Dying easter eggs

[tprins]

We are trying to make a set of wooden easter eggs, but are having problems applying the dye. We are using transtint dye and shellac. We tested the dye with shellac and got great results on flat boards, but as soon as we move to the rounded eggs, we ran into issues.

We first tried mixing the dye with alcohol and applying it directly to the bare eggs. This seemed to work alright, but we ended up with a light stripe in the middle of the egg where it was face grain (it is mch more pronounced in person. Apparently my photography skills are as good as my finishing skills).

So to try to seal off the end grain and get rid of the stripe we tried sealing the eggs with a light coat of shellac (we are using SealCoat). Then we mixed some dye with shellac and applied it on top. Unfortunately we are getting tons of runs and ridges:

We have tried applying the shellac/dye mixture with a brush, with a foam brush and with a little sprayer from rockler. However, we still are getting the runs.

Everything we have tried works great on flat boards, but I am unsure how to make dying these eggs work. Thanks for any suggestions you may have!