« Easter Candy Inspired Speckled Easter Eggs Tutorial »
Thursday, March 14, 2013 
I'm sure that all of you out there have a favorite candy for each holiday - I sure do! My favorite Easter candy are Robin's Eggs - but I can't eat them anymore. But while I can't eat them, I can still mimic their look on real eggs, right? Well, I decided to do that with the pink, yellow and blue color, but decided to go more natural with brown flecks. You can fleck with the candy colors if you prefer!
This project wound up being an exploration in the art of splatter painting eggs. In the end, I got results that I'm really, incredibly happy with. What's more, is although they aren't run-of-the-mill plain ol' eggs they only took me about 20 minutes to dye a dozen. In my book good looks and a quick turn-around time make this project a big, big winner!
Also, the eggs are totally edible. I just hate seeing a dozen eggs go to waste for decorative purposes only. Don't you?
For this project you will need:
- boiled eggs
- food coloring in traditional colors (red, blue & yellow)
- brown or black food coloring
- vinegar
- toothbrush
- large jar
- small jar or glass
- gloves (optional but advised)
- paper towels
- whisk
Fill your jar up with enough water to cover the egg fully when it sits inside. Take and add a healthy dose of vinegar to the water and then add your food coloring. For my yellow I used 20 drops and pink and blue is 10. Use your whisk to stir well.
If you've never dyed eggs with this method, you're about to be stoked. It's easy and a lot less messy than dealing with a spoon full of egg and liquid dye.
Take your whisk and push one of the metal bits over to the side to make an opening. Carefully pop the egg inside and move the metal back into place.
Put the egg into the dye and give it a stir every once in a while.
I kept all of my eggs in the color for 1 minute on the nose, but I'd advise timing it out on your first of each color and using the time that suits your tastes best.
Take the whisk and push a metal bit to the side to open and turn the egg onto a paper towel. This particular egg looks stripey for some reason, but most of them turn out nice and evenly colored.
Use a paper towel to blot off any excess dye to help prevent blotches.
After you've dyed all of your eggs, take about a tablespoon of vinegar in a small glass or jar. Squeeze in some brown food coloring and mix well.
Dip your tootbrush into the dye and tap on the edge to get rid of any excess.
First take and flick the toothbrush over the trash can or a piece of paper towel to make sure that any big drops don't splatter onto your eggs. Then take and brush your thumb over the bristles to flick a spray of the brown food coloring onto the eggs.
I had a hard time taking pics and doing this at the same time, but if you are directly over the eggs, you'll get nice round dots instead of the kind of streaky lines I got on this splatter.
Let the food coloring sit for a few seconds and then blot the excess away (do not rub, though). Turn the eggs over and continue the process. I found that I had three turns per egg to fully cover (I used large eggs).
When you get the hang of it, you can put down a whole bunch of eggs and speckle them all at once. I did a full dozen in one go! Unfortunately I also got some food coloring into my glove somehow, but I tried!
Well, I hope you have a fantastic Thursday and know that I am absolutely not eating egg salad for months. Over. It. Happy Thursday!!
Reader Comments (14)
These are awesome! They look just like those delicious little candies. :)
Trish
www.jellybonesblog.blogspot.com
Thanks, Trish!
Oooo! So purdy. Is it weird, I kinda want to eat them? They look just like the candy eggs!
Such a cute idea!
Thanks, Sasha!
Pretty!!!
Thank you!
This is such a wonderful idea! I particularly love how you used a whisk to dip the eggs! So genius! II had one of those 'why-didn't-I think- of-it' moments. I just LOVE it! I also really appreciated how much fun reading this post was! I too love eating robin eggs for Easter. Definitely one of my favorites. AND! (I really like saying and) I love Thursdays! And my Thursday was amazing and happy! I pray your is/was just as happy!
- Dusty.
Thanks!! The whisk dyeing really speeds things up a bunch an eliminates a lot of mess. It is the only way i will dye them, now. :)
These are incredibly cute....
I tried speckling eggs this year with a tooth brush and it was a giant fail..but I was using craft paint - since the vinegar mixture worked for you, I am thinking maybe craft paint was too thick. Thanks for the tips.
You're so welcome, I think that the consistency is key when splatter painting. Good luck!
To Kelly about the craft paint-when I painted wood years ago we watered down our acrylic paint and splattered it. Since brown food coloring is hard to find in my area I am thinking coffee or strong tea water would work just fine.
These are great, I just saw them on Pinterest!
Thanks Rosey!