How do you get a fondant/gum paste bow in the middle of the cake like in the photo below? Without it falling off? It looks like it's about to fall off in the photo.
Also, do you have to make it a week ahead for it to dry well or do you make it & put it directly on the cake?
And how big do you think these feathers are & where can I get them? I looked on Amazon & they only have certain sizes.
i personally make them from gumpaste only. I use melted chocolate when i attach a bow like this. Learned this from Sharon Zambito dvd's. I don,t know about the feathers. Yes, you make them ahead of time and let them completely dry. I like to use only g/p, because i can roll it thinner and then use ball tool and go around edges and make them look more realistic. The tails also look more realistic. hth
I make them from mm fondant, I'll add tylos to it if I need it to dry quicker. I usually make it the weekend before I need it. If you are attaching it to a fondant covered cake you can just brush the back with a little alchohol, vodka or even your vanilla flavoring, and put it on the cake. You might have to hold it there for a few seconds but it will stick.
I just made a bow out of fondant mixed with a little Gum-Tex for a wedding cake. I made the bow on Thursday and put the bow on the cake on Saturday morning. I rolled the fondant out thin and ran it through my clay maker down to number 6, which is thin. I started out rolling it in one and moved the dial two spaces at a time and rerolled it to make it thin like a ribbon. I shaped the bow against a round pan the size of the cake so the bow would naturally curve to the cake and not look like a stiff board. I wanted a soft, flowing bow. If you want to see it, it is in my photo album under Coral Wedding Cake. I have a close-up of the bow. I attached the bow by adding some water to a small amount of fondant to make a paste-like substance to put behind the bow. Good luck.
I also use GP. I had a super busy week and didn't get my bow made (pink cake in my gallery) early so i made it on Friday night put it in a COLD oven turned on the light and put a sign over the knob so it didn't accidentally get turned on and when I woke up it was completely dry. I use a pasta roller and roll it down five clicks which is 2 if your widest setting is 7 or 5 if your widest setting is 1 (I have two and they are different). I attach with royal icing to flat surfaces or if the bow's not too heavy I'll use thick gum glue (gumpaste put into warm water and microwave for about 10 seconds) if it's heavy or large and going on the side of the cake I use chocolate. Good luck! 
you can get those feathers from Hobby Lobby, they are about 12" long.
a toothpick halfway into the bow, and then attach to the cake.
If you look closely, it is quite secured. You can see that the back part part of both loops are pressed on, and it was definitely put on there before delivery. It's also pretty thin, so weight is not much of an issue. The strip is already secured well, then the bow to that, so if you roll it thin, adhere it well in advance, you *should* be ok.
Don't worry! It's always the little details that drive us all crazy! 
I always use a dab of royal icing to attach my bows- place a dot in the center of the bow and on each loop and press onto the cake. I usually form my bow around a cake pan that's the same size for about an hour before I attach it to the cake. I put rolled up paper towel in the loops to keep them open until the loops are hard.
Of note, make sure you wrap your feathers in floral tape before you put them into the cake! 
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