< Easter Tree Decoration Ideas for UK Homes in 2026

Easter Tree Decoration Ideas for UK Homes in 2026

Josh Kennard
Easter Tree Decoration Ideas for UK Homes in 2026

The best Easter trees start with a good branch and a vessel that holds it upright. After that, fewer and better ornaments beat a crowd of plastic eggs. Hazel, pussy willow or painted twigs in a heavy vase, a restrained pastel palette and a few handmade pieces, such as wooden trees, hand-dyed eggs and felt animals, give you a display you can bring out every spring.

Below you will find ideas for the structure, the colours, the ornaments and the styling. We also cover how to keep it safe around children and how to make the whole thing last beyond one season.

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TL;DR

  • Build the tree first: sturdy hazel, pussy willow or dogwood in a weighted vessel, steadied with a grid of tape or floral foam.
  • Keep to two or three pastel shades, or go earthy and natural with wood, linen and undyed eggs.
  • Choose fewer, longer-lasting ornaments (wood, glass, felt) that you can rotate through the year.
  • If children will touch the tree, pick pieces with no small parts and safe finishes, and check toy-safety marks on anything sold as a toy.
  • Only cut branches you have permission to cut.

Table of Contents

Why the Easter tree has become a thing

An Easter tree used to be a German-style tradition that few British homes bothered with. That has changed. BBC News reports that total annual Easter spending in the UK grew from £550 million in 2016 to £1.7 billion in 2025, and describes people hanging ornaments on Easter trees and dressing their doors for spring.

The same report points to a shift in what people buy. Some shoppers now treat Easter decor as something to invest in, choosing well-made, sustainable pieces that last for years instead of disposable, mass-market items. That is good news if you like a tree that looks considered rather than crowded.

Start with the tree itself: branches and vessels

A beautiful ornament on a wobbly stem is a disappointment. Professional decorators quoted by Country Living stress that the vessel and branch choice matter as much as the ornaments. A grid of tape across the mouth of a sturdy container keeps branches upright, which matters once you hang heavier wooden or glass pieces.

Which branches to choose

  • Hazel: loopy, whimsical lines that suit a relaxed, cottage look.
  • Pussy willow: a pared-back, sculptural shape, and the soft catkins add texture without any decoration at all.
  • Dogwood or painted twigs: useful if you want a bold colour, such as white, soft green or pale pink twigs standing in for a tree.
  • Cherry blossom or other flowering stems: lovely for a table centrepiece, though the blossom drops quickly and will not carry heavy ornaments.

Country Living describes hazel as whimsical and pussy willow as sculptural, so decide which mood you want before you cut or buy.

Choose the vessel for weight, not looks

Tall branches act as levers. A narrow, light vase will tip once you hang ornaments from the upper stems. Use something heavy, such as a stoneware jug, a deep ceramic planter or a bucket hidden inside a basket. Add a layer of pebbles or sand at the bottom, then crisscross tape over the opening to make a grid for the stems. Floral foam also works, but a tape grid is easier to reuse and leaves no crumbs.

Vessel setup for stable Easter branches

Cutting branches: a quick word on permission

If you are taking branches from a garden, hedgerow or park, check you may. The RHS guidance on trees and the law says you need the landowner’s permission before cutting from trees that are not yours, and that you can be liable for damage to a neighbour’s tree if pruning leads to disease or failure. Take only healthy, sturdy stems. Avoid any plant you are not sure is safe to have in a home with children or pets, and if you are unsure what a plant is, buy cut stems from a florist.

Pick a palette before you buy anything

A tree looks intentional when it has a limit. Here are three directions that work in British homes.

The pastel look

The spring 2026 trend is candy-coloured. According to a 2026 trend guide from a tableware retailer, soft mint green, powder pink, lavender and butter yellow are the key shades, and pairing opposing tones such as mint and pink adds depth. On a tree, that means choosing two of those and letting the rest be branch and wall. Mint and powder pink eggs against pale twigs is hard to get wrong.

