I haven't made a parade float for the library in years. This year though, the library is putting an operating levy on the ballot and I thought we needed to be a presence in the annual Grand Fair parade. At first, I was going to make an igloo from milk cartons with the theme being "S'now Better Time to Read", but the Mom and baby I had in mind to ride the float turned me down, so I had to think of something else.
The fair had a weather theme...it was "Forecasting Record Fun at the Pemberville Fair".
I decided to go with a pun, because well, I always go with a pun.
I decided I would make a giant goose, and dress up as Mother Goose, with the float theme being,
Fair Weather..."Fowl" Weather.
I had leftover cardboard from a local church's bible school. I believe this was a flying saucer for them.
I painted all the pieces white, as I knew the "feathers" that I would have covering the goose might show any color underneath. It was a white goose afterall. I built a wooden frame to hold the goose down and strapped it to the trailer. I also added furring strips to the inside to give it added strength. The cardboard was held together with zip ties - my favorite cardboard construction tool.
The feathers were made from quilt batting. I used a low loft batting as it was cheaper. I looked at photos of feather patterns on geese so it would look more real. The feathers were applied with a staple gun, with hot glue holding down loose ends. I also used white spray paint to give the feathers a more shadowed effect.
The head and neck were built from concrete forms which can be purchased pretty inexpensively at Home Depot. I used 2 twelve inch wide forms, and one smaller form for the beak. After I cut the pieces, I taped them, and primed the entire head with white paint. I added feathers for the white part of the head and used orange tissue paper on the beak. I covered it with Mod Podge, so in case it rained, the bill would not drip orange!
I added eyes made from sparkly fun foam. It was sticky-backed foam, but I didn't trust it to stick, so I added a screw into the head to hold them in place. All I needed was for an eye to fall off mid-parade.
Parade day was beautiful. I made myself a Mother Goose costume. The skirt used $5.50 worth of a blue/green plaid material from a garage sale, and I cut a blue tank top down the middle to give sort of a bustier effect. I borrowed a witch hat from my daughter and added some ribbon to it, and I made a mob cap out of white scrap material I had lying around. My shawl was a vintage tablecloth!
The parade day was beautiful and I was glad we participated. The light parade is coming up in December! I will have to start thinking of ideas!
