I use real crestings - these are the ones I had done for this year - two irridescent bands - and some splattered-on green markings. I liked these feathers - used barred ones in the past, but thought these were cool. I'm lucky enough to have a really good friend who's really talented when it comes to this stuff. He comes up with a unique design for every year. He knows that I like to be different, so he incorporates that into the design.