Making Pysanky (Ukrainian Eggs)

While my dad and Tim were building bunk beds, my mom and I (mostly my mom) taught the kids how to make pysanky or Ukrainian Eggs.

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Caleb learns how to blow the insides out of the eggs.  More than a few were broken in this process.
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Kylee draws on her egg with wax using a kitska.
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First layer of dye- starting with light colors
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Yup, my kids sit on the windowsill.  All.  The.  Time.
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After two layers of writing and dye.
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After 3-4 layers of wax and dye.
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Final dye is usually black.
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Experienced hands melt all the wax off, revealing the colors underneath.  Note, these are not my hands, my mom actually never let me do this step until this year and I am 31!  And she would only let me do my own egg....

This was a huge tradition in my family growing up and my mom left all the stuff with us so maybe next year we will even do it in a more timely fashion!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw a special on TV around Easter about how long it takes to make really intricate eggs like this. Wow! What a cool project!

Heather said...

Reminds me of one of my favorite children's authors, Patricia Polacco and her book, Rechenka's Eggs. You'll have to look for it at your library if you've never read it! Also another one of hers that is a favorite is Thundercake.

Angie said...

Very neat. I've always wanted to try this! Can you come to WI and give lessons? ;-)

elsies7gifts said...

that would be really fun to make - but looks like it takes some time, and some mess.
Do you ahve photos of the finished products?