Last year I took my first ever class in pysanky egg dyeing. I had a great time and learned some interesting things about the history and meaning of these eggs in the process.
(The egg I made last year is the back one with the red star.)
I was thrilled this class was being offered again (and this time my mom came with me)!
Working on a different design from last year I started drawing on the white egg first with pencil then with the wax "pen" called a kistka.
Then I dipped in yellow. The lines I waxed will resist the dye and stay white.
I added more wax to the areas I wanted to remain yellow and dipped in orange.
Now red
And for my final color I picked to dip my egg in blue
(I rinsed the egg between the red dye and dipping it into the blue to get a brighter blue color.)
Now for the best part- melting off all the layers of wax to reveal each color.
It's so rewarding because when the egg comes out of that final dye color is looks like a total mess. It's hard to believe that under the hours of wax and dye are these beautiful colors and delicate patterns... but there they are just waiting to be revealed!
Mom did really well with her first egg! Here she is waxing,
and melting the wax off with her candle
And mom's final egg
She liked so much that she'll be doing the class again with me next year, along with my sister and mother-in-law.