Cheap, Easy and Natural Spring Table Decorations!

 
On Monday we had my dad and his wife over for Easter dinner. Since we were in Europe for a month, right up until the end of last month, we've done little to prep for Easter or spring in general. I wanted to update the apartment to look a little more "spring-like".

But there were two problems:

1) I don't have any spring-ish decor, and my table is black. Very un-springy.

2) I made the decisions to "spring-ify" things about three hours before my dad was due over.

So what's a girl to do?

Here's how I turned some cat food tins and an old pot into some pretty centerpieces for my coffee and dining room tables, adding little pops of spring colour for super cheap!

Simplifying Your Life is also Eco-Friendly!

 

The reason I have no spring decorations is because I've lived in small apartments with limited storage for so long that I can't keep many knick-knacky things to switch up every time the weather changes. My German grandmother call these kinds of knick-knacks "klimbimble", i.e. useless and unnecessary stuff. 

For the most part, I agree.

If you want to simplify your life (or happen to be semi-nomadic, like me!), avoid collecting klimbimble. Really. Whenever I think about changing decor with the seasons, I think of Omi complaining about having to pull out all her kilmbimble from storage, having to dust everything off, only to pack it up again in a couple of months.

Furthermore, consumerism is a large driving factor behind climate change. We buy a lot of useless klimbimble to decorate our houses. This uses a lot of resources, requires shipping (usually overseas = major gas emissions), and ultimately most of the klimbimble we buy is not biodegradable or recyclable.

So before you buy a ton of faux flowers, spongy Styrofoam, or other decorations, ask yourself if it's really that important. 

Easy Tin Can and Moss Planters / Centerpieces

I wouldn't have any empty cat food tins if it weren't for the pudgy cat chilling on the couch in the background of this pic ;) 

 

So to make my moss planters / centerpieces, I raided the recycling bin and then headed out to the nearby woods with a pair of scissors and some gloves.

1) I cleaned the sticky residue off of a couple of cat food tins and a tomato sauce tin using plain old rubbing alcohol. Soaking a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol and rubbing the sticky glue residue is the best way I've found to remove residue. 

2) Then, out in the nearby woods, I picked a few little pieces of moss.  You can buy large bags of living moss from most garden centres for cheap. If you are planning to use a lot of moss, I strongly recommend you buy a bag of moss, rather than taking it from the woods. I feel bad about mucking about with the eco-system of our forests!

3) I had a bunch of soil left in some old pots, so I moistened the soil, filled up my tins, watered them well, and pressed my moss into the tins.

4) I misted them with some water, and have misted them each day since. It's important to keep your moss moist, and don't let it dry out (but don't let it get water-logged, either!)

The tin cans are now sitting on my coffee table. They're quite pretty and I like the pop of green. 

I also did the same with an old pot, along with a few twigs I stuck in for height, and used that for my dinner table, along with some floral napkin holders I've had for about 15 years now! 

I used light green napkins to add some colour. The napkins were actually made out of old pillowcases, and you can check out the DIY Tutorial for Scrap Fabric Napkins here :)

 The above napkins are ones that I made out of some old Egyptian cotton pillowcases. 

You can check out the DIY Tutorial for Scrap Fabric Napkins here

 

Do you decorate for spring?

What are your suggestions for adding a pop of spring colour to your decor?