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Here lately I’ve been having a redo on a lot of things in life. And at first, it was kind of a difficult thing because I’m the absolute WORST about change. I hate it, hate it, HATE IT! But having change thrust upon me, I’m finding myself more accepting of change in general and I’m actually actively changing all sorts of things in my life from mild to spicy.
I moved almost 400 miles and I’m currently looking to buy a new home and I think I’ve found the subdivision I want to look in. That’s a spicy change, right there. I have big plans to chop off all of my hair, which is currently just past my shoulders, which is a BIG change we’re going to mark as a medium on the good old salsa comparison of my life. And I’ve decided to make over some of my favorite content because I currently favor more colorful photography and because, well, they were FUN projects to do and I really kind of wanted a reason to craft them up again!
First on my list to makeover was my “GALAXY EASTER EGGS”. These suckers took OFF when I first shared them almost 4 years ago to the day… and by taking off I mean they were featured over at IFLoveScience which was stinking cool… Oh, and they were also on Gizmodo and Laughing Squid to name a couple more. They were socially popular, too, and pinned on Pinterest over 137,000 times and shared on Facebook over 41,000 times. And my original galaxy eggs have inspired some similar but different and totally cool galaxy eggs. AND one year the income off of the eggs sent me on a trip to Puerto Rico where I learned that I LOVE PUERTO RICO. And now totally want to live there someday, like when I retire because apparently nobody wants to fly there to visit me :) Ooh, and I absorb every episode of Caribbean Life shot in Puerto Rico because I want to live there so badly. And that’s pretty freaking cool, too…
But, womp-womp, my space inspired eggs have also been ripped off by lots of other sites and Youtubers. But, you know they say imitation is the biggest sign of flattery, right? My space eggs have been THE most popular thing I have ever, ever made. And to think I almost didn’t share them because I worried they were too dark and too non-Easter-y and maybe even a little bit ugly?
So this past week when I was at the craft store and I saw some JUMBO dyeable plastic eggs just like the smaller ones I used back in the day for my galaxy eggs, I was super freaking excited because I knew that I needed to make some EPIC GALAXY EASTER EGGS. And, if you’re wondering, they’re epic simply because of the size :) Some things are pretty much the same, but some things are totally different.
Also, my eggs this go ’round are also brighter, with more saturated colors and that was totally on purpose, too. Because color has totally become my game, y’all. Like, I LOVE color.
If you dig the old style, no sweat, seriously go check that post out…
But if you’re still hanging around and in the mood to check out the NEW galaxy eggs, let’s get on it already, shall we?
Let’s make some space inspired, totally epic Galaxy Easter Eggs!
Want the short version? Check out our video tutorial!
Need a little more info? Check out the full photo tutorial below!
For this project you will need:
- Dyeable plastic eggs
- Martha Stewart Acrylic Paints (color list below)
- Paintbrush
- Sponges (just hack a regular old kitchen sponge into smaller pieces)
- Stiff brush (a toothbrush works well)
First thing’s first, you’ll need black eggs to make galaxy eggs. They sell chalkboard eggs at Walmart that are already black, but they are the smaller size. I got these gigantic Easter eggs (big as my hand, y’all!) at Michael’s but this is the first year I have ever seen them and they’re only rocking white. But that’s easy enough to fix with a little bit of black paint. I used chalk paint, which is why they’re kind of mat beneath the galaxy design and I think that gives the slightly shinier satin paint I used a little extra “pop”. Depending on your quality of black paint, your eggs will need 2 or 3 coats of black paint, dried between each coat before you can proceed.
