UKRAINIAN EASTER EGGS

 HAPPY EASTER!

Every year at this time I get out my Ukrainian Easter Egg tools to make new eggs to add to my collection. Using a kistka (a tool with a hollow pointed tip) to apply the melted wax, I draw my designs before dipping the egg in dye. With each succeeding color I add more designs. At the end, I melt the wax on the egg and rub it off, revealing the completed pattern. 

My eggs are an amateur version of the beautiful eggs made by professional Ukrainian egg artists. For more about Ukrainian eggs (pysanky) and how to make them, click HERE.

Note: The Ukrainian Orthodox church will celebrate Easter on May 2, 2021. It is on the Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the spring equinox. Orthodox Easter will usually fall later in the year than Western Christian Easter because Orthodox Easter uses the Julian calendar and the latter uses the Gregorian calendar.

Egg-Citing Activities for Kids, Part 2: Ukrainian Eggs for Easter

You don't have to be Ukrainian to make Ukrainian eggs, called pysanky. Every year since I was growing up, I have made Ukrainian eggs at Easter, getting my first lessons at a Ukrainian gift shop in Northeast Minneapolis. Until a year ago I always used the traditional wooden stylus to make my eggs, heating the metal funnel tip in a candle flame, then inserting it into a lump of beeswax to capture the wax and melt it before drawing on the surface of the egg. Last year I was given an electric tool, which greatly simplifies the process of melting the wax. When my family was visiting, my daughter and grandchildren had a chance to try my new tool. Here are the eggs they made! (Click HERE to see my post from April 2014 to see some of my other eggs from previous years.)

Happy Easter!