Did you leave your Easter preparations to the last minute? If so you’re not alone. We have some last minute ideas for decorating with eggs (you don’t even have to boil them). You can use them to make a tiny garden, flower arrangements, or even start seedlings to be put outside when the danger of frost clears. All are easy and attractive, and there’s a bonus: you can still use the contents of the eggs to make an elegant Easter brunch like a quiche or a frittata. We’ve included links to those recipes below, plus a surprise recipe of something that you probably never realized you needed eggs to make!
Tiny pots
Egg shells make the perfect pots. All you need to do is carefully crack off the top of the egg. We recommend taking a spoon and carefully tapping a circular shape around the top third of the egg. Remove the contents (if you’re looking for a use, scroll below for an easy and elegant quiche recipe) and wash the inside of the shell with tap water. That’s all you need to do. You now have a tiny pot or vase.
Flower arrangement
These little egg pots make beautiful vases. Take small blossoms, or even sprigs of herbs such as rosemary and mint, and arrange in the pots. We think it looks particularly beautiful to display a number of them in the egg crate in which they originally came.
If want to get really ambitious you can color the egg before you crack the top off. For more on how to color eggs using natural dyes, we invite you to have a look at our blog post from last week: How to decorate beautiful Easter eggs- naturally.
Tiny garden
Our favorite use of egg shell pots is to root cuttings from plants such as ivy or succulents. Both are very easy to do. Succulents are an easy house plant, and ivy makes for an attractive display in your home until it’s ready to be planted outside.
For both, make sure you get a clean cutting. With succulents, try and get about an inch and a half long cutting.
Ivy works best if you can get cuttings three to six inches long that include at least three nodes (places where the leaves are attached in little bunches). Remove the leaves from the bottom two nodes. It is best to include new shoots. Those are bright green- spring is the perfect time to collect them.
Once you obtain your cuttings, fill the egg shell pots three quarters of the way full with potting soil. Take your cuttings and plant them in the soil, making sure to place them in the center and lightly pack the soil around them. Immediately spray them lightly with water. Succulents should be placed in a location that has good natural light. Ivy needs a warm shady place.
Your succulents will make an attractive indoor garden for quite some time. After about three weeks the ivy will be ready to be translated into bigger pots, or outside. This will be when they have grown roots. You can test for this by pulling on them (very gently). When you feel a little resistance you will know the roots have sprouted and they are ready to be transplanted.
Seedlings
People that live in climates with cool to cold winters need to start plants inside if they wish them to experience the full growing season- especially important if you want to harvest your plants for vegetables. Seeds will need to be started in tiny pots- egg shells are perfect for this. For full directions on how to do this, see our post: Spring gardening made easy
Brunch recipes
Once you have made your decorations, you can use the contents to make an elegant brunch. Here are two amazing recipes that are, in the words of Jamie Oliver (one of our favorite celebrity chefs), range from “super easy” to “not too tricky”:
Jamie Oliver’s pesto frittata recipe
Jamie Oliver’s Quiche leekraine recipe
And finally . . . to finish your brunch with something sweet, and to use the last of your eggs, here’s a delicious ice cream recipe! Enjoy . . . .
Jamie Oliver’s Earl Grey infused ice cream recipe
