Have you ever wondered what all the decorations for Easter and Easter symbols really mean? Like, what’s the deal with the brightly-colored eggs and the bunnies and chicks? Well, in the course of endeavoring to create a little bit of Easter decor for our house, I decided to do some research and figure it all out.
Because the truth is I like my holiday decor to actually celebrate the holiday and its meaning. I’m not just looking for something pretty to look at, although that certainly comes into play. I want to have something that makes my family think and talk about the actual meaning of the holiday, not just the consumer-driven meaning.
So in addition to my Acrylic Pouring Easter centerpiece, I’ve compiled a quick rundown of all you need to know about the Easter symbols out there nowadays.
Meanings of Easter Symbols
Lilies
Lilies represent purity and honesty, and they are also some of the earliest-blooming flowers, meaning that they are ready for the early spring holiday of Easter.
Easter Eggs
Eggs symbolize fertility, rebirth, and new life. And the egg, after the chick’s hatching, is reminiscent of Christ’s empty tomb after the resurrection.
Also, pre-refrigeration, eggs were used to break the fast of Lent because they lasted so long. They were traditionally painted red to represent the blood of Christ.
Easter Bunny
Rabbits epitomize fertility, new life, and the coming of spring.
The correlation between Easter and rabbits is an interesting one, I think. Eggs were hidden in fields for children to hunt down, and when the children would run out into the field, rabbits would scare out. Therefore, the association formed quite organically and innocently with the thought that the rabbits must have been responsible for leaving the easter eggs. This association was carried further when children began making nests for the rabbits out of hats, bonnets or baskets, which is where we got our modern-day easter baskets.
In a religious sense, a parallel is drawn between rabbits emerging from their burrows with Christ emerging from the tomb.
Palm Fronds
Palm fronds symbolize victory, goodness, and well-being.
The palm frond’s association with Easter is quite direct with them coming from Palm Sunday, when Jesus’s followers welcomed him into Jerusalem with palm fronds.
The Cross
This one is pretty obvious, being the symbol of Christ’s victory over sin and death as well as God’s love.
Easter Colors
Easter is a very colorful holiday, and it turns out that these colors have meaning as well.
Purple is traditionally associated with royalty, but it also is considered an intermediary between blue, which is associated with God and the heavens, and red, which represents man, perfectly encompassing Christ’s position as the mediator between God and man.
White symbolizes Christ’s purity, and gold represents the riches of heaven.
The pastels that we typically associate with Easter are drawn from the colors of spring and spring’s blooms.
Acrylic Pouring Easter Centerpiece Project
With this information in mind, I set out to make an acrylic pouring Easter centerpiece encompassing the symbols that resonate with my faith. I came up with this egg bouquet with less than traditional colors, by today’s standards, accented with palm fronds.
Symbolism
The black vase and eggs represent our sin, which is the entire reason that we need a savior and Easter. The red eggs are a throwback to the days when they would paint the eggs red to symbolize Christ’s blood. And the white and gold egg symbolizes the hope and beauty of Christ’s resurrection. For greenery, I incorporated the palm fronds to remind us of Palm Sunday and Christ’s victory over sin. I finished the acrylic pouring Easter centerpiece off with a purple ribbon around the vase to symbolize Christ as the perfect and only intermediary between God and man.
Supplies
As always, my goal is to make my house as well as yours a home, on a budget. So this centerpiece was put together with items from the Dollar Tree, greenery from Michael’s that was purchased with a 40%-off coupon, spray paint, and things I already had around the house.
If you’re new to pouring, head on over to my Beginner’s Guide to learn all about the art form and how to get started as well as my Comprehensive Techniques Guide to check out videos for each different technique.
And if you’re getting hung up with color or just want to learn how to choose awesome color combos, check out my post on Choosing Colors for Acrylic Pouring and sign up to receive my FREE Color Wheel and 8 Color Scheme Guides below!
Prepping the Eggs
The first thing I did was add “stems” to plastic Easter eggs by hot gluing them to bamboo skewers. Plastic Easter eggs have holes in the bottom of them. So I inserted the skewers and put hot glue around the tip on the inside of the egg.
Setting up the Arrangement
To hold the eggs in the Dollar Tree vase, I used Styrofoam, also purchased at the Dollar Tree, that I cut to fit inside the vase. As I was gluing the eggs, I put them in the vase to get an idea of how many I needed. In all, I used 26 eggs. I utilized bits of blue painter’s tape to get a visualization of how many eggs of each color I wanted.
Painting the Eggs
I stuck the egg stems into cardboard boxes to prepare them for painting. I spray-painted the black eggs and the glass vase with semi-gloss black paint. For the red eggs, I did an acrylic pour with Apple Barrel Black, DecoArt Festive Red, and Apple Barrel Bright Red. On the white and gold egg, I did an acrylic pour as well with Master’s Touch Titanium White and DecoArt Glorious Gold.
Finishing it Off
Once the eggs were painted and dried, I arranged them in the vase. I then filled in the gaps and and surrounded the eggs with palm fronds. And to finish the acrylic pouring Easter centerpiece off, I tied a simple purple ribbon around the vase.
Go Forth and Celebrate!
This acrylic pouring Easter centerpiece is easy to make and there is a ton of room for personal preference and customization. An even easier version would be to leave the eggs in their pastels for a bright, sunny celebration of springtime. You could also add either some fresh or artificial flowers in the gaps and change up the greenery to suit your style. Painting the glass vase is an easy way to change up an inexpensive vase into something custom, any color you’d like.
Use this project as inspiration for your holiday decor and make it your own! Have fun with it and be creative!
For more holiday or acrylic pouring inspiration, head on over to the holiday page and check out my acrylic pour upcycle. And as always, check out my updates on Facebook andInstagram and feel free to peruse Homebody Hall for more ideas on how to make your house a home, on a budget! Happy creating!
Want to remember this acrylic pouring Easter centerpiece project? Be sure to pin this tutorial to your favorite Pinterest board!
