deafda: My First Easter Decoration, Plus a Better Way to Add Filler to Your Hurricanes

One of my most versatile home accessories is a pair of glass hurricanes that I use as decorative candle holders. I got them at Target years ago. I believe they're still available. The reason they're so versatile is that they are designed to hold decorative filler material in addition to the candles. I change out the filler material according to the seasons. Around Valentine’s Day, the hurricanes hold candy hearts. At Christmas time, I’ve filled them with both peppermints and colorful ornaments. Some years in the fall I’ve used acorns, pine cones and faux mini pumpkins. Other years I’ve used candy corn. During the summer, they are filled with sand and shells. Now that Easter is just around the corner, I’m ready to change them up again. I’ve used jellybeans in the past, but this year I wanted to try something a little different. I settled on these.

I like the colors of these malted chocolate eggs, and the grass is something I haven’t tried before. I added them to my hurricanes to make these:

You probably think I assembled these by placing a handful of grass on the bottom of the hurricane and then dumping a bag of eggs on top. That’s how I used to do it, but then I saw a clever little trick on Pinterest.

Yes, that’s a can in the middle of the hurricane. (On a side note, I have a ton of canned pumpkin in my pantry. I've been hoarding it ever since the great pumpkin shortage of 2010. Do you remember?) By adding the can to my decoration, I’ve reduced the amount of filler material I need to use, thereby reducing my costs. Less fill, more thrill!

I simply put the can in the hurricane and surrounded it with grass.

Then I placed the candle on top of the can.

Finally, I added the candy.

Here’s the same amount of filler material without the can insert.

They don't look too bad, but adding the can definitely gives you more bang for your buck. Notice that without the can the candles sit much lower, and there appears to be fewer eggs. An additional benefit of using the can is that it's a more stable surface for the candle.

To summarize the procedure...