Home Crochet baby clothesSorbian Easter Eggs - DIY Instructions: Decorate eggs with wax

Sorbian Easter Eggs - DIY Instructions: Decorate eggs with wax

  • Reserve guard Technology
    • Material and preparation
    • manual
  • Bossiertechnik

Easter is not far away - so also the Easter egg coloring! Have you ever seen these elaborately and delicately decorated Easter eggs ">

Decorating eggs with such elaborate decorations is an important part of the Sorbian and Slavic Easter customs. It is said that the patterns and decors have a magical effect on the recipient. Decorating Sorbian easter eggs takes a lot of time and patience - but it pays off and once you get the hang of it, you'll be thrilled. The two following techniques are the most widely used variants to make such decorative Easter eggs. Besides these, there is also the etching technique and the scratching technique. Whether hard boiled or hanging - these Easter eggs are definitely real eye-catchers.

Reserve guard Technology

In the wax reserve technique wax is applied to the egg - usually the decorative pattern and designs - and then it is only dyed. After dyeing, the wax is then removed again. Sorbian Easter eggs are small works of art - the points and lines could only be applied by a professional with brush and paint. To decorate Sorbian easter eggs, use small applicators and no brushes - this will make the decorations even. In the following, we will show every step, from the preparation to the decoration of the Easter eggs. Have fun trying!

Material and preparation

Tools and materials:

  • White eggs
  • vinegar
  • wax
  • pencil
  • Toothpicks, needles with heads, corks, feathers
  • scissors
  • Warmer and small ceramic bowl
  • tealight
  • egg Piercer
  • Colors for dyeing Easter eggs
  • several empty jam jars
  • paper towels
  • template

1. Prepare sample and egg

Before you can start decorating the Easter eggs, you need some preparation. The eggs must be cleaned first. Clean the eggs with a water-vinegar mixture and dry them.

Whether you blow the eggs already is up to you. Sometimes it's better to do that before decorating, so that the beautifully painted easter egg will not break when you blow it out. However, blown eggs are more difficult to color as they float up. The Easter eggs must then be pressed down in the dye bath in this case. Also a disadvantage, if you want to dye blown eggs, is that they run full of water. The water then runs out of the egg for a while and causes a very nice slush.

Tip: You can easily remove the egg stamp with the rough side of a sponge and a dab of intensive cleaner.

Subsequently, individual elements are marked on the egg with a pencil. Since Sorbian Easter eggs are symmetrically accurate patterns, you need to draw small areas on the egg. We will show you a few variants below. Best of all, you create a completely unique design.

Using a pencil, draw two vertical lines crossing the top of the ice vertically onto the ice. For orientation, you can stretch a small rubber in the middle around the egg and draw along the sides with the pen. These lines give you the four sides. Then you can also paint a horizontal center line on the egg. Then add circular or elliptical surfaces. Always arrange these surfaces regularly and symmetrically. You can also divide the egg with several strips into different parts. There are thousands of possibilities.

Note: For very light egg colors you could still see the pencil lines after dyeing. With a little practice you can decorate but also without recorded template.

2. Tinker applicators

Now you need small applicators to apply the wax later. Traditionally, one works with feathers. The soft springs are cut to the top for this purpose. The remaining feathers then form the so-called brush tip. The nice thing is that this way you can create individual tips. Below we will show you the typical shapes.

  • The triangle
  • square
  • The V
  • The rhombus
  • The point

For one point, you need another tool - from a cork and a pin with a larger needle head make yourself a point applicator. The needle is simply put in the cork.

Note: It is not necessary to use real springs. We tried the wax reserve technique with artificial springs from the craft business and it worked great.

3. Prepare wax

The wax must be permanently liquid for application and heated all the time. This is best suited for a warmer with a small ceramic bowl. Place a piece of wax from an old candle in the small ceramic bowl and place it on the teapot warmer. It does not matter which wax you use. We processed the rest of an old beeswax candle.

Tip for another variant: You can also turn a small spoon from an old spoon. The spoon is bent over and then attached to a heavy glass with tape. Just place a tealight under the spoon.

manual

1. Decorate eggs with wax

The wax reserve technology is characterized by the fact that the applied wax prevents the dyeing of the ice. The places decorated with the wax do not become colored and remain white.

Apply dots, patterns or lines to the egg with the needle head or small spring applicators. Dip the needle head into the liquid wax and make a spot on the eggshell. For every point and every new element, the applicator has to be dipped into the wax every time. In this way decorate the marked lines with dots, triangles, diamonds or drops.

We have provided a template with common patterns as a download for you. The typical patterns for Sorbian Easter eggs are, for example, sun or flower-shaped circles in the middle of Easter egg. All around bands and borders are placed. You can also develop your own designs from the individual shapes - just paint a few ideas on a sheet of paper.

Template - pattern for Sorbian easter eggs

2. Color eggs

Now the egg is dipped in the dye bath. Very important: the colored water should be cold or lukewarm at best. If it is hot, the wax goes off naturally when immersed. Take a spoon and dip the egg in the bath.

There are cold paints and egg colors that need to be heated. You can do both - the egg colors to be heated also color after they have cooled. Leave the egg in the water for a few minutes. Then take it out again and dab it gently dry. If you want the egg to be monochrome, you are already done coloring and the wax can be removed (see below).

3. repetition

For multicolored Sorbian Easter eggs, repeat steps 1 and 2, only this time with a different color. You take the newly colored egg and bring back decorative patterns with wax, this time in other places. The wax of the previous round must be stuck to the egg. After that, give the egg a different color.

Very important - work with several colors, you should always start with the brightest color and then work your way to the darkest. A bright yellow would not over-color the dark purple. We dipped the egg in this order: yellow, then orange, then green and then purple. The basic color of the Sorbian easter egg is therefore purple.

4. Remove wax again

Now the little wax points and lines have to be removed. Hold the egg on the side of a candle and wipe off the wax. You can also scrape small drops off with your finger or with a flat knife. Try both techniques to see what suits you better.

Remain the colored dots and lines of each single passage. Clean the easter egg again really blank and it's done.

5. Blow out eggs

If you want to hang Sorbian Easter eggs, they need to be blown out. How exactly that works, we show you in this guide: Blow out eggs

Bossiertechnik

Decorate eggs with wax

This technique focuses on decorating the eggs with wax. The wax stays on the egg and will not be removed. You can decorate the white egg directly with the colored wax or you can color it beforehand. That's up to you.

Otherwise, just go ahead, just like with the wax reserve technique - with the small applicators you apply patterns and points to the egg. All you need in addition is colorful wax. Small, colored wax pieces are available in any well-assorted craft store to buy - especially for Easter, they should find it there.

Have even more interest in coloring and decorating easter eggs "> Coloring eggs with onion skins

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