With or Without Wings: That is the Question

Over the holidays I made 3 owl clutches. One for Wendy's niece, one for a birthday present, and one for my sister. The question became: With or without wings? The first ones that I made in the fall had wings but that creates a lot of parts to appliqué: head, body, 2 wings, 2 feet, beak, and eyes (background and pupil). It takes me (because I'm so slow) about an hour to do the appliqué. So I switched things up and drew an owl with just a body, feet, beak, and eyes. Less is more, right? But the last 2 I made seem to lack the character of the others. Is it the wings?