Quick Guide: Hand-painted Boho Feathers

Hand-painted Boho Feathers

You may be asking yourself, what led this person to making hand-painted boho feathers. And if not, well… you are now. So, let me tell you…

As I was making dreamcatchers, I decided I wanted to try to spice up the decorations a little bit, so I tried thinking of something that I could do to make things a little different.

I started looking for inspiration online. Nothing was really hitting me, and then I saw a watercolor painting of feathers.

It was simple but beautiful.

There were chevron designs painted on them, some had dots, and they were all different colors.

I started to wonder if I could take a painting of feathers, and do something like that in real life, with real feathers.

So, research and experimentation began.

Once I started playing around with the paint and feathers, I found out that it was actually very easy. It is really one of the easiest things I have done.

You really don’t need much skill at all.

I am not afraid to say that when it comes to painting, my skills are rather lacking. These come out beautiful every time though, so if I can do it, so can you!

How to Use Them

Wondering how to use painted feathers? I’m glad you asked.

“Well, little lady, let me elucidate here. Everybody wants to be a cat…” Oh wait, that’s something else… Let’s get back on track here.

Hand-painted boho feathers can be used for so many things.

You can use them for décor, like on a dreamcatcher, or just hang a bunch from a stick or arrow or something.

Or you can make a sort of curtain with them, hang them on the wall over your bed, or over a window.

You can make a headband with painted feathers for a real boho look that is great for festivals or parties.

Stick them on the end of your pen for a unique look, or make earrings from them. Necklaces, jewelry for your bag, small painted feathers for your keys, or even something you can stick on a wrapped gift for someone to make it a little more special.

There are really so many things you can do with hand-painted boho feathers. The only limit is your imagination.

How to Make Hand-painted Boho Feathers

So how exactly do we make these?

Pick Your Feather

The first thing you need to decide is what you want to use it for. That will determine the type of feather and size you use.

You don’t want to use feathers that are too small or wispy and fluffy. You want to try to use feathers that are more solid.

I prefer turkey or goose feathers. Those have a nice size to them, as well as being pretty sturdy.

Find Inspiration

After you figure that out, you want to think about your design.

You can paint them a solid color and just add a design with dots and lines, or you can do different color blocks.

I like to decide on a theme, like the night sky, and I pick colors based on that. Then I just kind of mix the colors on the feather to try to make it look like the night sky.

Don’t worry, there are photos and videos below so you don’t have to try to decipher what I’m talking about.

For this tutorial, my feather theme is the night sky.

If it helps, look up a reference photo of whatever your inspiration is, so for this one, I would look up a sky at night.

Look at the colors and how they melt together. You can keep it up as you paint to help you decide where to place the colors, or you can just wing it.

That is the route I usually take. It’s up to you though.

Now, lets get started, first, your materials…

Materials

Feathers (Goose, or Turkey are the best)

Acrylic Paint

Smaller Paintbrush

Paint Palette (wax paper, plastic lid, paper plate, etc…)

Water

Paper Towels

Painting Surface (wax paper, paper plate, piece of paper, etc…)

Let’s Paint Some Feathers

Step 1:  Set everything up. The paint tends to dry kind of fast since you aren’t using a lot, so you don’t want to have to stop what you are doing to go find something. Make sure you have everything you need there with you, and out where you can easily get it.

Step 2: Put whatever colors you are using onto your paint palette. For the night sky, I am going to use colors like white, light blue, dark blue, purple, and maybe a little pink. You don’t need a lot of each color. I tend to make two small piles of each color, and I add white to one of the piles of each color. That way I have a darker and lighter version. It helps to blend colors for me.

Step 3:  Add water to your paintbrush so it is damp, not dripping wet. Starting with the darkest color, pick some up and add it to your feather. Here you can decide to do color blocks or just blending colors here and there. I tend to prefer the random colors blending into each other rather than specific areas of color. That is just me though, everybody has their own taste and I say you do you kid. This is the place to let your imagination run wild.

Step 4: Rinse your paintbrush, grab the next color and start blending. I go from the darkest to the lightest color, blending away. Keep a little bit of water on your brush, it helps to blend the colors. Not too much water though. You don’t want to soak the feather.

Step 5:  Now you have a colorful feather! You can either stop here and enjoy your new hand-painted boho feather, or you can add accents to it. Use the white paint and a small brush to add lines and dots to accent your feather.

DIY Hand-painted Boho Feathers

And you are done!! Congrats. Now go make some awesome stuff with DIY painted boho feathers.

If you make some of these, post a picture on Instagram and tag me in it. I would love to see your creations!

Also, don’t forget to follow me while you are there. You can see what kind of things I am making or what kind of trouble I happen to be getting into.

Check out my Instagram Here!!

Until next time,