How to Make Ukrainian Hand Painted Eggs
Ukrainian hand-painted eggs are actually dyed eggs, but the intricate designs are first painted on in beeswax. The eggs are called pysanky, or pysanka for the singular. In Ukrainian, pysanka means "an egg that has been written on," according to "Decorating Eggs: Exquisite Designs with Wax & Dye." The process is called wax-resist dying, and it's much like that used for making batik fabric.
Things You'll Need
- Newspapers
- Paper towels
- Powdered pysanky dyes
- Glass jars
- White vinegar
- Finish nails
- Cardboard
- Tissue
- Pencil
- Beeswax
- Knife
- Kistka
- Candle
- Matches
- Tablespoons, one per dye color
- Polyurethane, oil based
- Quilting needle
- Trash can
Instructions
-
-
1
Cover your work surface with several layers of newspapers, and then add a layer of white paper towels over the newspaper. Mix pysanky dyes -- typically yellow, orange, red, green and black -- in wide-mouthed glass jars. Follow the dye manufacturer's instructions; some dyes require vinegar, some don't.
-
2
Push finish nails through a piece of cardboard -- three brads per egg -- with the nails forming the three points of a triangle. Space the nails approximately 1 inch apart. Place the cardboard on your work surface nail side up to use as a drying rack for your eggs.
-
-
3
Rinse a raw, room-temperature egg in a 5:1 solution of water and white vinegar. Pat the egg dry with tissue. Draw your design on the egg with faint pencil lines.
-
4
Cut a sliver of pure beeswax with a knife. Place the wax in a kistka, which is a tiny metal funnel attached to a wooden handle. Light a candle, and hold the kistka over the flame to melt the wax. Melt the wax until it dribbles from the pointed end of the kistka funnel.
-
5
Apply wax to the egg with the pointed end of the kistka funnel. Follow your penciled design, but apply the wax only to the areas of the egg that will remain white.
-
6
Place the egg in the yellow dye, and leave it for the duration suggested by the dye manufacturer. Remove the egg from the dye with a tablespoon. Blot excess dye with tissue. Balance the egg on the three nail points of the drying rack, and let the egg dry.
-
7
Apply a second layer of wax to the areas of the egg that will remain yellow. Leave the first waxed area intact. Place the egg in the orange dye. Remove it with a different tablespoon; use separate spoons for each dye color. Blot the excess dye, and place the egg on the drying rack. Repeat with new waxed areas and progressively darker dye colors -- red, green and black.
-
8
Hold the egg next to the candle's flame to melt the wax from your egg, but don't place it directly in the fire. Wipe the wax away with tissue as it melts.
-
9
Apply oil-based polyurethane to the egg to protect the design, according the manufacturer's instructions. Place the egg on the drying rack, and leave it until the polyurethane dries.
-
10
Pierce both ends of your egg with a long quilting needle. Insert the needle far enough to pierce the egg yolk. Enlarge the hole on one end of the egg. Hold the egg over a trashcan. Blow into the small hole, forcing the egg yolk and white out through the larger one. Wash any egg residue from the shell.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If you opt to blow the egg before you dye it instead of afterward, seal the holes at each end with dabs of wax before dying it.
Pysanky dyes are toxic, so never blow the dyed eggs before sealing them with polyurethane.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit ukrainian eggs 2 image by Andrew Buckin from Fotolia.com
