by Kat Apf

Created on: March 14, 2009

Easter is a time to refresh and renew. The world is coming back to life after a long winter. When you gather around your table for Easter dinner, you want your centerpiece to reflect Spring and renewal.

The Easter centerpiece should be the final touch on your table. It should bring the rest of the table together. There are quite a few options, from simple to elaborate. You can buy a centerpiece from a florist but making one is more fun and adds a personal touch.

Think outside of the box. A centerpiece doesn't have to be a basket of flowers. That's always nice and always works well but you can do so much more. Change the basket to a hat box and you've got something a little more unique. Switch the basket to a Terra Cotta flower pot and it's more interesting.

Flowers and plants from the yard, rather than from the florist are not only cheaper but can be more interesting. Use a low serving dish. Lay pieces of cut forsythia, daffodils and hyacinth across the serving dish, add a few pieces of greenery and that's all you need. You can either buy the greenery from your florist (Florists usually charge about 75 cents for each piece of leather-leaf or fern) or cut some greens off a tree or bush in your yard.

Taking flowers out of the centerpiece equation can also make for an interesting setup. Those beautiful eggs you've colored with the kids can make an awesome centerpiece. Pile them into a plain bowl, drape some pastel-colored ribbon over the edges and you've got something wonderful and meaningful.

If you have time and inclination, you can also make a nice centerpiece using handmade paper flowers. This is something you can get the kids involved with. If you do get the kids involved, remember that it might not end up looking perfect. That will part of the appeal, though.

Cut flower shapes out of construction paper and glue them to either wooden skewers or Popsicle sticks. Use foam in a bowl and stick the empty ends of the skewers into the foam and you've got a cute centerpiece. You can use glue dots to keep the foam from falling out of the bowl.

Another kid friendly centerpiece is a dish of brightly wrapped foil candy eggs. Michael's and A. C. Moore sell tiny, little bunnies and you can sit those in among the candy in the dish. It's colorful and happy looking.

Whatever you choose for your centerpiece, try to keep the height low. It's distracting when a centerpiece is so tall you can't see the people across the table from you. Bobbing and weaving through the dinner to see the person across the way doesn't make for a relaxed dinner.

Think outside the traditional table box and you're bound to come up with something surprising for your Easter table. Don't make picking a centerpiece a serious chore. Have fun with it!

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