Edible Alcohol Ink Easter Eggs

Way back in 2015 I shared with you how to make DIY alcohol inks. And then just a few weeks ago I showed you my new and improved way of making homemade alcohol inks I’ve worked out over the last 5 years of DIY-ing them.

And as I was typing that post up I remembered that I a wrote a craft book. For ALCOHOL INKS. I’m not sure how that is something I forget but I very often do… In fact, when I was recently asked what my 3 greatest achievements as a craft blogger. And I didn’t even think of the fact that I WROTE A CRAFT BOOK. And it was printed and published and everything! :)

My book on Crafting with Alcohol Inks is titled Crafting with Alcohol Inks because I’m, you know, witty like that ;) and you can pick up a copy on Amazon.

In that book I made some of the PRETTIEST Easter eggs.

But since I used alcohol inks which are NOT food safe they weren’t edible Easter. And this year I’ve challenged myself the share ONLY Easter egg designs that use real, natural eggs that can be eaten after decoration.

And so I decided that I’d make some edible alcohol inks for crafting. Now this isn’t a new thing and it’s hardly my idea. For years and years bakers have been using a solution of alcohol and food coloring to paint things like decorations on fancy cakes. Today we’re taking what is essentially an edible alcohol ink and using them to design some gorgeously abstract eggs. Want to see how?

Supplies you’ll need to make Pretty Edible Alcohol Ink Easter Eggs

• Boiled Eggs (try our easy Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs!)
• Everclear (like from the package store)
• Food Coloring (Assorted Colors / Neon Colors)
• Precision Tip Applicator Bottles (can also use empty squeeze bottles from the travel section at the grocery store)
• Acrylic Craft Felt
• Alcohol Ink Applicator 
• Metallic Candy Paint Brush (save a pretty penny… use a 40% off coupon at Michael’s and get one for $6)

If wearing gloves, you can apply your homemade alcohol ink straight onto a small piece of acrylic craft felt. You can also make a small and easy to wield DIY applicator using a wine cork and the rougher side of Velcro. Simply cut a piece of Velcro to fit on top of the fat side of the cork and then hot glue on. Felt can be pushed onto the Velcro and will hold firmly in place for applicating the ink. I had intended to use this method myself as my other applicators have traditional alcohol inks on them and therefore aren’t food safe.

Since I couldn’t find Velcro I just attached my felt to the cork with a straight pin with a large head. It worked but I didn’t use the method for long as I kept poking myself. Although you do see my poorly devised cork alcohol ink applicator in the photos below, I’d probably NOT suggest you do the same :)

How to Make Edible Alcohol Inks – Why to use Everclear instead of Vodka

To make edible alcohol inks you need a fairly small ratio of food coloring to a large ratio of everclear alcohol. I would start with 10-15 drops of food coloring for darker colors to half an ounce of alcohol. For lighter colors, like yellow, you’ll need closer to 30 drops for half an ounce of edible alcohol ink.

Now in my photograph up there, that’s really cheap vodka. For my first few alcohol ink eggs I did use vodka but I wasn’t super happy with the end result. Because vodka is only 40% alcohol there’s a lot of water, or whatever, that has to evaporate slowing down how quickly your alcohol ink becomes indelible. That means your dye will spread a bit before it is fully dry. And that means a less crisp design.

This egg was painted using a vodka based homemade alcohol ink. It looks nice but the dye is sort of spreading and there aren’t any of the pretty well defined cells that make alcohol ink crafts so unique and pretty.

By using an alcohol with a much higher proof and therefore larger percentage of alcohol, you get an egg dye that evaporates much, much more quickly.

I’d suggest purchasing everclear from your local package store in the highest proof you can for your budget. The better the quality the more your edible alcohol ink will act more like a traditional ink, including giving you some gorgeous cells when overlapped.

How to Make Edible Alcohol Ink Easter Eggs

This is seriously, like the easiest way to dye Easter eggs EVER.

Drip a few dots of edible alcohol ink onto a piece of acrylic felt. Place the felt onto the egg’s shell and pull the felt straight away. Try to not shake the felt on the surface of the egg to get nice, defined splotches of ink with each daub.

Note* This egg is being decorated using an everclear based homemade alcohol ink.  Because the liquid is evaporating much more quickly, there is less spread. The colors are more crisp and the design is much more similar to that of using a traditional alcohol ink.

Continue adding ink to the felt and applying to the egg as you work around. The higher the alcohol content of your everclear, the faster the ink will dry as you work. I used 190 proof everclear and I was able to continuously work around and around the egg with it drying before I could make it back around again.

Adding a fancy flair with edible metallic paint:

Add a metallic touch to your eggs using a Wilton metallic candy paint. Turn the bottom of the pen to push the paint through to the pen’s bristles. Dab the pant onto a few places on a piece of acrylic felt.

Apply the metallic candy paint sporadically around the edible alcohol ink design. Allow the paint some dry time, approximately 10 minutes.  You can go over the gold with your ink after it dries and build up several layers of metallic paint/ink. I used gold because gold is my jam, but this candy paint also comes in metallic silver!

*Note – I linked to this Wilton Metallic Candy Paint on Amazon so you can see what it is. HOWEVER, I purchased mine at Michael’s with a coupon for $10 less than the current price it is selling for on Amazon. Click over to see what it is but if the price is high, you’ll save big bucks with a coupon at Michael’s.

As you build up the ink and paint with a high proof everclear in your inks you’ll start to see that lovely cell structure that make traditional alcohol inks so much fun to play with!

Once dry, apply a small amount of vegetable oil to the egg’s surface and rub it in with your hands. Buff away the excess oil with a clean paper towel or cloth until the egg is shiny but no longer slippery.

Use 2 colors at a time with different variations and you’ll have the most gorgeous and unique DIY alcohol ink eggs that are edible!