How to Make a Pysanky

Decorate eggs to make them into pysanky.

Pysanky come from the long Ukrainian tradition of inscribing designs on eggs. These decorated eggs celebrated fertility and renewal during the spring equinox. With the advent of Christianity, they gained the additional symbolism of Christ’s resurrection. Ukrainian women carefully created a pysanka for each family member during the Easter season, drawing meaningful symbols in wax. You can begin or continue this tradition in your own family with a few simple tools and some patience.

Things You'll Need

• Eggs
• Saucepan
• Towel
• Vinegar
• Paper towels
• Egg dyes
• Ceramic cups
• Candle warmer
• Beeswax
• Finishing nail
• Candle

Instructions

1. Fill your saucepan with water. Slip your eggs into the water, making sure they lay on the bottom of your pan. Bring the water to a boil and boil your eggs for about 30 minutes. This renders the inside of the egg inedible and allows it to dry out, making your pysanky permanent.

2. Remove your eggs from the water and let them cool on a clean towel. Dip a paper towel in vinegar and dab each egg with it; do not rub. Pat the eggs dry. The vinegar helps the dye take to the shells.

3. Mix each of your dyes according to package directions. You may substitute warm water with white vinegar if you like. Choose dyes that mix well to make other pleasing colors. For instance, blue and pink would make magenta while yellow and dark green make spring green.

4. Sketch an initial design onto your egg with a pencil. Keep it simple, drawing horizontal stripes, dots and curled waves. Place a few pieces of beeswax into a candle warmer and warm until liquid.

5. Dip the tip of your finishing nail into the molten wax and let it drip on a pencil mark, drawing the drip into a line with the tip of your nail. Be gentle and work slowly, covering all of your pencil marks in wax.

6. Dip your egg into your lightest color, like yellow or orange, first. Let the egg soak for about a minute, lift it from the dye and let it dry. Light a candle and hold the egg to the side of the flame (never over top). Wipe away the wax when it gets shiny and wet.

7. Draw more wax designs onto your egg, remembering to draw where you don’t want wax to stick. Dye your egg with the next color, wiping away the wax and drawing more on. Continue until you achieve the design you want.

References

• Learn Pysanky: The Basic Steps
• DP Camps: Pysanky
• Princeton Online: Art Lesson Plan: Pysanky