After a long winter, finding ways to welcome and celebrate spring seems like a wise and fun thing. It’s a great way to clear out the old and bring in the fresh to home and life.
Send a Card
I am not advocating some kind of mass-marketed, over-commercialized holiday card writing spree. However, marking a day or season with a note to a friend is a great way to celebrate.
It’s simple, frugal and has a way of bringing a smile in ways our modern electronic communications cannot.
A simple note, not a long letter. If a long letter is your thing, go for it. But if you’re new to writing actual notes and cards instead of texts and emails – keep it a simple and brief.
Dear Tessa, Spring has arrived and I am so grateful. Thinking lots about you and hoping that you’re welcoming a wonderful new season, too. Love, Kathie
It can really be that easy. I promise.
Postcards are great and simple.
Use simple notebook paper and business envelopes. Or handmade paper and upcycled envelopes from old calendars or magazines. Buy blank cards from a store.
Want to make the note feel like a care package? There are several things you can tuck inside and still only use 1 stamp.
Tuck a single wrapped tea bag inside.
A small, flat packet of seeds works. Nothing thick – no beans or peas. Think radish or tomato seeds.
A bookmark for the avid readers. Buy one or make one.
A sheet of stickers or temporary tattoos is great for kids. Heck, plenty of adults too.
Eat Outside
Celebrate spring by eating a meal (or several) outside. This doesn’t have to be some huge elaborate feast (though go for it, if that’s your thing). Truly, it can be simple. Just eat on the porch or on a sheet on the ground instead of at the kitchen table.
There is something truly wonderful about eating outside. It connects us to the natural world and allows us to truly feel apart of nature rather than just observing it out a window as we eat.
Feeling adventurous? Make it a picnic in a local park. Pack sandwiches, cookies, and water in a backpack and take a hike eating the meal on the trail somewhere.
Go Look at Spring Flowers
Just like taking a drive to take the colors of changing leaves in the fall, take a drive to look at spring flowers. This could be something in the wild or perhaps a tour of some kind of tulip farm or local garden tour.
The bulbs of spring are an amazing thing to see and all those bright colors can really lift spirits. Do the tours and enjoy some local food at the same time.
Spring wildflowers pop up in many places too and this is the time to get out and see them. They don’t tend to last for long periods of time and it’d be a shame to miss the opportunity completely.
Gorge on Spring Foods
No celebration of spring would be complete without spring seasonal foods. The fresh, amazing foods of spring are fleeting. Gorge on them until you get tired of them and by then it will likely be summer anyway.
Make the dandelion egg noodles, indulge in strawberry shortcakes, eat the asparagus in every way imaginable, bake the rhubarb pies, and enjoy those tender fresh greens after a winter of heavier foods.
Spring Clean
Okay, cleaning might not sound much like celebrating. However, it is a great way to push out the old season and bring in the new. Keep the spring cleaning simple but remember to open windows and perhaps line dry those sheets.
Also many communities do spring cleaning of roadsides. Consider joining these efforts and pick up trash to make the community look better but also get to know neighbors.
Plant Something
Spring is the time for planting. Growing something as the earth comes alive is an ideal way to celebrate spring.
It doesn’t matter if you a large garden or a single pot of herbs on a windowsill. Simply plant and grow something as a celebration of waking up from winter.
Embrace Eggs
Eggs have been used to celebrate spring since ancient times. They are after all symbols of growing light and fertility – both things of spring. And there are so many different ways to embrace eggs in this season.
Of course, one can go the route of decorating them. Use natural materials like cabbage or onion skins for dyes you can feel good about putting on your food.
There are no shortage of ways to eat eggs as part of a seasonal meal plan.
Make felt Easter eggs for a fun craft and easy decorating.
Whip up some homemade chocolate eggs for dessert.
Cut chocolate sugar cookie dough into egg shapes.
Do Some Indoor Spring Decorating
This is individual and as in most things simple living – there is no right or wrong. Do as little or as much as works for you and your lifestyle.
Decorate the mantle with some eggs or spring flowers.
Heck just print out a spring themed piece of artwork and hang up on the fridge and call it good.
Put a spring wreath up on the door.
Fill a vase with pussy willow branches for a lovely table centerpiece.
Again, it doesn’t have to be big or expensive. Just a little something to celebrate spring by bringing nature inside the home, too.