EASTER EGGS

There are many wonderful traditions for making Easter eggs. Two in particular I love. 1) The old Ukranian tradition of batik easter egg coloring using a wax stylus (kiska), beeswax, and dyes might be my favorite. Using the yellow dye first as a mordant, successive wax drawing and dyings in deeper and deeper colors, with a final dying in black...makes these eggs "cathedral like" in appearance. It is a wonderful project for the whole family and my own three children made dozens of these delightful eggs. The process is easy, and the results, even for toddlers (under mom and dad's care) create treasures and keepsakes. The dyes I use come from The Ukranian Gift Shop-- which I am sure you can find online. 2) Saving those broken egg shells seems silly but they are the materials for some really fun Easter eggs also. After cracking an egg, just wash and peel off the protein membrane, and dry. Crush the clean (brown and white) egg shells into small pieces. Affix the pieces in patterns using white glue to eggs which have been "blown" of their contents. Then urethane the finished product to a high gloss. This is also a great Easter family project.