Nanette Thorell

Egg Art: How to Achieve a Nice Even Varnish Coat on your Decorated Eggs (tutorial)

There are many ways to varnish an egg.  Some people prefer the spray varnish, some brush it on, some simply rub it on with their hands.  I use a combination of the rub-on technique and one I developed myself which I call the ‘Stake Method’.  The Stake Method allows the finish to dry without any contact and results in a nice smooth  coating with no fingerprint smears, or notches from a holder.

You can use regular varnish or polyurethane. I prefer the varnish because it results in a harder, thicker finish.  Marine varnish is the best.  Be sure you purchase clear varnish, you don’t want any tint in it.  You will need at least a quart size so you have room to lift the egg in and out of the can.

Materials you will need:

• Rotary Tool with a drill point.
• Blas-fix egg blower
• Minwax Clear Shield Or other clear varnish (quart size).
• Nail drying rack
• Bamboo Skewers
• Styrofoam block
• Clear bin

Lets begin where I left off in my last entry:  You have completed the design on your egg, and are ready to empty and varnish it. . .

Before I empty the eggs, I rub them with them a thin coat of varnish to 1) preserve the design if they are dyed eggs, and 2) add a little bit of strength to the shell while I am abusing it.

The rub-on technique is widely used, and you may already be familiar with it.  In a nutshell: Dab a little bit of clear varnish into the palm of your hand, and roll the egg around your palm until it is completely coated.  Then set the egg on a drying rack (simply made with small nails pounded in to a thin plank of wood – the egg sits on the pointy ends).  Let the varnish cure overnight.

First varnish sits on nail board.

To clean the varnish off your hands – rub them with plain vegetable cooking oil and then wipe it all off with a paper towel.

Next, drill a small hole with your rotary tool (Dremel), and use your egg  blower to empty the egg, following the directions on the package for your egg blower.  At this point, I inject a small amount of regular laundry bleach into the egg, shake it up, and rinse it again.  This disinfects the inside of the egg.

Set the eggs back inside an egg carton, hole side down, to drain.  Let them dry completely, occasionally dabbing the hole with a kleenex to wick any residual water that gathers at the hole.

When the eggs are completely dry (this should take at least a day, and 2 days is better), you are ready to apply the final coat of varnish.

Open your can of varnish. Insert the blunt end of a bamboo stake in through the hole of the egg. Dip the egg down into the varnish, stopping just short of covering the hole.  You do not want the varnish to get inside the egg, so leave a little void around the hole.

Dunk the egg into the can of varnish.

Using another stake or a wooden popsicle stick to support egg, slowly lift out the egg and turn it upright.  Let the excess varnish drain back into the can until the dripping slows.  The more you can drain off at this point, the easier it will be for you during the curing process.

Let the excess drain off.

Turn the egg straight up and stick the pointy end into the chunk of styrofoam.  More varnish will drip down the stake, and may travel down through the styrofoam block to the table below, so be sure and protect your surface. I use a flattened cardboard box placed underneath the block.

Sticking in a chunk of styrofoam to hold the eggs upright.

When all your eggs are planted in the styrofoam – all pretty like an egg garden – cover the batch with a clean clear bin.  This will keep dust and cat hair from sticking to the varnish while it cures.

Cover while the varnish cures.

During the cure time (at least 2 days), you will need to spin the eggs a few times so they do not glue themselves to the stake.  Use the pointy end of a bamboo stake to turn the egg gently on the stick and loosen the seal at the hole.  You should do this at first after an hour, and then again after another hour.  By that time, it will have hardened enough so the egg spins freely on the stake.

If they do manage to glue themselves to the stake, you can run a razor blade around the base of the egg where the stick enters the hole, to loosen it.

Note: I use this varnish technique for both my vinegar etched eggs and for my dyed (batik) eggs.

Tip: When drilling the hole in your egg, be sure the opening is large enough to accommodate the bamboo skewer.  Have a skewer handy to size the hole.

Questions and comments are welcome.  Happy egging!

~Nan

How To Decorate an Egg Using Vinegar Etching (tutorial)

Vinegar etching is easy to do, and can produce dramatic results. Native American pottery and petroglyph designs are particularly adaptable to this method, as they use minimal colors and depend largely on pattern and design.

Here are the materials you will need:

These are some of the tools you will need

A regular pencil (medium or hard graphite is best).

