Celebrating Ostara: Creating an Altar on a Budget

The pagan holiday of Ostara is a more recent addition to the Wheel of the Year. It is celebrated on the Spring Equinox, a time when night and day are equal, marking the beginning of Spring. It’s typical for pagans and witches to build altars to honor the energy of balance and new growth that Ostara brings.

Some common symbols associated with Ostara are:

Animals: Rabbits, Robins, Chicks and other baby animals
Colors: Light Green, Lavender, Light Blue, Pink, White
Crystals: Aventurine, Amythest, Moss Agate
Themes: Renewal, New Life, Return of Light, Fertility, Gardening

And of course many more!

For my altar, I wanted to capture the energy of Ostara and be affordable to create. To achieve this I DIY-ed, sourced from nature, and sourced second-hand items.

I knew I wanted my altar centerpiece to be a nest. I was inspired by a YouTube creator Alwyn Oak to use wild foraged materials like twigs and moss, so, for about a month I gathered sticks whenever I could get into the woods. I felt like a little Robin, building her nest in cool March air. Luckily, I already had moss and paint at home but I needed a base for my nest and some wooden eggs to paint. I visited Michael’s to get my supplies. I found a base for about $1.50 and wooden eggs for $6.00. At checkout, I realized I had a $5 coupon! My total ended up being around $2. If you want to learn more about the process of creating the nest read about it here.

For the rest of my altar, I decided to visit my favorite local thrift store to see what I could find, expecting to find lots of Easter décor I could use. To my surprise there was only one bunny figure so I had to pick it up. I also found some beautiful vases (99 cents each!).

I was also struck by a beautiful clock with an intricate design of cats and mice. The work was titled “Daydreaming”. While not traditional symbols of Ostara the energy and witchy design pulled me in and I felt it needed a place on my altar. Sometimes it’s best to follow your intuition instead of strict rules on what can be included in an altar.

Thrift haul, everything pictured totaled about $12.

Of course I couldn’t stop myself from browsing the clothes section and found a cute top for $3 and a stunning whimsical bag for the same price.

Once it was time to set up my altar I added some crystals associated with Ostara along with a candle and some beautiful branches found on the woodland floor.