# Anyone do pysanky eggs? I have a duck egg question



## xoxoGOATSxoxo

I've been doing it about 4 years. I've always bought store-chicken eggs to do it on, because they are bleached nice and white and we like to eat the homegrown ones anyway. 

But one of my friends ducks laid two huge double yolkers, and she gave them to me to decorate. 

I've never done pysanky on our duck eggs, but I did one of the doulbe yolkers the other day.

Normally, if I want a lighter dye color, I run the egg under cold water for a second to lighten the dye. I was doing this egg in just shades of green, so I ran it under water and ALL the dye washed off when I rubbed it with my finger! It had just coated the egg, instead of soaking into the shell. 

The egg turned out okay, but does anyone know if this is a common thing with duck eggs? Or would it happen with any homegrown egg? I had washed it, but did not dip it in vingegar before starting to dye, because I figured that it wouldnt have the coat of chemicals that the store bought eggs do. Was this the mistake?

Anyone know? Thanks!


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## Wisconsin Ann

Homegrown chicken eggs decorate and dye up beautifully.(in fact, the brown eggs give you great intense easter egg colors!) I've never tried a duck egg, but they do have a sort of waxy coating on them which you may have to wipe off first....the vinegar would be a slight acid wash,which might give thedye a better "grip"...


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## Wisconsin Ann

don't know if you saw the post in poultry, but the responses have been you need to remove the waxy coating on duck eggs. A soft scrubby with warm water, or a "little bleach in warm water" and the eggs will take dye beautifully.


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## xoxoGOATSxoxo

Okay, cool. This next egg I am doing I scrubbed with a washcloth and warm water, so we'll see how it goes. I haven't applied any dye yet, just wax. 

Thanks! 

Oh, Im using analine dyes, dont know if that makes a difference?


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## ELOCN

I thought the vinegar is what sets the color.


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## xoxoGOATSxoxo

Well, all the dyes but orange have vinegar in them, but most of the time I dip the egg in straight vinegar too because it makes the colors brighter for some reason. :shrug:

Orange is a mystery, though. It is also the only color that will cover the green dye.


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## Sanza

Please post some pictures !
I hope the duck egg is holding the dye now for you.
I've done pysanky for years but never did a duck egg. I know a vinegar wash will take off the bloom on chicken eggs so the dye takes better. I usually hold the egg in a paper towel that was moistened with vinegar so I don't get the oil from my hands on the egg.
I've done an ostrich egg and sanded it lightly first and then painted it with acrylics. In the foreground is a Christmas tree ornament that was blown out.


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## ELOCN

Sanza, those eggs are astounding! Did you decorate all of them? They're so beautiful.


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## Wisconsin Ann

What ELOCN said! Those are lovely  

Vinegar in the dye does act as a mordant..it will set the dye AND usually makes it more intense.

Vinegar on the bare egg should work as a light acid etch...removing a small amount of the oxidation on the egg. hmm....I wonder....since an eggshell is porous, the vinegar might well do both mordant and etch with one dip. just thinking outloud...


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## Lauriebelle

Those eggs are stunning!!! I have always wanted to learn to do this...did you take a class or are there other resources available?


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## jersey girl

WOW those are cool! I want to learn to do this!
Joanie


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## beaglebiz

beautiful job!!
my grandma used to make these, she came from Poland


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## Sanza

Thank you all for the kind words. I'm Ukrainian, and learnt by watching as I was growing up and I'm now in my 50's. I want to apologise for posting such a big picture...I thought I had it smaller and I didn't mean to hijack the origional post.
All you need is a stylus and wax and some easter egg dyes to get started. You can make up your own patterns if you like or get books on the authentic psanky patterns. 
Goats -how is this egg coming along? Please post a picture.


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## Wisconsin Ann

I've been watching some of the videos on Youtube and other instructable type sites about the psanky eggs...holy cow .... I don't think I have the patience or a steady enough hand to do those lines! I can do batik on fabric, but man....such lovely detailing on the eggs...