Now that we’ve got black eggs as a space base, let’s talk colors. In my first galaxy eggs post, I went with whatever paints I had on hand. Most of them were going to be the cheapest paints I could find, just because I’m cheap. But as I’ve aged and as I’ve crafted a lot over the last SEVEN years as a craft blogger (holy guacamole, right?) I’ve come to be a stickler for quality and a brand loyalist. So, for this round of galaxy eggs I used only Martha Stewart Craft Satin Paints and in these colors:
- Indigo (blue)
- Peacock Feather (teal)
- Pacific Iris (purple)
- Party Streamer (pink)
- Beetle Black
- Wedding Cake (white)
- Yellow Gold
Last time, I used sponge paint brushes but though I’m buying more expensive paints, I’m cheaper when it comes to brushes :) Instead of using up a bunch of sponge brushes, I just hacked up an old kitchen sponge to something fairly similar in size to a makeup sponge applicator thingie. They worked perfectly well and cost me zero dollars and zero cents. Boom!
So you’ve got that black egg and all of your paints and sponges ready to go, right? First up you’ll make a base layer of blue paint using a paintbrush. You want this to be a large-ish shape that is super interesting. Feel free to do one big shape and one smaller one nearby, to cover just the top of the egg, to make an “X” shape, really feel free to go nuts with each of your eggs for some super unique designs.
While the blue is STILL WET daub on some teal on top of the blue paint, mostly within the blue shape but sometimes straying beyond the lines. Set this egg aside and allow the blue and teal paint to dry.
Now sponge on some purple paint again using the previous layers as a guide and allow to dry.
Next, apply some pink. Since this is the most visible of all of the layers, be sure it’s an interesting or eye-catching shape. While the paint is still wet, take a clean area of your sponge and dab to remove some of the paint. This will give some nice dimension and will help the previous colors peek through! Allow your paint to dry.
Now apply daubs of gold paint around your design. This color can be a little more avant-garde… go off the design completely, make shapes over top of the existing shape, do whatever you think looks nice. I’ve become especially fond of lines running through the galaxy design. Allow the gold paint to dry.
Now we’re on to our last sponge application of paint, the black paint. For this layer, you want just the slightest bit of paint on the sponge. So dab that sucker into the paint and then dab, dab, dab, the paint away onto your pallet or onto a piece of scrap paper so that you just get a tiny hint of black with each daub. Now apply small areas of the black paint on top of your current design. This adds something really neat to the design for a little extra pop and helps to bring all of the layers together.
Now in a small bowl put a tiny dollop of paint and a few drops of water. Mix them together well and using a stiff brush, like an old toothbrush, run your thumb across the bristles flicking the paint onto the egg. This is kind of tricky, so I’d really suggest practicing this technique on scrap paper so you don’t get a bunch of crazy runs and drips. You might also find you need to tweak your paint to water ratio for more “dots” than runs that look more like the stars we are shooting for, so practice until you’re happy with the consistency of the paint for best results!
And if you do get the occasional huge blob of paint of drippy run, don’t sweat it… these galaxy eggs are each unique and different and as a whole, they’ll look just lovely together. Trust me, this is my second time making this craft :)
After everything has dried you can arrange them, hide, them do whatever you darn well please with your galaxy Easter eggs!
Allison! Girl these are flipping AMAZING! I’m always one for the “different” thing❤️ These are definitely different! Between these and your Mood Ring Eggs…I’m gonna be busy this week! Just hope I can get the mood paint in time! I can’t wait to see what your “other” project is for that paint! Wink wink!
I’m so glad you love them! I was thinking of making some more Mood eggs this year, too, but I wasn’t sure if the paint would arrive in time. I hope it does for you! Also, you might want to sneak a peek at this Mood Converse I made and gave to my sister. It was a fun way to use some of the leftover paint!
Wow I thought Easter egg painting is just a Romanian tradition, I am glad to see people from other corners of the world enjoy similar traditions.
I love this! All the happiness you are helping bring to children’s (and adults!) lives is amazing :-)
What a great website you have.
Take care
Jamie
This is so neat! I just bought two dozen of these eggs at Walmart and haven’t figured out what I wanted to do with them yet.
These are adorable!! I love to paint.. thanks for sharing!
