How To: Dying an Easter Egg

As these late winter months come to an end, hopefully the early spring weather will provide a refreshing shift to brighten the dreary and grey atmosphere. To embrace the upcoming spring season, especially with Easter approaching, setting time aside to dye Easter eggs might make this spring season even more delightful. While dying chicken eggs is a common Easter tradition, I’ve decided to research different egg dying techniques and ultimately landed on using wax to dye these chicken eggs. 

For context, using wax to dye eggs has been a long-practiced tradition—commonly found in Eastern Europe. Countries like Ukraine call this process of decorating eggs pysanky and, based on the designs and beliefs about them, this style is thought to pre-date Christian times. In prehistoric Trypillian culture, people living in the region of Ukraine worshipped the sun and believed that it was the source of all life. Eggs would be decorated for these sun ceremonies as the sun warmed the earth and brought life to nature during the spring, similar to how eggs were a source of life during the springtime as well.

Of course, pysanky is an intricate and venerable tradition that requires practice and specific tools (that I don’t own). So my goal isn’t to perfectly replicate these complex designs on the first try, but rather, gain a greater appreciation for the tradition and the work that goes into this process.

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First, start by gathering the materials needed to dye the eggs: white eggs, bee’s wax, toothpick, thin paintbrush, vinegar, and two food safe dyes (I used blue butterfly pea flower powder and turmeric powder).