Eggs help showcase the beauty of Easter

Shake and decorate hollowed-out Easter eggs, then save them as keepsakes to display from year to year as a whimsical “egg plant” centerpiece. The lovely eggs, together with other favorites, can be “blooming” out of a pretty Easter basket, a medium-size flowerpot or several mini containers lined down the center of your table or along a windowsill.

Here are three easy steps for an afternoon of fun:

1. Blowing eggs: To empty an egg, poke a small hole with a straight pin at each end of a washed raw egg. Carefully wiggle a toothpick or wooden skewer into one of the holes to break the yolk.

Place a drinking straw over the hole on top, and blow through the straw, collecting the contents of the egg in a small dish. Rinse out the empty shell and let dry. Store in an empty egg carton until ready to use.

2. Shake and decorate: First, poke wooden skewers into a chunk of floral foam. Set aside. Scoop several tablespoons of brightly colored sand (available at toy and craft stores) into a clear plastic sandwich bag. Squeeze household glue from a plastic bottle in a simple design, such as zigzags or an alphabet letter, onto a blown egg that is still white or dyed in a light color.

Carefully set the egg in the plastic bag and close it lightly in your fist, keeping locked air inside. Gently shake the bag of sand to coat the glue on the egg to reveal the design you made. Remove the egg with your fingers and slip it onto one of the wooden skewers through the hole in the shell, making sure the skewer doesn’t go through the hole at the opposite end.

3. Display: Set the floral foam with skewers and decorated eggs in a flowerpot or Easter basket. Rearrange the skewers to balance the arrangement of budding egg “flowers.” Add other decorated eggs you might have saved from previous years. Cover the foam with green moss or colorful Easter paper grass.

Extra idea: This year I lined a medium-size Easter basket with plastic, scooped potting soil inside and sprinkled wheat grass seeds on top. I kept it damp until the seeds sprouted. The green grass grew tall with sunshine and watering in just 10 days.