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Growing up, an annual family tradition was always the fun and messy task of dying Easter eggs in the spring. My mom used to buy us the wackiest kits with glitter and gold to deck our afternoon snacks. I’m keeping that tradition lived with my patterned Easter egg DIY.

I was inspired to create this project because I wanted a way to marry my family tradition with my ever-growing love for prints and patterns. It is a fun and messy project but a heck of a lot of fun when you see the end result. 

Give this patterned Easter egg DIY a try and let me know how it turns out in the comments below!

Gather Your Supplies

What You’ll Need

• 4” x 6” Rubber Carving Block [ I used: Speedball Speedy-Carve Carving Block]
• Linoleum Cutter with assorted tips [I used: Speedball Linoleum Cuttter Assortment 1]
• Food Coloring
• Marking Pen
• Paper Towels

Okay, let’s get some of the basics out of the way. I debated writing out all of the instructions for hard-boiling and dying eggs. Then I thought…wait…someone has done this before. Of course, Martha has done it. Why would I want to take away her spotlight? Below are a few of my suggested readings for boiling and mixing dye for your eggs.

Getting Started

Boil Your Eggs

I have always had good luck with this method from Martha Stewart.

Mix Your Dye

A little more Martha magic here (I promise, we aren’t affiliated!).  View her recipe here.

Dye Your Eggs

Martha has her recommendations on how long to leave your eggs in the dye to achieve your desired color. For the hues in my photos, I let the eggs sit in dye for 10 mins.

Now for the super fun stuff! I’m going to walk you through the steps I took to create my Easter egg stamps. Truthfully, I made this whole thing up so feel free to make it your own and offer any suggestions in the comments throughout your cre-egg-tive journey (anyone else love a silly pun?).  

Creating Your Stamps

Brainstorm

Start by brainstorming some fun prints you want to put on your egg. I, of course, went with a Southwestern theme that includes Saguaros and Ikat (surprised? Probably not haha).  Go with whatever your Easter self is telling you.

TIP: Search on the Noun Project for icons that might help inspire your stamps.

Draw

Using your marking pen, draw out the design of your stamps. Remember to go small so they will fit on your eggs. Mine ended up being a little under a half inch at their longest point. Leave enough space between your drawings to cut each stamp out.

TIP: Add in some small detail lines – these will come through and add some extra detail to your prints..

Carve

Use the thinnest carving head on your linoleum cutter and begin to carve your drawings. I chose to start on the outside of my drawings and work my way towards the edge of the carving block. Don’t forget to carve in your detail lines as well like the lines of my Saguaro cacti.

TIP: Make your carving deepest on the outer portion of your stamp and shallower for your detail lines.

Cut + Touch Up

Once you have completed carving your stamps, cut each one out using a pair of sharp scissors. Make the stamps big enough so you can hold onto them when stamping.

TIP: If there is excess rubber on the outside of your stamp, go ahead and carve it off so it doesn’t transfer to your egg.

Prep Your “Ink Pad”

Fold a paper towel and put it on a plate. Squeeze around 5 drops of food coloring onto the paper towel. This is your handy dandy egg stamp ink pad!

Stamp + Press

Grab your chosen egg and stamp. Press the stamp into your ink pad and push it onto the egg. I wiggled mine around a little for good coverage.

TIP: Press the stamp lightly on the egg. I definitely crushed a few in the making…

Enjoy!

What Do You Think?