masking fluid easter eggs

Easter is right around the corner and for the last six years, I've got a tradition of coming up with a couple of egg decorating tutorials for my readers! Every year I challenge myself to get creative with all kinds of supplies. 

Right now I am loving masking fluid because you can use it in a variety of ways on a variety of surfaces. I thought it would be fun to play around with masking fluid on eggs and wouldn't you know it...it worked GREAT!

SUPPLIES

Masking Fluid:

Masking fluid is a latex liquid used to block out areas of a watercolor painting. Once it dries you can paint over it and retain the white paper anywhere you've applied the masking fluid. When you are finished painting you simply rub it away and you are left with white space anywhere the masking fluid was applied.

Watercolor paint or ink or dye

Variety of brushes

Using a small brush and masking fluid, I painted tiny designs on the surface of my eggs.

Once the masking fluid was dry, I painted over the top of the egg and the designs.

I let the watercolor paint dry.

Next I peeled away the masking fluid. 

Once all of the masking fluid was peeled away, you are left with the white design.

I also used waterproof ink for this process and it worked really well! The color was much richer and darker than the watercolors.

I love the color and pattern in these eggs and the process was SO easy!

Looking for more egg decorating inspiration?

bird nest eggs   watercolor easter eggs   everyday decorating easter eggs   butterfly eggs

wood burned eggs

mermaid eggs   geometric eggs   doodle eggs   whimsical eggs

scrappy eggs   altered plastic eggs   speckled eggs   canvas eggs

easter egg roundup

bird nest eggs   watercolor easter eggs   everyday decorating easter eggs   butterfly eggs

wood burned eggs

mermaid eggs   geometric eggs   doodle eggs   whimsical eggs

scrappy eggs   altered plastic eggs   speckled eggs   canvas eggs

wood burned eggs

I love decorating eggs and I love wood burning so I finally got around to making a little batch of wood burned eggs. I love the idea of decorated eggs as a creative gift for Easter gatherings. And while these eggs were time consuming- they are so pretty!

Supplies:

Wooden Eggs- You can find these at most craft stores.

Wood Burning Tool- I always use a Wood Hollow Creative Woodburner Pen. I have been using this tool for years now and I love it. While there are more expensive brands and tools out there, the Creative Woodburner is a really good quality all purpose burner that comes with 4 tips. You simple plug it in, let it heat up and start burning!

Watercolor Paint- While you can leave the wood natural, I like to add a little bit of color with watercolors. When applied to wood they create a really pretty stain that works well with the dark burned lines.

Burn your favorite designs into the surface! While I tend to work off the top of my head- you can also spend time drawing out your design in pencil and then burning over the top.

Wood burning projects make wonderful handmade gifts! Check out all of my wood burning projects below.

1. wood burned blocks 2. wood burned bangles 3. wood burned buttons 4. wood burned earrings 5. wood burned spoons 6. wood rings 7. popsicle stick bracelets 8. wood burned frame 9. wood burned boxes

mermaid easter eggs

The best thing that happened to my creative process has been becoming a mom! Lucy and her interests and ideas have become a big part of my inspiration. For the past 5 years, I have a little tradition of decorating Easter eggs in creative and unique ways and this year when I sat down to brainstorm ideas, I found myself totally inspired by Lucy and her current obsession with mermaids. I couldn't resist transforming eggs into mermaids!

A project like this calls for a little practice and planning so I started out drawing some simple whimsical faces. A face is actually much easier than most people thing, especially a simple one. Here are a few tips:

There are all kinds of ways to draw a face and the best part about drawing in a whimsical style is that pretty much anything goes! You can keep it VERY simple with just dots and lines for eyes, nose and mouth OR you can get more detailed and stylized with the features.

Drawing a face is really like a formula and once you get that formula down you can mix it up and get really creative. Start by dividing the face with a line down the middle, a line at the top for eyes, a line for the bottom of the nose and a line for the mouth. 

Play with different shapes and sizes of eyes, nose and mouth.

Use unexpected color in different places to add extra whimsy.

Once I warmed up with drawing faces, I jumped into painting my eggs. 

FYI- I like using real eggs that I blow out (I remove the yolk by poking a hole in each end and then blow the yolk out). 

First I painted a quick layer of solid color- I used different shades of pink.

Next, I lightly drew the mermaid's features then I filled them in with paint.

After the paint was dry, I used a permanent pen to outline everything.

Last, I used scraps of paper to make a crown and mermaid tail that I glued to the eggs.

The result are whimsical mermaids perfect for any Easter celebration that involves a mermaid obsessed three- year old!

Looking for more egg decorating inspiration? 

Have a look at all the tutorials I've shared over the years!

1. watercolor eggs 2. everyday decorated eggs 3. doodle eggs 4. colorful canvas eggs 5. scrappy little eggs 6.eggs and nest 7. altered plastic eggs 8. whimsical eggs 9. speckled eggs 10. geometric eggs 11. butterfly eggs

whimsical easter eggs

A dozen eggs, acrylic paint, permanent pens and your IMAGINATION is all it takes to create colorful, creative and whimsical Easter Eggs!

I like to empty my eggs by poking a hole in the top and bottom with a needle and blowing the contents out.