Creative Ideas for Decorating Your DIY Easter Tree – Surprisingly Easy DIY
Here you will find several ideas on how to decorate your DIY Easter tree! You can choose a theme or dress up some eggs to make the perfect decor for your tree. We also talk you through how to make your own Easter Tree using branches and twigs from nature!
Easter trees are wonderful way to decorate for spring – instead of using the traditionally filled Easter baskets or bowls. Create the wow effect on your Easter brunch table with this oh so easy to implement Easter decoration. The best bit? The kids can help too.. and I promise you, whatever they create, will look great in an Easter tree!
What is an Easter Tree?
I remember Easter trees from my Austrian/ German childhood, both my grandmother’s house and church always had an Easter tree (or Ostereierbaum as we called them) that they made and decorated during the lent period. The one at in church was HUGE – with lots of colourful painted eggs and ribbons. My grandmother had a smaller version – tucked into a vase. So pretty and so seasonal. And decorated hollow eggs, now always makes me think of these Easter trees.
Originally from Sweden and Germany, Easter Trees are definitely gaining in popularity all across the world and especially the United States.
Easter trees are super easy and simple to create your own – as large or as small as you like. In fact my Mother in Law, now always makes a mini one, with 3 eggs dangling from it. So cute. Such a lovely craft and Easter decor!
So you can literally make the Easter tree any dimension you want – to suit your home, your space and your decor!
Easter trees can also be found outdoors – you can decorate any tree or bush, with ribbons or eggs! If you travel Germany at Easter time, you will see many outdoor trees decorated in this way.
How do you make a homemade Easter tree? How to make an Easter tree at home?
There are sort of two answers to this question – i.e. what is the “tree itself” made from and how do you decorate it. These days, I actually have a white “store bought” fake tree that we use at Easter. It was a gift many years ago, and I love using it. If I didn’t have this “fake” Easter tree, I would use a vase, weighed down with rocks and some pussy willow.
The second way to answer this, is how do you actually decorate the Easter tree. In essence, the answer is simple: anyway you want! I will share decorating ideas further down.
What can I use for an Easter tree?
As mentioned, there are lots of options these days for what to use as an Easter tree:
- Buy a store bought white fake tree – we use this option, as I was gifted a tree a few years ago, and I confess, it is very handy! The downside, is that you will need to find a storage space for it!
- Get some branches and spray paint them white (or use acrylic paint) to put in a vase – or leave them natural, that is pretty lovely too and actually eco friendlier!
- Get pussy willow branches (actually my favourite option) – though any flowering branches, such a forsythia, cheery blossom, dogwood or magnolia are gorgeous. Just think about how long the flowers will last and will they last you until Easter! Pussy willow will!
- If using branches – you will need a large vase and also some rocks to weigh it down and avoid it toppling
- An ourdoor tree or bush that has enough “gaps” to hang eggs and ribbons
So…
How do you make an Easter Tree?
It tutorial steps are brief and very simple:
1. Find a suitable container – e.g. a large vase or jug
2. Collect your branches – be it pussy willow, dogwood or other branches
As mentioned if using “ordinary” branches, you can paint them white. But why not stay eco friendly and leave them as is? Super pretty too!
3. Tidy your branches a little
You don’t want too many “small bits”, else your arrangement will be messy, but you do need some offshoots for hanging your Easter eggs from.
4. Please in your vase, with some rocks and if the branches needed it water. But normal twigs and pussy willow can manage without.
I think filling your vase with stones or rocks works best, but some people like to use floral foam or just water to weigh down the Easter tree.
5. Grab your tree decor and start decorating (see ideas below!)
This is where you can get as creative and decorative as you like and also match it with any Easter decorating themes that you may have this year!
My top tip for making authentic German Easter trees (Osterbaums)? Keep it as natural as possible.. avoid the need for paint, hot glue guns or glue dots. Keep it simple and pretty! Easter is all about spring, rebirth and nature afterall!
How do you make an outdoor Easter egg tree?
When decorating an outdoor Easter egg tree, these are the things to remember:
- Find a bush or tree that is “bare” enough so that the decor can be seen and it is easy to also reach the tree branches (for hanging AND removing of the Easter decorations after Easter Sunday!)
