Blog Archives: April, 2007
Ukrainian Easter Eggs
Wax-covered Ukrainian Easter egg This afternoon I got out my babushka and decorated some Ukrainian Easter eggs with a few friends. I made Ukrainian Easter eggs (“pysanky”) many many years ago but didn’t remember how to do it. However, the Internet has the answers, notably at the excellent learnpysanky.com, which has step-by-step instructions, patterns, and links to suppliers.
Melting wax off an Easter egg The process is long but relatively simple. You apply beeswax using a special stylus (“kistka”) to the areas you want to stay the current colour, then dip it in the next (darker) colour, working your way from white up to black. By the end, you have a black egg with lots of wax all over it (the first picture in this article). Then you hold the egg close to a flame and dab the melting wax off it (picture at right).
Ukrainian Easter egg, final product You end up with a hopefully-beautifully-decorated egg as seen at left. My lines are not perfectly straight nor as intricate as 75-year old arthritis-ridden Eastern European grandmothers, but it’s a start. Now that I’ve got the supplies I can try again next year.
