Instant Easter: 7 Last-Minute Ways to Get Hopping

Adding a bit of holiday cheer to your Easter celebration shouldn't take a month of Sundays. With bunny-shaped templates and simple eggcup upgrades, here are 25 quick, easy, and creative ways to get in the spring spirit.

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Decorated Egg Weights

Don't let your tablecloth blow away. Anchor your party table covering with plastic eggs filled with jelly beans. Secure gingham ribbon around the eggs with hot glue, and thread through openings you've hole-punched into the corners of the cloth.

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Easter-Egg Balloons

Dot balloons with office supply stickers and tie them to a string to brighten up your outdoor Easter celebration.

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Paper Basket Bouquets

Try a twist on Easter baskets, and make a paper basket bouquet for every place setting. All you need are small brown paper bags and baby-food jars or shot glasses to hold the flowers for individual place settings. A centerpiece requires a larger bag and a mason jar or drinking glass as a vase. The bags you use must be gusseted, with side pleats and a flat bottom.

Materials
Bag
Horizontal bar
Decorative-edge scissors
Bouquet of fresh flowers
Double-sided tape

1. Draw lines on a bag to make an upside-down T with a fat horizontal bar.

2. Cut along the lines with decorative-edge scissors. Open the bag. Arrange a bouquet of fresh flowers in a vessel of water; set bouquet inside the basket. Join the two halves of the handle with double-sided tape.

3. Arrange a bouquet of fresh flowers in a vessel of water; set bouquet inside the basket. Join the two halves of the handle with double-sided tape.

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Easter Bunny Decorations

To bring some last-minute Easter charm to your dessert table, use our printable template to march bunnies across a garland, sit them atop cupcakes, or offer sneak peeks into gift bags.

Materials
Bunny template
Vellum
Scissors
Glue
Hole punch
Thread and yarn
Cellophane bags
Ribbon
Bamboo skewer
Magazine

1. Download and print the bunny template.

2. Trace onto vellum; cut out shape.

3. Punch 2 holes in head; thread with yarn.

4. Repeat as desired.

5. Cut an 11-by-2 1/2-inch strip of vellum. Position upright template so ears fall 2 1/2 inches below top edge. Trace; cut out.

6. Fill 2 1/2-by-1-by-6-inch cellophane bags with favors, leaving about 2 1/2 inches empty. Wrap vellum around bag, fold top edges together, and punch 2 holes for ribbon tie.

7. Trace template onto vellum; cut out. Repeat. Coat back of 1 rabbit and top 1/2 inch of a 6-inch bamboo skewer with a glue stick.

8. Sandwich the stick between 2 rabbits. Dry between the pages of a magazine for 30 minutes.

Stamped Eggs

Give eggs a quick new look by decorating them with old or new stamps. Working in sections, coat a blown-out eggshell or a wooden egg with water-based glue sealant (such as Mod Podge); position stamps so they overlap. When done, paint a thin layer of glue over entire egg.

To remove stamps stuck on paper, soak in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes, then peel away; dry them facedown on kraft paper.



Candy Nests

Disguise candy bowls as fuzzy birds' nests for your Easter gathering with this simple idea. Cover the outside of a bowl with double-sided tape and wind a ball of yarn (we used mohair) around the bowl until its exterior is hidden. To finish, securely tuck the loose end behind the wrapped yarn.





Sticker Easter Eggs

Give plastic Easter eggs a bright makeover by embellishing them with stickers made from adhesive sheets and craft punches.

Materials
1/4-inch round stickers (or 1/4-inch hole punch)
Adhesive sheets
Markers
Flower-shaped craft punch
Plastic eggs
Treats to fill eggs

1. For polka dots, use round stickers, or punch circles from adhesive sheets. To make colored dots, use a marker to color in a section of the adhesive sheet, and punch circles from that section

2. Punch flower shapes from adhesive sheet, and use dots for centers. Adhere to eggs.

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