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## xoxoGOATSxoxo

I'm sorry, I havent checked the craft forum in a while! 

Sanza, what lovely eggs! Much better than mine usually turn out! My favorite in that picture is the one on the far far right, with the orange and green halo around the flower.  

What kind of kistky do you use? I have three; 2 are traditional wood-and-copper and one is plastic with a metal tip. I only ever use the plastic one, because with the traditional ones the wax actually drips out the bottom! One is extra large, so I wouldnt use it much anyway, but one is very fine and I'd love to get the extra detail that I could do with such a fine kistky. Maybe I'm using it wrong? I dont see why the wax should drip out... sighhhh. 

I actually learned how to do the from a kit!  None of my sicilian relatives had ever heard of it. The kit came with my beloved plastic kistky, a block of beeswax, and 4 dyes. I checked out alot of library books on the subject, and found a great website; learnpysanky.com. With every egg I get a little better, so hopefully one of these days I get good!  

Okay, here are a couple of mine. Notice the size of that double yolked duck egg compared to the regular chicken egg. Also, see on the big blue duck egg, the little speckley parts of the dye? Thats where the original dye did not come off when I washed it. 



















I have not finished the second double yolked one yet, but I'll post it when I do. So far the dye has been going on much better, so I guess it was the waxy coating on the first one that messed it up. The second one is much more detailed! I made the mistake of using the same amount of detail on the big one that I do on small ones, not realizing that it would look like less detail because of the size. Oops!


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## Wisconsin Ann

Oh goodness! How pretty! I really love the design on both of them, but the smaller egg keeps my eye following the pattern. What a colorful bunch of people you guys are!


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## Elsbet

What lovely eggs!!!


I had the same thing happen when I tried to do a duck egg 2 years ago. I couldn't stand the smell of the egg, though, either, so I never tried to do another one (smelly old ducks, lol). I love to dye eggs, though, and wrote an article on this for Backwoods Home several years back (published under the name Amy Peare.) My faves to do are bantam eggs- so delicate and tiny!


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## xoxoGOATSxoxo

Thanks!  

Ew, Elsbet, your duck egg must have been rotten or something.... my duck eggs usually dont smell bad at all! In fact, I can barely distinguish a duck egg from a chicken egg by smell.... and neither one smells that strong to me. 

Thats very cool about your article! I'll have to search the internet for it... I'm sure its around. 

I actually have a tiny duck egg without a yolk that I want to do! I figure it'll be similar to doing a bantam egg... you have any tips for something so small?


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## Sanza

Abby I love that pattern you did on the chicken egg! I think the day is already here for you to be good!!
Do you sketch your pattern on the egg first in pencil? I cheat a bit and use rubber bands and pencil to get my lines straight. Then I have an electric kiska with 3 different sized tips, which is great for doing the fine work. I only use the other ones for filling in large spaces because of the problem of dripping which is very rare with the electric one.
I read the article and love those eggs too! One thing I do differently is I finish the egg totally, varnish too, before I blow out the egg. A blown out egg is too fragile to work on for me.


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## OzarkHmsteaders

WOW,,beautiful eggs ladies:cowboy:
hats off to you

I want to learn this,,
where do you recommend I start?

either of you want to tutor???


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## hengal

OH MY GOSH! These are just beautiful!!! Wow! I have both chicken and duck eggs at home! Oh thank you for posting your beautiful work and the links to this. I'd love to learn how to do this!!:banana02:


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## Elsbet

xoxoGOATSxoxo said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Ew, Elsbet, your duck egg must have been rotten or something.... my duck eggs usually dont smell bad at all! In fact, I can barely distinguish a duck egg from a chicken egg by smell.... and neither one smells that strong to me.
> 
> Thats very cool about your article! I'll have to search the internet for it... I'm sure its around.
> 
> I actually have a tiny duck egg without a yolk that I want to do! I figure it'll be similar to doing a bantam egg... you have any tips for something so small?



