The exciting buzz of Easter is in the air!
In the spirit of the season, let’s design our homes and prepare our hearts to enjoy this celebration.
While Easter signifies the welcome of Spring after a dreary and cold winter in the northern hemisphere, we prepare ourselves for a season of autumn in Western Australia. The celebration itself signifies renewal and rebirth, heralded from ancient times.
1. Know Your Easter Facts
First, here’s a quick trivia and fun facts to keep Easter conversations going at home with a quick background:
- The name Easter owes its origin from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes hare and egg.
- Easter finds its roots from the times of the Ancient Egyptians, Persians and Romans.
- Today, Easter is the Sunday that marks the end of the Holy Week, after a period of 40 days of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday. It is an event that commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So now that you have fed your mind with these fun facts, how do you design an Easter celebration for your home and get into the spirit of Easter?
2. Set the stage – Decorate your homes
Choose a colour palette and try to stick to it to create a harmonious look and feel. You could jazz up the patio, doors and windows with Easter décor e.g. put on a wreath with mini eggs inside, purchase some cute easter baskets, set the table with themes of bunnies and eggs.
For those who observe a more traditional Easter, you could decorate an Easter tree with meaningful emblems.
3. Dress the part – Put on your Easter Sunday best
Do you have t-shirts, shirts or dresses that fit the Easter theme? Now is the time to pull them out of your wardrobe and show off this season. There are also blogs that teach you how to adorn the Easter make-up with matching accessories, manicure and pedicure to fit the look. Easter fashion – here we come!
4. Fill the Tummy – Plan the Menu
Even as little children growing up here in Australia, how we looked forward to the hot cross buns that the bakeries roll out this season! Topped with cinnamon and sugar, these irresistible fresh-baked buns just fill our senses as we stroll through the malls and remind us all of a more innocent time of our lives.
Here are some recipes you could prepare for the celebration:
- Bake an Easter cake
- Bake easter cookies and fill up the baskets with them
- Bake muffins and decorate them with the Easter theme
- Buy a huge chocolate egg (like a Kinder Surprise) and include it as part of your decoration on your dinner table or/ and buy plenty of small little chocolate eggs
- Roast a lamb as a traditional meal
Find more recipe ideas here.
5. Throw an Easter party
Now that you are in the mood for Easter, with your house décor in place, table set up, delicious food and desserts all laid out, it is time to throw a party!
- Invite your neighbours and friends for an Easter egg hunt or organize one in the park nearby (Tip: you may want to check that the weather is not too hot that it melts the chocolate. An idea you could try and reuse is to hide plastic eggs and exchange them for real ones once they find them around).
- Make sure you have enough Easter eggs to go around and some baskets to fill them up with. Otherwise, you will have to be prepared for a mini-war at home. As we all know, chocolate is worth fighting for.
This is a perfect time to engage with the community around you which provides heaps of benefits such as a safer suburb and a higher quality social life. You never know when you will need your neighbour’s help in an emergency so get to know them.
6. A Time to Rejuvenate
As Easter signifies a time of renewal and resurrection, it is important that we take the time to reflect on our lives and make the necessary changes that would bring us closer to our life goals. Another important practice that you could establish is Easter self-care. This could include nourishing our bodies and souls with a calm and relaxing treat, creating space in our busy lives to put ourselves first. It is a time to rejuvenate so go ahead and indulge in a facial, pedicure, manicure, spa treatment, sport activities or reconnect with an old friend or simply curl up with a book and your favourite beverage. What’s important is that you make time and space for yourself this season to reflect and renew your mind, soul and body.
As we enjoy our Easter break, take a moment to think about those in Ukraine who won’t be able to celebrate Easter with their families. And say a little prayer for them this Easter.
