Making your own Easter tree is a fun project the whole family can get involved with, and they make a delightful alternative table centrepiece for bank holiday weekend lunches.

Here’s how to make one yourself in a few easy steps:

1. Gather your tree. You’ll want a nice selection of small branches with plenty of twigs to hang your decorations from. Pussy willow, with its fluffy catkins, makes a pleasing addition, as do the pretty pink blooms of the cherry or apple blossom. If you’re lucky enough to have a garden with trees you can source your tree from there, or go on a bracing family walk armed with a pair of garden shears, a sturdy plastic bag and some gloves.

2. Leave the branches plain for a natural look, or if you’re feeling creative you can get crafty. Spray paint is an easy way to achieve a uniform colour – plain white will look striking, or metallic gold or even glitter will make for a super glam tree. You can also use yarn to wrap around sections of the branches for a colourful, patchwork effect. If you didn’t find any flowering branches for your tree you can always superglue scrunches of tissue paper to the branches for a DIY blossom effect.

3. Find a vessel to arrange your tree in. You’ll want a tall vase or even one of those silver florists’ buckets. If you have some florist’s oasis to hand to pop in the base it will help steady your arrangement but if you don’t you can simply manoeuvre the branches until they sit in a pleasing arrangement.

4. Decorate! The shops are overflowing with Easter decorations at this time of year, but choose carefully. Small, painted wooden and ceramic ornaments can be gently wrapped in tissue paper and stored away for use in successive years, and you can build up a meaningful collection over time. Eggs, birds and rabbits are all common themes, and look equally lovely in acid bights or pale pastels. You could even craft your own decorations by carefully blowing eggs and threading them with a needle and some ribbon. Chocolate treats are also fun to hang on the tree come Easter morning.