I'm so sorry I didn't see your reply earlier!
No, our duck just laid smelly eggs. I tried changing feed, more greens, less greens- you name it. They had fresh water all the time, and weren't in a pond, so they weren't getting into any fish eggs or anything like that. She still laid eggs that smelled fishy. The egg was so fresh it was still warm. I might try another duck some time.  I'd had a Rouen years ago that laid wonderful eggs. Those ones were very close in flavor to chicken eggs, too. 

Working small on the bantam eggs is pretty much the same as working on the larger eggs. I think the bantam eggs are sturdier, though. I've had a lot less eggs break on me if they were jounced around by little hands. I also like that I can use regular mason jars pretty easily to dye them in, without any trouble getting the eggs back out again. 

Someday, someday, I want to try engraving an emu egg. I couldn't justify the $27 to buy one at Wholefoods, though, lol.


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## Sanza

xoxoGOATSxoxo said:


> Thanks!
> 
> 
> I actually have a tiny duck egg without a yolk that I want to do! I figure it'll be similar to doing a bantam egg... you have any tips for something so small?


Just do a simple pattern like you've done on that duck egg. I think that would look great on something small.

LOL... the only other thing I can think of is not to drop it when melting the wax off it! I did a cockatiel egg a few years ago and when I was holding it to the flame it started to vibrate  (I'm thinking the heat from the flame was starting to cook it) ......and I dropped it and smashed one side. Stupid, stupid me!!


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## hengal

OzarkHmsteaders said:


> WOW,,beautiful eggs ladies:cowboy:
> hats off to you
> 
> I want to learn this,,
> where do you recommend I start?
> 
> either of you want to tutor???



Ozark - I found this kit on the web and I'm going to start with it. 

http://www.hearthsong.com/hearthsong/product.do?section_id=0&bc=1005&pgc=781&cmvalue=HS|0|Normal%20Search%20Result|P1


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## Sanza

OzarkHmsteaders said:


> WOW,,beautiful eggs ladies:cowboy:
> hats off to you
> 
> I want to learn this,,
> where do you recommend I start?
> 
> either of you want to tutor???


Probably the best way to start is to find a book with step by step diagrams. See if you can find any Ukrainian stores. (Polish or Russian too) There seem to be areas heavily settled in the early 1900's (like NY) by these nationalities and there would be stores for their crafts. If you can find one to ship you the kiskas, and dye and a book you're on your way.

I'd take on the task of tutoring but I only have dial up and it would take forever to upload pictures big enough to see. But if anyone has any questions email me and I'll try to help.
Good Luck


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## cathleenc

those eggs are so beautiful!

fyi - my friends and I used to have egg parties and make similar eggs - using fountain pens with various nibs just dipped into the melted wax. Worked fine for us, low cost, easy to switch out nibs to get different flows. 

I found several psanki egg pattern books in craft stores. Were pretty easy to find last time I looked.

anyone can make a nice egg the first time out! simple eggs are just as pretty as the more complex ones.


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## OzarkHmsteaders

thanks for the links and tips
I'll do some looking around.
they are all so beautiful.


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## hengal

I have a question for those of you who create these beautiful eggs. Do you think they would turn out as good using cleaned, bleached egg gourds? I've got a gazillion of them at home just sitting out in the barn waiting to be used. (those plants are very prolific!) What do you think? Would the light tan color be a detriment to the overall effect?


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## xoxoGOATSxoxo

Do you think wax would soak into the gourds? If not, then go for it! Actually, go for it anyway and tell us how it turns out. 

I'm sure the tan color would be fine. Obviously, you wouldnt be able to have any white in the pattern, but that doesnt matter at all. 

Picture of my other double yolker coming soon! I dont have a camera right now, a rotten egg exploded on mine.  From a nest, not pysanky! 

And one of my ducks layed a double yolker, so I have another large one.


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