Mint and pink eggs on pale Easter branches

The natural, earthy look

If pastels feel too sweet, go the other way: undyed wood, speckled eggs, linen ribbon, dried grasses. Warm woods such as maple, walnut and oak give you tone variation for free, so you do not need colour to create interest. Our guide to ornament colour palettes that go beyond matching explains how to combine earthy tones so the result feels collected rather than coordinated. The principles carry from Christmas to Easter.

The one-colour statement

Pick a single colour in different textures: white ceramic eggs, white paper blossom, white painted twigs. It is a modern, gallery-like look, and it is cheap to build because you only need to match one shade.

Ornament ideas that go beyond plastic eggs

Here is where most Easter trees lose their charm. A hundred identical eggs look like a shop display. Try mixing three or four types of object, each in small numbers.

  1. Hand-dyed or blown eggs. Blow the eggs, dye them with food colouring or natural dyes such as red cabbage or onion skins, and hang them on thin ribbon. They are fragile, so keep them on upper stems away from toddlers.
  2. Felt animals. Ducks, hares, sheep and chicks in wool felt are light, soft and safe on any branch.
  3. Wooden shapes. Small hand-cut wooden pieces add weight and warmth. They do not break if they fall, which is a relief in a busy household.
  4. Paper and fabric blossom. Cheap, quick and easy to store flat.
  5. Feathers. Tuck a few into the branches for movement. Use them sparingly.
  6. Tiny trees. A miniature wooden tree hung on a branch, or standing at the base, plays on the idea of a tree within a tree and gives the display a focal point.

A rule of thumb for spacing

Hang the largest piece a third of the way up, then add smaller pieces in a loose zigzag, leaving gaps. Country Living’s advice is to start with larger decorations and add smaller ones after, which saves you from running out of space for the showpieces.

Using wooden tree decorations at Easter

We make handmade wooden trees, and we get asked whether they belong in an Easter display. They do, with a different job than at Christmas. Rather than hanging them from the branches, stand them around the base of your branch tree like a small forest, or group them on a mantelpiece beside a jug of pussy willow. The natural knots and grain read as spring-like, particularly against pastel eggs.

Our Woodland and Forest sets come in groups, so you can build a layered display of different heights. The Woodland sets include variations in maple and oak, a Child Friendly option and more. If you want something that matches the exact corner of your home, you can look at the custom range, where a Custom Single Tree is priced at $28.

There are also pieces that are not trees in the usual sense. The Floating Shelf and Tree Candle are each $40 and suit a spring shelf or windowsill.

Tall Knotty Festive

Perspective: why we think Easter decor should be kept

We started making wooden trees because we were tired of decorations with no character. Each of our pieces is handmade from sustainably sourced hardwoods such as maple, walnut and oak, and we leave the natural knots and textures visible, because they are what make each tree different from the next.

That shapes how we think about seasonal decor. A decoration that you use for one weekend and then throw away is the opposite of what we want to make. A tree that works at Easter, sits on a shelf in summer, and comes out again at Christmas is far better value, for your home and for the wood it came from. Wood does not go out of fashion in the way a novelty plastic chick does.

So our advice is simple. Buy fewer things. Choose materials that age well. Let the branches, the eggs and the wood do the work, and add colour with fresh flowers, which are seasonal by nature. Then store everything carefully so you can bring it out again next year.

— Josh

Making Easter decor work all year

The most sustainable decoration is the one you keep using. As Ripley’s Nest notes in its year-round styling guide, the idea is not to buy a new collection each season but to rotate versatile, high-quality pieces between rooms and settings so the home stays fresh.

In practice:

  • Keep your vessel neutral so it works with winter twigs, spring blossom and summer grasses.
  • Choose ornaments in materials rather than themes: a wooden tree, a glass bauble or a ceramic egg can sit in many scenes.
  • Move your Easter pieces to a hallway console or kitchen shelf afterwards rather than boxing them straight away.
  • Look for longer-lasting alternatives to disposable seasonal decor, such as handcrafted globes, which can sit on a shelf from spring through to the holidays.
  • Use accent pieces for every room as a checklist when deciding where a spring display can move once Easter is over.

