DIY: Decoupage Easter Eggs

Ukrainian Easter Eggs, known as Psyanky, as so beautiful.They are created by melting beeswax and using a stylus to draw multiple layers of designs onto eggs. The eggs are then dipped into dyes to create different hues. This process typically takes 3 to 11 hours to perfect an egg.

Considering I don't have the skills to come anywhere close to recreating one of these beauties I went with more of a decoupage route.

Materials needed:

Eggs

Napkins/thin paper

Pastry/paint brush

Olive oil

I decided to take this route last minute and had to make due with what I had. If I had more time I would have liked to of hunt down the perfect napkin prints and create a theme, but luckily the ones I had on hand fit well with Easter.

Boil your eggs and let sit till room temperature. You could also choose to go a more decorative route and hallow out egg shells.

You can choose to cut shapes or wrap the entire egg with a napkin. With either option you will want to separate the layers of napkins. Simple peel apart the top layer with print from the bottom layers. 

Wrapping the entire egg would mean cutting the napkin down to size and dealing with at least some overlap on the egg. I chose to cut shapes from various napkins. Although this route took much longer, it allowed for a lot more creative leeway. I wasn't sure how small or large the shapes should be so I cut a variety. I found cutting smaller, more delicate patterns a bit tedious but appreciated them as fillers when larger pieces were left with bald spots. 

Once your napkins are cut and eggs are cool you'll take a trip back to that grade school art project. Pasting the napkins reminded me of doing papier-mâché when I was young. I supposed you could use Modge Podge but I used egg whites as a paste. Gently whisk the egg whites (you can add a little water if you feel this is too thick) and use this as a paste to glue on your napkins. You can use a brush or your finger to spread the egg whites, both work fine. Position your napkin on the egg and start brushing the whites from the center and then out to the edges. If you use too much whites your napkin could rip, so don't overdo it.

 

If you're using the egg carton to hold your eggs make sure you let them dry a little before placing them back  otherwise your napkins will dry and stick to the carton. Once eggs are dry put a little olive oil on a napkin and brush the eggs to give them a glossy look. And then you're done!

These eggs are really that simple - cut, paste, and dry. I had way more fun doing these eggs than actually dying eggs. I also found the clean up to be virtually nonexistent. Really the only clean up I had to do was wash and dry the egg whites bowl.