Hi friends! This is the busiest time of year for my family — think birthdays, dance competitions and other extracurricular activities all piled on top of one another. Oh yeah, and there’s that kitchen project on top of everything else! This year is especially hectic, so I’ve been trying to decorate for spring and Easter while keeping everything super simple. I’m making changes to the fireplace and mantel so that I don’t have to fuss much with every holiday and season.
I found an awesome painting to go over the mantel, and can’t wait to show it off. But first, I thought I’d show you a little spring project that the kids and I worked on, which is part of the simple decor that I mentioned earlier. I wanted to add some speckled blue eggs to the mantel, but I didn’t want to spend much money, so I just made some of my own! They turned out pretty good, and these painted plastic Easter eggs are exactly what I was looking for.
We have a ton of plastic Easter eggs left over from last year, and some are probably from at least two years ago. The kids love having egg hunts, so I like to have extra eggs on hand that they can use for this, without having to dump out the goodies they received in the morning. Since we already had the eggs, I just had to see if my idea for DIY robin’s eggs would work.
Have you ever attempted a project that you didn’t think would work but you had to try anyway? I did that at first when I tried painting the eggs with regular acrylic craft paint. I should have known better, and the paint came right off. So, I went out and bought some Americana Chalky Paint, and it worked like a charm. Plus, I had a coupon, so it didn’t cost much at all — cheap cheap!
Because I had to paint 18 eggs to fill up the glass vases I wanted to use, I enlisted some help from my trusty crafting assistants. We painted half of the eggs with Serene and the other half with Refreshing — gorgeous springy colors!
You can see the line in this picture, but the eggs closed better after the paint was completely dry. And since they’re going in vases on the mantel, you won’t be able to see any lines unless you go searching for them.
After the second coat of paint was dry, we used a small brush dipped in brown paint, to add speckles around the eggs. I had a yellow egg left over from the Easter egg wreath I made, and we used that as a guide.
I used an empty egg carton to hold the eggs as we were painting them. We put the freshly painted sides of the eggs facing up so that they could dry without getting smudged. Then we just kept flipping them over until both sides were covered.
When all the eggs were dry, I piled them into two glass vases that I usually use on the mantel, and then I added some twine around the middle. I change the vase filler with the seasons, and the twine fits with just about everything.
Wasn’t that simple? And like I said, you can’t even see any lines in the eggs now, so I love how this frugal little craft turned out.
Have you ever tried painting plastic Easter eggs? I know this isn’t a unique idea, so I can’t be the only one. I guess it’s just new to me!
Thanks so much for visiting.
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Ellie says
I just finished 5 eggs. I’m very pleased with my rudimentary try. I live in the keys. We have to improvise with crafts (no craft stores) I had a can of white chalk paint. Painted the plastic with this. Then the acrylic adheres. Thank you for this idea!
Dee says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the craft! Thanks for letting me know!
[email protected] and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas says
Totally LOVE this idea!! Now I know what to do with the 3 packs of plastic eggs that I bought on CLearance a few years ago!!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to drop by!!
Hugs,
Deb
Julia Nyanyo says
Wow, they look so good! You'd NEVER know they were plastic – how fabulous!
Dee M says
That would be great — and you can't tell they're plastic! 🙂
Dee M says
My kids helped with this, and they had a lot of fun. Thanks SO much for stopping by! 🙂
Theboxqueen says
Love these pretty eggs, and I think it would be a fun project to do together with my kids. The color is gorgeous. Saying hi from Sits Sharefest. XOXO, Elif
Jerri Birdwell says
Your eggs turned out great! I'd love for you to come and share your post at my linky party.
Mariet at Practicingnormal says
I love this idea and the eggs look very pretty. This looks easy enough that I can try it with my girls. No one would know that they are plastic. I'm thinking of using them as a centre piece on the table. #SITSblogging
Dee M says
Thank you so much! You'll have a lot of fun with this and save some cash. 🙂
Dee M says
Thanks so much for the sweet comments! I think the toothbrush method may be even better! 🙂
Dee M says
Thanks, Kim. I bought some speckled eggs for a wreath I made, and now that I know how to make them, I may add on to the wreath — the more, the merrier! 🙂
Anonymous says
Ok Can I just say: LOVE THIS! Been wanting something like this forever. Every time I look for these eggs they are uber expensive in wreaths or alone to buy. I have a ton of those plastic colored eggs lying around in boxes from when my kids were little. Never thought to paint them or if I did thought the paint would come right off! Thanks for experimenting for us first and then getting it right! I think you could probably do the speckles with the toothbrush flicking method also?
KayC. says
Even though I am the Grandma, I always end up with all the plastic eggs. Which isn't that bad because that means the Grandbabies have to come back to our farm for Easter and I get to take some of those eggs and make them look cute! So now I now what to do this year because of your post, Thank you so much for the inspiration. Have a great weekend (I'm going to be painting plastic eggs!)
kim says
These are great! I just bought some at Target that look just like these maybe I can take them, because we have tons of plastic eggs . Have a great weekend. Stopping by from Link Party Palooza.
Dee M says
I hope you have as much fun with this as we did. 🙂
Dee M says
Thanks for the invite, Karen. I'll stop by next week. 🙂
Dee M says
Thank you so much, Cathy. I've been using so many of these eggs that now I have to buy more. 🙂
Dee M says
Thanks! My kids had a blast with these. 🙂
[email protected] says
Stopping by from Michael, I have tons of plastic eggs and didn't think of painting them, so this drew me right on over. They are really adorable and one would never know they are plastic!
Karen @ karensuponthehill says
Love these! They are so expensive to buy them already like this, so what a great idea!
I would love for you to stop by my blog and join our Something to Talk About link party each week!
Have a great day!
Karen
Anonymous says
Thank you for this wonderful idea.
Anonymous says
Thanks for the wonderful tip to use chalky paint. I would have never considered using that type of paint, makes sense to me. I can't wait to create my own lovely Easter eggs 🙂
Melissa Leach in North Carolina