Years ago when I lived in Curitiba, Brazil I fell in love with some beautifully detailed Easter eggs in a Ukranian shop (this part of Brazil had a lot of Ukranian heritage). I bought a couple of them that I still cherish to this day. Years later I was thrilled to see our former intern, artist Betsy Croft, who had lived in Urkaine, was offering workshops on this artistic tradition, which I learned was called psyanky. I asked her if she would share her process with us and she said yes!

We have partnered to bring you a detailed e-book which takes you though the process as well as a video. It seems crazy intricate, and it is…but with the way she breaks it done, it is doable! And she’s going to show you how!

Betsy is also a talented ceramicist and we have partnered to create some limited-edition handmade Easter egg cup stands. I wanted to tap into the idea of totems with a refreshing spring-time palette and she generously made it happen. I LOVE how they turned out and they are now for sale in our shop.

Materials:

How to do Pysanky

What isa Pysanky Egg? Simply put, it is an Easter egg decorated using a wax resist method. It literally means “to write” as you’ll soon learn in the video.

But, it is so much more than that. Ukrainians have been decorating eggs, creating these miniature jewels, for countless generations. The design motifs on pysanky date back to pre-Christian times and many date to early Slavic cultures making these eggs incredibly meaningful and full of rich history!

Pysanky Eggs

You can find the Pysanky instructions in our e-book here.

You may feel daunted looking at these but Betsy breaks it down easy as can be so that you and I can get started making them. Download the E-book now so you can get started!

And in case you need something special to display those beautiful Pysanky eggs in that you are about to make, checkout these incredible Ceramic Totem Egg Cups that we collaborated on found in The House Lars Built Shop plus so many other projects to keep yo occupied during these hard times.