If you also want plastic-free options, our practical UK guide to plastic-free decorations is written for Christmas but the swaps (wood, paper, fabric, natural twine) apply equally to Easter.

Safety with children and pets

An Easter tree sits at child height far more often than a Christmas tree does, because it is usually on a table or sideboard. A few habits make it safer.

  • Check the size of small pieces. Anything a small child could put in their mouth is a choking risk. One toy guide explains the rule of thumb that no part should fit entirely inside a 31.7 mm cylinder for toddler toys. Use it as a quick reference for ornaments within reach.
  • Know the toy-safety standards. If a decoration is sold as something a child can play with, look for compliance with BS EN 71, in particular small-parts (EN 71-1) and surface coatings (EN 71-3). A 2026 compliance guide notes that toys in Great Britain may carry either the UKCA or CE mark. Many decorative ornaments are not toys at all, so do not assume a pretty piece is safe to chew.
  • Keep fragile eggs high. Blown eggshells and glass go on the upper branches, with soft or wooden pieces lower down.
  • Choose child-friendly finishes. Our Child Friendly Woodland and Forest sets have dull points and food-safe finishes, so they suit homes where little hands will reach. Our guides to displaying ornaments where kids can reach them and child friendly tree safety go into more detail.
  • Check your plants. Some garden stems are toxic. If you are not certain what a branch is, leave it out.

A simple step-by-step Easter tree

  1. Choose a heavy vessel about a third of the height of your branches.
  2. Make a tape grid over the opening, or fill the vessel with stones and sand.
  3. Cut or buy branches in odd numbers, three or five, at different heights.
  4. Arrange them so they fan out, then trim any that block the shape.
  5. Hang the biggest pieces first, then the medium ones, then the small.
  6. Stand wooden trees, candles or a few eggs in a bowl around the base.
  7. Step back, remove a third of what you have hung, and look again.

That last step is the one most people skip, and it is usually the one that makes the difference.

Where to put your Easter tree

  • Dining table: keep it under about 40 cm tall so guests can talk across it.
  • Hallway console: a taller version works because there is more vertical space, and it greets visitors.
  • Windowsill or shelf: a small branch in a jug with three or four ornaments.
  • Mantelpiece: pair a single pussy willow stem vase with a row of small wooden trees.
  • Front door: the BBC mentions people dressing their doors for spring, and a wreath of foliage with a few wooden touches is an easy extension of the tree indoors.

Gifts for people who already have an Easter tree

If you are buying for someone who decorates every spring, think about what they cannot easily get from a shop. A set of handmade wooden trees can be displayed through spring and then again at Christmas, so the gift keeps being used. Our Forest sets are for people who like to build a bigger scene. For a smaller gift, the custom single tree at $28 is a simple place to start.

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of a real Easter tree?

Painted twigs, pussy willow or dogwood in a vase all work. You can also use a small potted plant or a bare branch fixed into a plant pot filled with stones. The aim is a structure that is stable and open enough to hang ornaments from.

When should I put up an Easter tree?

Most people put it up in the week or two before Easter and keep it until the Easter weekend has passed. Fresh branches may drop catkins or blossom after a couple of weeks, so a short display time suits them. If you use dried or painted twigs, you can leave it up longer.

Are wooden ornaments good for an Easter tree?

Yes. Wood is light, does not shatter, and the grain adds warmth to pastel or neutral schemes. Choose smooth edges and, for homes with young children, pieces with dull points and safe finishes, such as our Child Friendly sets.

How do I stop the branches from tipping over?

Use a heavy vessel and weight the bottom with stones or sand. Add a tape grid across the opening so each stem has its own slot. Hang the heaviest ornaments low and close to the main stem.

Sources

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