Painted Watercolor Feather Cut-Outs For Crafting

Painted watercolor feather cut-outs are so fun to paint and make great decorations for any occasion, or to use as part of craft project truly any time! It is true I painted these for the Jewish holiday of L’Ag B’Omer because one of the symbols of the holiday is the bow and arrow, and arrows include feathers often, soooooo, maybe a bit of a stretch but fun nonetheless! I was planning to make a wall hanging by hanging the feathers, staggered, from a branch, but ran out of time, so maybe I’ll have to do is for Succot, as the feather is also a symbol to use in the Succah. So paint yourself some feathers in any size you please, they could also make great gift tags, place holders, and more! Experiment with different combinations of colors, and do get large paper and make some large ones, which are truly so great looking! Are you sold? Lets do it……

You’ll Need:

• watercolor paper, mine is 34.5 x 49 cm just about the largest pad of watercolor paper you can buy, though paper comes larger in sheets or rolls.
• watercolors, whatever you have, I used pan watercolors from kohi-nor, and
• round tip watercolor brushes especially a large one like size 10 or 12 so it goes quickly
• my instructions here
• scissors and a pencil

How To:

Follow the instructions, here and do take note that the cutting out part takes time and patience to get all those little cuts which make them look like feathers as opposed to leaves!

Above: Here are the feathers before I cut them out.

As you can see above, just orange and blue feathers looks amazing! Enjoy painting and cutting out some feathers, even if it is just because!

How to Use Watercolor Feather Cut-Outs?

So you’ve read this post and love the idea but are now quite sure whether to dive in as I did, as you prefer knowing ahead of time how you’ll use these feathers? Not to worry, I’ve got you covered with a list of ideas below:

• paint the second side of the feather after you’ve cut it out and hang feathers mobile style from an embroidery hoop

• paint smallish feathers and use them as place cards, or paint very small ones and use as a decorative element or place card by making it into a gift tag that hangs from the napkin ring. Or you could just stand each feather in the drinking glass?

• make wonderful gift tags to tuck under a ribbon, or add a string

• paint large feathers and arrange them like a wheat sheath, and hang on your front door in the fall

• attach skewers to the back of your feathers and use them to fill a vase

• consider painting feathers in grey and browns for a very elegant look

• scatter the feathers on your holiday/party table, or place them underneath a glass tabletop, or clear plastic tablecloth

• use you feathers as decoupage elements on the bottom side of glass plates/trays, or on anything you desire

• make a garland of feathers in a few colors and sizes

• use a giant feather as the background for a welcome or hello sign, so fun!

• come to think of it just one giant feather with a skewer taped on the back, and stuck into a vessel holding sand or kosher salt can be great decor

• did I mention scrapbooking? Glue your smaller feathers into a sketchbook and create a great mixed media page

• I smell something burning in the oven, so this list is coming to a close, ah yes one more idea, get inspired by dream catchers and hang 3 or more feathers from a round object of some kind!