These are beautiful! Can’t wait to make them :) Thanks
These are amazing! I can’t wait to try them for Easter! Thank you so much for sharing.
I did the eggs last year based on your tutorial, but I thought I’d show you the slightly different spin I took on these this year:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16682015_10212087671937691_8443399111184734975_n.jpg?oh=7d03b933a3b5530f7017421bb74c201f&oe=593D20FA
(here’s hoping you can see the image, I’m hot sure if it’ll come through).
Basically, my daughter’s in the “Astronauts” class this year. So I just put together a cute present for the teacher, it’s one of those little kiddie goodie buckets with styrofoam in it, and I used the black paint from the eggs to paint the styrofoam, then drizzled gold paint on the foam inside the bucket, then I used green pipecleaners to make “leafy stems” for the galazy eggs, and when I was done I had a bouquet of galaxy eggs in a cute painted bucket as a teacher easter gift!
Looks great! Thanks for sharing :)
I made some galaxy eggs and they turned out amazing. I would love to share a picture with you. Thanks for the idea. My two year old loves all things space!! Can’t wait to use them for Easter.
I’d LOVE to see them! You can email me at allison @ dreamalittlebigger.com (remove the spaces) or share them on the DaLB FB Page (https://www.facebook.com/DreamaLittleBiggerBlog)
Hi Allison, I’m new to egg painting. How do you prep your eggs? Do you boil them? Black eggs at Walmart! Ate they in the craft section? Tips please. Many thanks indeed for your help?
Hello! During Easter you can purchase fake plastic eggs that look very much like boiled eggs. They sell them in white, which you would paint black, or some years they have them already painted black. Since it’s past the Easter season, I’d look for wood eggs at craft stores!
Thanks so much for mentioning buying wood eggs at a craft store.
I’m excited to try your technique.
I have used real white eggs and removed the yolk and egg whites using a suction gizmo used for baby noses. I made several with paper maché
LOVE! These are gorgeous. Wish I had seen them sooner.
Stopping by via Olga’s creative link.
These look wonderful. Galaxies are coming back into fashion :)
We just made some of these today! Turned out pretty cool! Im not sure how to post a pic to share though. Thanks for posting this!
You can post it to our Facebook wall. It would be awesome to see your pic! –> https://www.facebook.com/DreamaLittleBiggerBlog
That looks like so much fun to do with kids
OMG totally gorgeous! They’re mesmerizing! I hope Walmart still carries those eggs because I totally want to do this! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial!
They do! I bought some on Monday!
You haves lovely site. I hope it is ok I share and let my friends see your site!
gayle
Hello, are these eggs are safe to eat or is it just for decoration?
I used fake plastic eggs so they are just for decoration. I wouldn’t recommend doing this with hard boiled eggs and eating them.
Can you do this with real hard boiled eggs?
To be honest I don’t think I would. I don’t think you could get the saturated colors that make the eggs really pop unless you used acrylic paint. While most is considered non-toxic some of that paint is going to leach into the egg and I would NEVER eat the paint so I wouldn’t eat anything painted with it! Sorry!
You could blow out the egg (and scramble!), then wash. Presto – paintable egg that is more fragile than store bought, but glorious when finished!
Absolutely! That’s a fab idea :)
Would the same process work on canvass too?
Yes! It will work on anything from canvas to shoes to a wall :)
I did this with shoes & surprised my daughter when she returned from church camp. All her friends wanted a pair, too.
Love the egg idea.
Hi there! I am wanting to use this as one of my “Five Favorite Easter Things” post on my blog. I was wondering if I could use the picture you have provided, I of course, will caption that it is your photo and I will link to your page. Thank you
Absolutely. A single picture with link back to the original post is always appreciated. Have a good week!
Ya’ll know the difference between a nebula and a galaxy, right?
Beautiful nevertheless.
But if you want to appeal to actual astronomers,
it’s something to consider.
