12 Easy Ways to Decorate for Easter on the Cheap

Easter come April 21, and for many it's a time to celebrate. But before running out to buy ready-made decorations, try these 12 easy decorations. These can be created with inexpensive supplies or even by repurposing things you already own.

Lights can liven up any holiday — and provide extra value if you use them more than once a year. Dig out a box of white lights from the basement or the garage and create an Easter bunny outline. The colored lights can make festive Easter eggs.

To display Easter flowers, just save used soup cans or glass jars, wash them out, and wrap them in scraps of fabric. Turn this idea into a craft project for kids by letting them use non-toxic paint to dress up the cans or jars in simple pastel patterns, such as stripes and polka dots.

Try using brown craft paper as a table runner for an Easter celebration. Young kids can decorate it with Easter stickers (there are always some left over from those egg decorating kits), crayons, markers, and watercolors. The paper is also handy for protecting the table from spills or drips while decorating eggs or tackling other craft projects.

As a cute Easter breakfast, fry up eggs or pancakes in bunny or chick shapes using metal cookie cutters. For an Easter celebration later in the day, place the cookie cutters on a small plate and fill with pistachios or a single color of Easter M&M's. No more party mixes in plain glass bowls!

For a sweet, homemade Easter banner to hang, there are a number of ways to go, from fun versions that can recycle used cereal boxes (from DIY Candy) to a vintage style using pages from a tired book (from Creations by Kara) or a bunny bunting project (from Redbook) that steps it up a bit, calling for burlap, felt and a glue gun. provides easy-to-follow instructions.

If you have a pillar candle in a glass hurricane candleholder displayed year-round, surround the base of the candle with jellybeans for an easy Easter makeover. No hurricane candleholders in the house? Fill an empty glass vase with jellybeans instead.

Your yard can yield Easter decor even if the daffodils have yet to pop. Fill a large vase with branch clippings for a starkly elegant — and free — decoration. Add a pop of color by tying the bushel of branch clippings with a colorful pastel ribbon in a bow.

Try this idea to put an elegant spin on Easter décor: Pick up Easter-themed ceramic figurines, prime them, then spray paint them a uniform white. Cluster them together surrounded by moss or Easter grass to create a centerpiece, or display them on a shelf.

This craft can be cute way to display eggs as well as reuse some everyday items that might otherwise be thrown out. Don't worry, no basket-making course required — just such things as plastic mesh berry baskets, construction paper, and glue. Find directions at Mom Junction. (If the page seems cluttered, look for a "reader view" option on your browser.) 

Hit the local home improvement store and grab a handful of paint samples in bright colors (or dig up any you might have considered for a wall). Cut them into the shape of an egg and use a hole punch and twine to string them into a cute egg garland.

When setting the table for Easter dinner, why not make each place special? Pick a handful of fresh tulips and attach one to each rolled napkin with a color-coordinated ribbon. This will make the table feel both simple and elegant.

Use basic materials to turn the front door into a bunny or an Easter egg. A white, gray, or beige  door transforms easily into a bunny with eyes made of white paper plates and black construction paper, ears and a nose cut from poster board, and black electrical tape for whiskers. To make an Easter egg entryway, use poster board to create zigzags, polka dots, and stripes in a rainbow of colors. Place them in rows that span the width of the door in the middle and get shorter toward the top and bottom, to suggest an egg shape.