Welcome Spring with a Beautifully Affordable Easter Table

Photo by Bryan E. McCay from Nell Hill’s Entertaining in Style (Andrews McMeel Publishing).

As the youngest kid in the neighborhood growing up, I was severely spoiled at Easter. All the empty nesters on our block missed filling Easter baskets full of sweets for their children, so they plied me with enough chocolate eggs, jelly beans and Peeps to keep me on the Mt. Everest of sugar highs for weeks.

Now that I’m grown, I know Easter dinner must include all the major food groups, not just refined sugar. But even though it contains a grown-up approved menu, I still want my Easter table to be so fun, it gives guests that same jolt of joy they had years ago when they spied the first colored egg of the Easter egg hunt.

Last year, I had a blast dressing my dining room table for Easter. Swathed in fresh greens and whispery soft pastels, it toasted the season in style and, thanks to a little decorating ingenuity and creativity, was easy on the pocketbook. This year, why don’t you do the same? Dining room tables are one of the most rewarding spots to fill with seasonal displays. And once you have the table set, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll want to surround it with loved ones, ensuring you’ll have a holiday filled with wonderful memories.

The first step to creating a spring tabletop display your guests will long remember is to go green. After months of looking at my dead, brown lawn, I thrill when the grass finally greens up. Why not use these succulent new blades to spark up your Easter table? If you can’t get your hands on fresh green grass, visit your local whole food grocer and buy packs of wheat grass.

To create adorable place card holders, fill eggcups with shocks of new grass, then nestle the place card in the blades. Be sure to gussy up your centerpiece with grass too. Find a garden statue with a basket, then fill the basket with wisps of grass. Next, tuck in tiny treasures like tulip buds, brown eggs or chick figurines.

Bring in more colors of the season with floral arrangements. Big bouquets of flowers can cost a bundle, so I economize by using just a few booms on my table. Find three tall, thin vases, then put a single, leggy flower in each. Cluster a few buds in a small sherbet cup. Or float one large bloom, like a fragrant peony blossom, in a glass compote.

If you’d rather not fuss with flowers, place a beautiful apothecary jar at the center of your table, put a vintage bunny figurine in the center, then fill in the bottom with a rainbow of faded eggs.

Table linens with a fresh spring look are fun, easy and inexpensive to make. Instead of a tablecloth, find a remnant of seersucker fabric to use as a table runner (iron the hem instead of sewing so you can use the fabric in new ways later). Lace up white linen napkins with green satin ribbon so they resemble ballet slippers. Stick in a silk pansy, tulip or violet for a delicate spot of color.

Set your table with your basic white dishes, then give each place setting a seasonal twist by topping it with an inexpensive spring-themed salad plate. I used bone china salad plates dotted with butterflies and bugs. If you have young children, get some playful pottery plates depicting bunnies and chicks. Pink and green majolica accents also look awesome on a spring table.

Or, instead of fanciful salad plates, top each place setting with a crowd-pleasing party favor, like inexpensive candy dishes filled with jellybeans.

When your table looks sublime, I recommend you sit back and admire your work, while nibbling the ears of a chocolate bunny.

Written in collaboration with journalist Micki Chestnut.