Ukranian Eggs

We spent hours working on these Ukranian Easter eggs and Lolo is going to show you how we did it...

First, you blow out the yoke. Then draw traditional designs the egg, use a dull pencil with a clean eraser. Don't press to hard because the empty shell breaks easily.

The symetric designs mean different things:

• Stars are symbols of Christ
• Fish are also a sign for Christ and Christians
• Sun symolizes life, warmth, love of God and the eternal existance of God
• Triangles represent the Holy Trinity, a triangle with a dot in the middle denotes the eye of God
• Netting represents Jesus fishing for men and separating good for evil
• Crosses of course symbolizes the Christian faith and Christ's suffering
• Lines encirling the egg represents eternal life
• Ladders sugest prayer and rising to heaven
• Pine needles represent eternal life
• Diamonds indicate knowledge
• Flowers denote wisdom elegance and beauty
• Leaves represent growth
• Deer and horses denote wealth and prosperity
• Wheat portrays a good harvest
• Birds exemplify fertility and fulfillment of wishes

Colors also have meanings:

• White-purity, light, rejoicing, virginity
• Yellow-sun, harvest, warmth, perpetuation of the family
• Gold-spirituality, wisdom
• Orange- endurance, everlasting sun, ambition
• Red-happiness, hope, passion, blood, fire, ministry of the Church
• Red and White- respect, protection for evil powers
• Blue-sky, good health, truth, fidelity
• Green-spring, breaking bondage, hope, freshness, wealth
• Pink-success, contentment
• Purple-royalty, faith, trust, patience, fasting
• Brown-earth, harvest, generosity
• Black-center of the earth, eternity, darkest time before dawn, absolute
• Black and White-mourning, respect to spirits
  

Next, heat the kistka (tool with funnel at the end for the beeswax) then fill the funnel with beeswax and hold it in the flame until wax melts.
Now, follow your pencil lines with the kistka, draw relatively fast so you get smooth lines. Only fill in the spaces that you want to be white.
Now dip the egg in yellow dye, all of the wax marks that you put on will stay white. Heat the wax in your kistka again and fill in the spaces that you want to be yellow then dip the egg in orange. Repeat by adding wax and dipping the egg in the next darkest dyes. That would be red then blue or green. Last would be purple then black. (Any colors that you don't want may be skipped)

Lastly, hold the egg up to the side of a candle flame for a few seconds, when the wax begins to shine gently rub it off with a paper towel. Do small portions at a time until all the wax is melted off. Then the egg is done and you can see the design clearly, its like magic!