Emptying your egg of the insides is scary at first, but after a few times, you will get the hang of it. Honestly, I have lost very few eggs this way. The eggshell is sturdier than you would think. Prep: Kitchen sink, rotary drill with a pointy bit, Blas-fix egg blower, egg drying rack (or…
Initial (light) Varnish Coat Here is where my method differs from common methods. I give the egg a coat of varnish before I empty it. The reason for this is because I clean out the inside of the egg very thoroughly with water and bleach. If I were to do that with an unprotected egg,…
So. Your egg design is finished. You have done the final dye bath, and you now have a full egg with a lot of clumpy wax on it. There are a couple of methods of wax removal, I prefer to use the chemical naphtha removal because it is quicker and it removes the wax completely…
OK, now that you’ve successfully accomplished getting your lines straight you’ll be glad to know that sketching in the design is much easier and creatively fun. Draw in your pattern according to my instruction sheets, your egg pictures, your own drawings, or just go freestyle and draw what comes out of your head. Since the…
I like to think of mapping the egg as the framework on which the design is placed. The more balanced the framework is, the nicer the result will be. You want to get your sections evenly spaced so the design doesn’t look skewed or off-balance. This is why I use a small section of cloth…
I find the best jars to use are the wide-mouth pint canning jars. They hold the correct amount of dye, the top is wide enough to allow a spoon to bring the egg out, and they are heat tempered so you can put hot liquid in them. I find the easiest way to mix dyes…
Having a dedicated place for working on your eggs is not essential, but it does make it easier if you are a double-tasker like me. I am usually doing laundry or housework, or making dinner at the same time I am ‘doing eggs’. This works out well for me, as I like to be able…
Eggs from the grocery store are perfectly fine to use, but they have likely been sprayed with a disinfecting cleaner. Fresh eggs are optimum, but they usually have dirt, poo, or handling smudges. Any surface residue will interfere with the dye, so we want to remove this before working on the egg. We are…
Choosing a good egg is essential to the outcome of your egg art. The best eggs are – of course – free-range, or eggs from a local chicken coop. But free-range eggs are not always available, especially if you live in the city. Grocery store eggs are fine, you just have to choose carefully. Read…
I’ve been searching through my images, looking for some eggs that match jewelry so I can show you how the transition happens. Surprisingly, I have very few that apply! Many of the Ukrainian designs are found in picture books of eggs, and my egg posters. But I did find a few examples. When designing pysanky…