- Avoid windy areas or somewhere that is in the way of pedestrians
Next, choose weather proof decor, for example
- Tie on ribbons – these always look lovely, and can easily be removed afterwards and reused. It is a great opportunity for kids to practice their shoe lace knotting skills
- Real eggs work wonderfully – just make sure that they use colours that won’t run in the rain.. and don’t be sad if the odd one is blown away
- Of course plastic eggs work too.. but with my eco hat on, I feel a littel uncomfortable suggesting these. If using plastic eggs, just knot some string, “trap it” between the plastic halves of the eggs and hang up
- Similarly wooden eggs (already with a string attached) would be lovely – just remember that if they are painted, the paint should be weather proof!
How do you hang eggs on an Easter tree?
Again, there is more than one answer to this:
- Buy decorative eggs that already have ribbons for hanging attached
- Buy plastic eggs, and as mentioned above, knot some ribbon, open the egg, pop the knot between the two egg halves and close. Similarly, you can make a small hole through the top of the plactic egg and thread the ribbon through from the inside – securing the knot on the inside
- Learn how to blow out an egg and thread in some ribbon using the toothpick or pin method. These eggs are the most fragile, so personally, find them best used indoors!
How do you make an Easter tree decoration/ Easter tree ornaments?
Ok.. now it is time for your Easter ornaments ideas. Phew wee. I think if you check the photos shared above, you already have lots of ideas – of simplicity vs colour schemes – will you go for soft pastels or bold golds, will you go pink or will you rainbow? Lots of options. Once you have decided you can take your colour scheme further!
But here are some more great DIYS you can give a go to decorate your tree!
Combine tissue paper blossom with decorated hollow eggs
I love this Easter Tree, as it combined two simple ideas – decorating hollow eggs and making super cute and easy tissue paper flowers (aka scrunched up tissue paper!) – great for fine motor skills and the kids, who were toddlers and preschoolers at the time, LOVED putting them on the tree. So simple and yet effective!
Blow out some eggs and decorate them
Of course.. and Easter tree is all about the EGGS!! Right?? We love working with real hollow eggs best – kids of all ages can have fun with real egg shells… and if one or two break.. it really doesn’t matter, as they are a “free” and “natural” resource anyway. There are lots of wonderful ways to decorate hollow eggs! You can dye them and stick bunnies ear on. You can use the clever napkin decoupage trick, you can drip paint them… lots of ideas. Check out our collection of egg decorating crafts for lots of info!
Make some felt bunny ornaments
Sewing little some felt ornaments, is also a great way of decorating the Easter tree. Here we have some siple little Bunny Face ornaments you can make. But of course you can sew anything! From egg shapes, to fully bunnies with cotton tails, to cute little chicks!
Make easy 3d Paper Easter Egg ornaments
We LOVE working with paper, as you probably know. And yes.. paper comes to the rescue again. Why not make super easy but so effective 3d Paper Ornaments? We have a number for you to choose from:
- The “classic” 3d Paper Easter Egg
- The Peeps Bunnies ornament
- The Rabbit Paper Ornament
- The adorable Chick Paper Ornament
Aren’t these fun? And they are really easy to make too!
Crochet Easter Decorations
You could crochet some cute decorations! Here we have a lovely little bird crochet pattern bee crochet patterns (in regular yarns, they are just the right size as Easter Tree Ornaments!).
Have fun with fluffy Pom Pom Easter decorations
Have fun with pom pom birds, pom pom chicks, pom pom sheep… got to love yarn crafts, especially at Easter time!
Make Salt Dough Egg Ornaments
Have a go at making coloured salt dough ornaments – all you need is your basic salt dough recipe, some good quality food die and some Easter cookie cutters – such as Easter egg cookie cutters or bunny cookie cutters!
Start a keepsake Easter Egg Ornament Collection
Why not start an Easter egg ornament collection? These could be anything from fragile ceramic eggs, to handpainted hollow eggs, or painted wooden eggs from different countries – for example, I have a set of wooden Ukrainian Easter eggs here.
Hang with wooden Easter ornaments
If you search Etsy (or similar handcrafted stores), you will find a host of WONDERFUL Easter Ornaments to collect!
Hang with chocolate eggs
These days you can buy almost anything.. and like with Christmas chocolate ornaments, you can get chocolate eggs to hang in your Easter tree too. If you can’t find any… get your regular medium sized chocolate eggs, make a baker’s twine loops and glue these on.. then hang. Quick and easy for sure!
You are now all set for a lovely Easter brunch with family!