Actually I do not. Perhaps a bit of research is in order. But thanks for the compliment :)
These look so awesome! I was thinking it would be a project with kids and still definitely think they’d love the process but perhaps NOT with my younger ones around lol. I have a 10 yr old boy and some of his friends who I KNOW would love to do these! Great job!
I think that’s the perfect age for this project. Sounds awesome!
Thank you this is awesome. I must do some SOON.
I am so going to try this with my 3 year old baby girl Mya
These are so fantastic! My 10 year old loves anything space or Dr. Who and I think he’ll get a real treat out of making these this year. Thanks for sharing!
Wonder why I can’t get any housework done…
Art before dishes!
Totally rad! Thanks for the tutorial.
These are gorgeous and my son is OBSESSED with space. His middle name is even Orion. I would love to do these! I see you did these last year- did the color last?
Yes! These are acrylic paint and I found them in a box in the garage a while unpacking 2 or 3 weeks ago and they look brand new :)
cool!
You rock! I had to come back to your blog and read more carefully about the Easter galaxy egg magic. You’ve done it so so well. Thank you.
Aw, thanks! Though I wasn’t sure about it way back when, but it has become one of of my favorite projects I’ve done of all time! :)
Wow, what a beautiful idea! I love these.
Perfectly stellar. :)
I had to say it!
Have you thought about selling these on etsy or something similar?
I hadn’t but that could be a lot of fun for next Easter!
wow amazing the simple DIY egg decoration ideas is fantastic I love to do that
does acrylic paint do something harmful to the egg??!
Some say yes and some say no. Since the shell is porous and stuff can get through those pores to the egg I wouldn’t eat them. I really think it makes them no longer safely edible.
Getting a lot of positive reaction to these eggs from my amateur astronomy FB community! You really did a beautiful job with them. Thanks for sharing!
btw — I probably bought the last two pairs of those galaxy leggings from Target in southern California. I’ve had so many comments and queries when I wear them out and about, I could sell them out of my trunk for twice the price I paid! Or more!
Space eggs are the best kind of egg.
These eggs are very creative! Thank you for posting this. I found the link on my Facebook feed :D
These are awesome! I did some last night and posted on IG. (@pointlesscafe) Someone asked me for a tutorial, which I totally suck at, so I googled and found you! I tagged you in my post and told them to check you out.
Now I’m off to see what else is going on with your blog! COOL!
So fun! I’m in love with galaxies, nebulae, and the Universe too– had a blast making a “portrait” of the Large Magellenic Cloud a few years back. http://www.listenforjoy.com/1990/01/02/resilience-project/relationship-of-attraction/ Thanks for sharing your kindred celebration with these eggs! From Stardust we came, to Stardust we will return… Happy Easter.
There are some interesting articles about dark matter and extinction events. Also some on how the interaction of dark matter on human cellular structure at a D.N.A. level can possibly be a cause of cancer.
They think about 73%of the universe is made of Dark energy and 22% Dark matter. 5% of the universe is considered to be visible matter. Of that we can only account for about 1/2. Still leaving a massive 2.5% of the tiny tip of what we think we can see. Hmm….
What is wrong with painted eggs? Hard boiled of course we painted them and hid them when i was young. We ate as well. Your eggs are quite beautiful, much better when done with real eggs of course though.
Sweetheart, your problem with mirrors is not unique.
If I may get real airy fairy, psychic babbling off the cuff shit… I, too, have had a problem with looking in a mirror and realizing it’s not the person I expect to see. Call it a past lifetime glitch that we haven’t moved on from, okay? I believe I died in Auschwitz during WWII. I can’t ‘prove it’ but I’ve known it in my bones from the time I was 11. I found out decades later that my entire family (in Poland) had been killed off in Auschwitz and nobody ever mentioned it while I was growing up! Catholic Poles were exterminated at Auschwitz but we don’t really get much recognition about our relatives’ deaths.
Anyway, maybe your aversion to mirrors has to do with a past life identity crisis? Just a thought…
These are so cool! I must try making them for next year :-D
Wow, a friend shared this on Facebook, and I’m so glad to have checked out your tutorial! This is awesome!
