Patterns on wooden rings

[Stephen Tashiro]

I'm curious how the patterns are applied to wooden rings, such as http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wholesale-Jewelry-Lots-50pcs-Mixed-Lots-Fashion-Wooden-Rings-Free-Shipping-WR02-50/553632946.html Are they hand-painted? Or is there some sort of decal that is pasted on?

[Dan Hintz]

One easy way would be dip-painting... a large tub of still water, design pattern floats on top as a sheet (think rice paper with an inkjet print on it), rings are dipped into the tank and the design is transferred to them. It's often done with large items like car rims, etc.