Speckled Easter Eggs

Decorating Easter eggs was something I always enjoyed as a kid.  I loved dipping the eggs into the dye and watching them change colors.  The funny thing is I never really liked eating the hard boiled eggs.  I preferred the candy in my Easter basket instead!  It's been a long time since I've decorated Easter eggs and I felt like a kid again while I was making these.  I pinned this idea for speckled Easter eggs and thought it would be perfect for this month's Make It Challenge.  (Each month I participate with a group of bloggers to make something with a theme and this month's theme is Easter.)  If you'd like to make these eggs for Easter here's what you'll need:

Materials:

hard boiled eggs

water

vinegar

food coloring

brown non-toxic acrylic paint

stiff bristle paint brush or toothbrush

To make the dye
To make these speckled eggs, start by making some old fashioned egg dye.  For each color, mix one cup of hot water, one tablespoon of white vinegar, and twenty drops of food coloring in glass or stain proof containers.  Use a spoon to dip each hard boiled egg into the dye.  The longer the egg stays in the dye, the darker the color will be.  I wanted my eggs to be light, so they didn't stay in the dye long - not quite a full minute.  (You can always use fewer drops of food coloring for to get lighter colors, too.)  Remove the eggs from the dye and set them out to dry. 

To make the splatter
The paint needs to be a thinned to make a good splatter pattern so mix some water with a little bit of brown non-toxic acrylic paint.  The instructions I used said to use an old toothbrush, but the bristles weren't stiff enough.  After getting globs instead of splatters, I found that a very stiff bristled brush works best. I suppose you could use a new toothbrush, but I used a stiff stencil brush.  Dip the brush into the thinned paint and with your thumb, scrape the brush to spray or splatter the paint.  I found it took a little bit of practice to get nice splatters instead of messy globs, so practice on a piece of paper first.  If you make a mistake on the eggs, don't worry.  The wet paint wipes right off and you can try again.

Sorry I don't have pictures of this splatter step.  I seriously had brown paint all over my hands and didn't want to get it on the camera! 

As you can see from the picture above, I started out by dying the eggs in different colors, but decided to do just blue since it's my favorite color.

Don't they look like robin's eggs?  

The only way they could be any better is if they were chocolate inside!

Inspired by this pin for speckled Easter eggs.

You've seen my #MakeIt project, now please visit some of the other wonderful blogger in this challenge and check out their beautiful Easter projects! 

 1. Easter Mantle w DIY Burlap Banner | 2. Easter Basket for Kids | 3. Speckled Easter Eggs | 4. He is Risen Printable | 5. Moss Covered Easter Basket | 6. Easter Kids Table Ideas | 7. Easter Egg Hunt Sign | 

8. Fabulous Carrot Cake | 9. Easter Egg Hunt Pom Pom Skirt | 10. Easter Napkins