I could see this at a Star Wars Themed Party for young and old alike.
I wonder if you could get the same effect with a little less work using rice?
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Dye-Easter-Eggs-With-Rice/
Anything is possible! If you give it a go, let us know how it works? That rice dyeing looks like fun!
Just wanted to say those are nebulae not galaxies but still very pretty
I thought so too at first, but with the mention of dark matter in the article I realized she was likely inspired by pictures of galaxy clusters. The colors of the eggs would correspond to:
– dark matter (blue)
– hot X-ray emitting gas (purple)
– galaxies in visible light (gold)
– foreground stars in our own galaxy (white)
Another good way to make the white speckles is with an old toothbrush. Spray closer for larger speckles, further away for the smaller ones.
This is awesome! I’m going to try it with glow in the dark paint.
Now the real hunt is to find the T.A.R.D.I.S. located somewhere in the design of the egg galaxy
I love these so, SO much! Gorgeous!
Bah . . . I meant “the Universe has a lot more dark matter than our type of matter”. What was I typing :)
Beautiful! I presume they can’t be eaten?
To the best of my knowledge, while the Universe has a lot more dark matter than we do, it’s not a constituent of our bodies. It’s very spread out across space. It doesn’t condense into solid lumps – you can’t hold it. The reason for this is that anything solid has to cool down – and dark matter doesn’t interact with electromagnetic radiation (light, heat, X rays, all that stuff) so it *can’t* cool down!
But there may be plenty about the place. I suppose we may have some in our bodies, though it won’t do anything. A bit like neutrinos. They are tiny particles that are coming off the Sun and stars all the time. Thousands of them go through our bodies all the time. But they don’t really interact with matter, so we don’t notice.
If I’m wrong, someone please post the link! :D :D
You are so smart! I love it! Though I didn’t understand half of it, it still makes me feel a bit better about this whole issue :) And if you paint real eggs there is no way they should be eaten! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and smartening up the joint a bit!
Mostly right! Dark matter is likely clumpy, although it is not very dense and doesn’t collapse into dark matter “stars”. It interacts gravitationally, which is why it clumps up. It actually does interact with radiation, because gravity interacts with radiation (the basis of GR). Check put gravitation lensing…it’s really cool!!
Dark matter is also thought to be cold. There are two separate theories of dark matter: hot and cold. However, this has less to do with temperature though and more to do with speed. Hot dark matter moves relativistically and cold dark matter moves slowly. We think our universe is composed of cold dark matter, and there is way way wayyyyyyyyyyy more dark matter than particles, regular matter and light. :)
These eggs do Look really Great!
I wouldn’t use real eggs though – I don’t think acryllic paint increases your health. And when you Open them you always get some of the color on the (edible Part of the ) egg.
Though I think Using hollow eggs would be a nice idea, then you Can put a String through and hang them Up as easter (or theme Party) deco.
Happy Easter!
Yes. I do not suggest real eggs and use plastic ones in the tutorial. There is more info about where to get the plastic eggs in the post. Thanks!
This is so neat! I just bought two dozen of these eggs at walmart and haven’t figured out what I wanted to do with them yet .
I’m normally not big on Easter, but these are just too awesome! I think we’ll definitely be making some space eggs!
Coolest egg tut I’ve ever seen!
Saw these on craftgawker.. Very cool!
These are so amazing! Love them! And – I think I remember reading that about the dark matter in our bodies once but had managed to forget it. Now I need to go ponder my existence for a while.
Ha! Thanks so much Alexis :)
i want to make galaxy easter eggs, but i have a questions about this… how i suppose to boil the eggs before or after the input of acrylics !??? help!?
I don’t suggest real eggs, but if that is the route you choose to go you’ll boil them before.
Or you can put needle holes top and bottom and carefully blow out the contents. You wouldn’t boil in this case, obv.