I'm considering doing this again...

[dazie]

http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky/

(can you believe there's no wikipedia page on it? huh)

Anyway- I used to make these eggs when I was a teenager, I learned the craft in Girl Scouts.  I think Kate's old enough to try it out, but I don't have any of my stuff any more.

The biggest pain in the butt is getting enough wide mouthed glass jars to hold the dye.  It was much easier when peanut butter always came in glass jars.  *lol*

[BigDun]

Isn't it a little early to be planning your Easter activities? Although I guess having an Easter egg hunt in the snow would add an extra layer of challenge.

[dazie]

Well, I figure I'll need the practice.

[Gamplayerx]

There is, but they're spelling it differently than you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka

They're really gorgeous.  Good luck!

[dazie]

Well, it's set.

Starting later this month, I'll be facilitating an 8 week "course" on Ukranian Easter Eggs at my church.  *lol*

On Wednesdays, we have a $5 per person dinner, then various member-taught classes, including some basic computer skills, organizing your home, there's a book club etc.  I signed up for some space to teach the basics on how to make these eggs.

Should be fun.

[grace]

how long does it take to make one egg? sounds like fun.

[dazie]

That depends upon the complexity of the design.  Each layer of dye takes between 15 and 30 minutes, plus all the time drawing the design on.

I made eggs that took just a couple hours, there were some I did that took weeks, simply because I couldn't do them all in one sitting.

[dazie]

Wow!

[Jessie]

Oh that's nice!

[dazie]

I know what I'm going to try!

[grace]

Wow!

that is one pretty egg !!

[Dry then Catch]

Wow!

its eventually going to go rotten right?  but i suppose the ephemeral nature of easter egg are only adds to teh beauty

[dazie]

It'll get nasty if it breaks, but if you don't break it or crack it, it won't smell bad.

[Gamplayerx]

Why don't you blow the egg out?

[dazie]

Well, traditionally raw "full" eggs were used to represent fertility.  If you emptied them, there would be no babies. 

If you blow them out before you dye them, there's a chance of cross contamination between the dye colors as you dip the eggs.  If you blow them out after, sometimes the egg guts get on the outside and cause discoloration.  I guess if you're careful it would work.

I got done with my first egg tonight, got 99.9% of the wax off then dropped it.  *lol*  oops.

[Jessie]

haha that would piss me off.

[dazie]

It was ok.  I wasn't all that excited at how it was turning out, and it was a good way to show Kate that the world wouldn't end if an egg broke.

So I just started in on another one.  It goes faster if you're not following a pattern.  *lol*

Behold- the first completed egg.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Dry then Catch]

It was ok.  I wasn't all that excited at how it was turning out, and it was a good way to show Kate that the world wouldn't end if an egg broke.

So I just started in on another one.  It goes faster if you're not following a pattern.  *lol*

Behold- the first completed egg.

that's really sweet looking

[dazie]

  Thanks.

[grace]

  Thanks.

i love red and the swirlies are cool. a gothic egg in purple & black would be neat.

[Beefy]

a gothic egg in purple & black would be neat.

When you were ready to eat it, it would cut itself!

[grace]

a gothic egg in purple & black would be neat.

When you were ready to eat it, it would cut itself!

lol, a blood dripping fang egg...

[dazie]

I wish I had grey dye- I'd make a Twilight egg for Kate!

But the vampire fang one is a great idea!  As is the goth.  hmm... 

[grace]

I wish I had grey dye- I'd make a Twilight egg for Kate!

But the vampire fang one is a great idea!  As is the goth.  hmm... 

can't you mix something and make grayish. there once was a thread about mixing colors..

[dazie]

I don't know how these particular dyes mingle...  I'd just really need a light dip in the black dye, but it doesn't work that way- black is the strongest color.