How to Make a European Easter Tree or Ostereierbaum

Looking for something relatively easy to make (and clean up!) that will make your Easter celebrations a little more special this year? Here are some ideas on How to Make an Ostereierbaum.

Germans have so many wonderful Holiday traditions that we here in Canada can adopt. Germany seems to lead the way in the art of celebrating - they invented the Christmas tree, the Advent Calendar and the gingerbread house; they've got Christmas baking down to a science and they've got the best Christmas Markets in the world.

And Easter in Germany is just about as big a deal with the Germans laying claim to the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunting! Find everything in our Easter Collections by clicking here.

But while the Easter Bunny and egg hunting have been totally adopted by us here in North America the German tradition of the Easter Egg Tree or Ostereierbaum is not seen as often.

My in-laws are German - my father-in-law grew up in Berlin and my mother-in-law in the Mannheim area. Each year they treat the grandkids at Easter with not one but two Ostereierbaumen - one outside and one inside. My mother-in-law puts her tree at the front door to greet us as we come into her home. Smaller trees may be used as a center piece at the table. 

There are lots of ideas for Ostereierbaum in Pinterest. You can check out my European Easter Pinterest Board by clicking here.

Easy-to-Make Ostereierbaum

What you'll need:

• Branches - fairly dry and with some knobby bits on them to hang ornaments from (you could also choose to paint the branches in spring colors!); another option would be to use Pussy Willows. And if you don't have access to natural branches we have lovely felted wool branches and stems to choose from
• A vase, jug, mason jar or small bucket to stand the branches in - something a little taller will keep the branches from fanning out too much
• Sand, small rocks, glass pebbles from the Dollar Store to put into the vase/jar to keep the branches arranged (you could also use a block of florist's foam)
• Ornaments to hang from the branches - see more below
• Simply fill the vase or bucket to about half-full with the sand or pebbles and arrange the bottoms of the branches into it. 

Ornaments

All sorts of Easter themed items could be hung from the tree. You could decorate it all at one time or keep the ornaments in a basket and have children place one ornament on the tree in the days leading up to Easter - sort of like an Advent Calendar.

• Choose from the large collection of hanging ornaments in the shop - click here
• Painted Easter Eggs glued to string - ones you make yourself or ones from the shop
• Dollar Store items on a string - miniature birds or bugs (see our Blog article about Lady Bugs!)
• Mini pompoms, feathers, ribbon
• Real dyed Easter Eggs hung on a string - check out this delightful and irreverent video on how to blow out eggs to use for Easter Crafts - https://youtu.be/OE19g_OCZms
• Blown glass ornaments from Inge-Glas Germany - we now offer a delightful selection - see them by clicking here
• Easter Egg ornaments that you make yourself - below is a list of links to check out for ideas:
  

Links

• Some fabulous photos of different ideas for trees - all in German but you don't need to be bilingual to enjoy the images! - http://deavita.com/dekoration/ostern-frueling/dekoideen-ostern-ostereierbaum-selber.html
• Colorful Salt Dough Hanging Eggs - http://www.designmom.com/2013/03/diy-salt-dough-eggs/
• Felt Ornaments - http://lacreatureandyou.com/2012/03/05/three-easter-felt-ornaments-diy-tutorial/
  
• Other fun ideas at https://thinkingabout.life/7907/
• More fun ideas at https://rhythmsofplay.com/how-to-make-an-easter-tree/
• Find lots more on Pinterest - Follow our European Easter Board

Happy Easter! Frohe Ostern!

Tamara
Owner @ Gingerbread World

(This article was originally published in March 2019 and updated in March 2022)