A white, non abrasive, eraser (Pentel makes these).

A Kistka wax pen, either electric or manual (candle heated), and beeswax strips.

A section of measuring tape for mapping the egg design.

A toothbrush, for removing surface.

An egg blower (Blas-fix is shown).

Not shown: White vinegar, naphtha (for removing the wax), Kleenex. And a clean brown chicken egg.  Leave the insides in the egg for weight – you will empty it later.

Step 1: Lightly, with pencil, draw lines dividing the egg in eight sections.  Vertically (top to bottom) in quarters, and then horizontally around the middle.  This will help to keep your design organized and centered.  Make more divisions as desired.  Lightly sketch in your design.

Mapped lightly with pencil

Step 2: With your kistka (wax pen), fill in the design.  You will be waxing over the parts that you want to remain the brown color of the eggshell.  The negative (non waxed) space will be very light, almost white when you are finished etching.

Partially waxed in

Step 3: When the design is completely waxed in, set the egg in a jar of white vinegar.  Assure that the egg is submerged completely in the vinegar.

Soaking in white vinegar bath

Note: Bubbles will form on the surface of the egg because of the reaction of calcium to vinegar.  These bubbles will float the egg like a lifejacket. You’ll want to spoon the egg out a few times during the etching process so the bubbles can disintegrate and allow the egg to sink to the bottom again.

Step 4: The egg should take anywhere from 15-30 minutes for the brown surface to dissolve.  Remove the egg and brush the surface lightly with the toothbrush to remove the residue. Sometimes, the bubbles that have formed will prevent the etching and you will have a spotted surface.  You may re-submerge the egg in the vinegar if you want to remove more surface.

Unwaxed surface is etched off

Step 5: Now, you can remove the wax.  Lower the egg into a glass jar of naphtha, and let it work for about 5-10 minutes.  Spoon the egg out carefully and grasp it with a Kleenex.  The egg will be very slippery, so support it with the spoon until you have a good hold on it.  Wipe the surface with the Kleenex, rolling it around in the palm of your hand, until the wax is removed.  Give it a second dunk, and wipe with a clean Kleenex to remove any residual wax.

Wax is removed to reveal the design. The brown areas are the natural shell color.

Note:  I use naphtha (available at hardware stores) because it works quickly.  But it is harsh on your hands.  And extremely flammable.  You may also remove the wax by heating it with a candle and melting off the wax.  Be careful not to cook the egg inside, or you will never get it emptied.

The egg is now ready to empty and varnish.

I am working on a batch of eggs and writing this tutorial at the same time, so I can take pictures of the process.  I am now at the point of removing the wax from the batch of eggs.  Watch for another tutorial when I get ready to empty and varnish the eggs!

Hahaha – this little Dark Eyed Junco flew in the open door to check out what I was doing.  He must be wondering what kind of bird lays THOSE eggs!

A birds eye view of my eggs in process.

You can purchase the supplies online. I order my supplies from the following stores:
The Ukrainian Gift Shop
The Polish Art Center

Here is a book available at Amazon, which includes a chapter on Vinegar Etched Eggs:
Artful Eggs: Six Dozen Extraordinary Ways to Decorate an Egg

Questions? Feel free to post them in the Comments section below (click on the Comments link).

~Nan.

California Sister Butterfly – my new BFF

There are advantages to hanging your laundry out in the air to dry.  Fresh clothes.  Zero energy cost.  And the stretching and reaching motion opens up your chest and allows all that good air to flush out the unused areas of your lungs.  It’s therapy – yeah.

Not to mention the critters.

So I’m puttering around the backyard, hanging up laundry – and this pretty thing is fluttering along behind me trying to land on me.  She must have been attracted to the white T-Shirt I was wearing, because she was very insistent.

California Sister Butterfly

Isn’t she pretty?  When I was finished hanging the clothes up to dry, I went to the computer to try and identify it.  They are known as either “California Sister” or “Arizona Sister” butterflies.  The “sister” part, is because the white markings look like a nuns habit.

I tried to move her from my shirt and put her on the tomato plant, several times.  I was afraid she would get hurt riding on my back while I was tossing clothes around.  She finally fluttered off, no doubt in search of a stationary T-Shirt.

I love the blue markings up near the top.  These are pretty large butterflies.  Here’s a picture of her on my hand, you can get a better idea of the size.

California Sister Butterfly on my hand