That's right Julie!  Black light is so forgiving!! I've seen some amazing shows and then was shocked to see the props up close. LOL  They were made of "junk"!  But they look beautiful on stage.

Thanks all!  Yep, they do look like a goose. LOL! The beak is fatter than I thought it would be but actually the first one (made of regular fabric) looked like a dog with funny long ears (wing placement was off!!!).  It went in the trash! So geese aren't so bad. Even with bumpy lips Seriously though, I appreciate pointing out the flaws and the tips to correct it because that is how I am learning.

I am just using Out of the Box Puppet Boas for wings.  How do I attach them to the arm rods?  Permanently? Which would be OK, just need to know the best way to do it. ( I need to order some more anyway )

We made some birds using boas for wings but didn't use arm rods, just let the lightness of the feathers make the movement, but if you want to add arm rods for specific gestures I have a couple of suggestions.

One would be to make a wing of fabric and glue the feathers around the edge and attach the rod to the fabric.  The other is by making a "glove" at the end of the fabric wing for a hand to go into and move the wing.  It all depends on how many puppeteers will work the bird and how you want it to perform. 

I know that Julie @ Outofthebox has some with hands inside on her website.  The birds I made were a bit different, they have slinky necks and legs and feather wings as I described above.  I need to upload some pictures!!!! I'm not on my home computer right now.

For these birds, only one puppeteer,a hand is too big.  I will use that idea in some walk-abouts I will make after I finish these. Thanks!   

You can also attach fishing line to the end of the wings, then combine them on an O ring in the back to flap the feathers.

Julie

In regards to attaching an arm rod to a feather boa, simply make a small loop in the end of the rod then sew that end to the core in the center of the boa. All boas have a core to them that you can sew thru to attach them to things. You just need to pull the feathers back away from it to get to it an so your thread does not get all tangled up in the feathers as you sew.

Our finished small birds.  (Sorry they are sideways).

They turned out really cute!  Birds are lots of fun.  Do you have in mind a skit/song that they will perform?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1scGzGz10wThe birds are great, like the mixture of colors in the feathers.  The black rim on the eyes adds definition so that the white does not get lost in the light feathers. They look so fun.  Joe Scruggs does a funny song with bird puppets called Bahamas Pajamas, it is so funny.