Happy Easter!

When I was a little girl, my family and I would gather around our kitchen table to dye Easter eggs. My grandparents, who had immigrated to the US from Czechoslovakia, had brought this folk art technique with them. The art is known as pysanky. While many people used a special stylus to get beautifully crafted eggs, my grandparents and parents used a makeshift version - we put a straight pin into a pencil eraser and dipped the head of the pin into the wax. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing we just didn't have the money to buy the 'real' tools. Oh, one year my dad also made us styluses from copper that he fashioned into a funnel shaped cup which was then attached to a stick.

I was never very good at doing these eggs - I think I was too impatient. My mom, however, was the queen of pysanky in our house. :)



If you'd like to read more and see some really great how-to photos this website is GREAT!
Here is a picture of an egg I did using the real tools a few years ago. I am quite happy with it even though it's a bit 'rough'.