (2-3” square size), then immediately press a piece (or several pieces) of the reindeer moss onto the glued area and hold in place for 20 seconds.
• Repeat the glueing and pressing process until the entire Styrofoam ball is covered in moss. There should be no Styrofoam showing through.
• Place the moss balls into the water hyacinth planters.

Prepare the Flowers

• If the plastic tubs that your flowers came in fit the decorative planters pretty well, then simply place them in the planters. I ended up repotting mine with additional soil because the pots my flowers came in were tiny and the poor plants were pot bound. I likely added a few days of life to my flowers by repotting them with additional soil. 
• Place a layer of Spanish moss on top of the soil in the flower pots. The moss should completely cover the soil and add a finished touch to your display.
• Add a faux Easter egg to each of the flower pots, nestled in the Spanish moss.

Styling

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we are using our living Easter centerpiece on our dining room table. I always like to have something displayed on the dining table when it’s not in use. One of the great things about this centerpiece is that it is self-contained and doesn’t require any further styling. You could use a table runner underneath the centerpiece but I’m enjoying the simplicity of the arrangement without a runner. For Easter dinner, you can try to repeat some of the elements of the centerpiece in your table settings. For example, I used water hyacinth placemats to compliment the water hyacinth plants pots from the centerpiece. You can also tie in the colours of the flowers with your plates or napkins. There are so many fun possibilities.

Bonus Arrangement!

For our kitchen island, I created another super simple arrangement in a basket. I simply placed a pot of yellow tulips (6 flowers) and a single white hyacinth pot in a vintage-style basket (no repotting required). Then I covered the pots and soil with a layer of Spanish moss. It was so quick and easy and cost only a few dollars.

Summary

I hope you have enjoyed reading about how you can create a living Easter centerpiece. Easter is only two weeks away, so now is the perfect time to consider adding some Easter touches to your home. This arrangement works equally well for any spring tablescape if you remove the Easter eggs. In case you are looking for more Easter decor ideas, check out some of my other Easter posts.

A Simple Easter Tablescape for any Decor Style

DIY Easter Egg Vase Display

Easter Home Tour – 12 Easy Decor Ideas