by Mitzi Saltsman

Created on: April 11, 2009   Last Updated: April 12, 2009

Pysanky style Ukrainian Easter Eggs are not just for Easter.

Children are willing to try anything. When I first took a class in the Pysanky style painting eggs, my young children were enthralled. They started painting with with in about 2nd grade. Not only did they get to have a good time painting the eggs, they were introduced to an actual art form. It was much more advanced than coloring with crayons, but if they could do the one, they could do the other. These beautiful eggs are a colorful art form that add to any display, any time of the year. We see them most during the Spring/Easter season and also during the Christmas. It's a rather complicated process, but with a little ... OK, probably a lot of practice, you can make these unusual, beautiful eggs for your home. It does take practice and patience, but at least it's not terribly expensive.

To start off, you need to have the right tools. It might be possible during the Easter season to find a Pysanky kit in a large hobby store. You are not going to walk into your local Wal-Mart and pick one up. If someone is offering a class on this art form, they will have kits for you. Otherwise, search online and there are several places were you can order one.

Now that you have your basic kit, it will provide you with ...

egg dye (like you normally would use on eggs the more vibrant the colors the better)

bees wax

a candle

an egg dipper

the Pysanky tool called a kistka or kistky the size of a paint brush, this metal tool has a tiny funnel at the end for melting the bees wax. They come in small or fine, medium and large sizes. Some kits include all three.

Make or find a pattern. To begin with, keep it simple. When you see pictures of the beautiful Pysanky eggs they are quite elaborate. Take some time to work up to that.

Get a clean, dry, fresh egg and pencil your pattern on to it. The insides of the egg will dry out and because of the varnish that you put on at the end, they won't smell like rotten eggs. PLEASE don't forget that step at the end. We planned to varnish the eggs "later" one year and forgot them until the smell alerted us to the basket on the back of our piano. By the time we smelled it and figure out where the horrible smell was coming from ... it had eaten through the basket and the top of the piano finish! (I'll remind you again, when we get to that part!)

Mix your dyes according to the package directions and keep them in small cups or jars that are just larger enough for an egg to be completely covered with dye.

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