As we all can relate, the holidays are looking a little different this year. Unlike most years, there are no plans for us to host gatherings or to travel to see our families. This year we’ll be celebrating at home. So now more than ever, we’ll be bringing the holidays home! To get into the festive spirit, we will be making lots of crafts and holiday treats this year!
Today, I want to share a Thanksgiving craft that is quick and easy to make. We’re making these cute, tiny turkeys! As a heads up, I also provided some simple swaps to make this craft more kid friendly at the end of this post. Let’s get started!
Supplies
- 1/2″ wood beads
- 1″ wood beads
- Felt (orange, yellow, tan, and brown)
- String or twine
- White embroidery floss
- Needle
- Scissors
- Hot glue
- Fine tip markers in black and red
- Optional: paper and pen to make templates for the tail and feet
How to make the turkey’s body
1. Draw the turkey’s face.
On the 1/2″ bead, draw your turkey’s eyes and beak with the black fine tip marker. Then draw the turkey’s snood (or wattle) with the red marker.
2. Glue on the turkey’s head
Using a glue gun, carefully glue on the turkey’s head to its body (the 1″ bead). (I used the low temp to prevent burning my fingers!) Attach them together at the bead holes, then let the glue set.
3. Tie a string around the neck
To hide glue residue, tie a piece of string around the turkey’s neck, and make a bow. I used yellow baker’s twine, but any sting, twine, yarn, or cord will work just fine. Now your turkey’s body is complete!
4. Make templates for the turkey’s tail
Draw the templates for the tail and feet on some paper as shown above. Then trace the templates onto your felt. Altogether, you will be making 4 layers for the tail. The brown will be the largest, the tan will be the medium, and the orange will be the smallest. There is a second tan piece on the back of the tail as well. Don’t cut out the felt pieces yet!
5. Embroider the turkey’s feathers
Before cutting out your felt, we’ll embroider on some “feathers” on a couple of the pieces. We will only be embroidering one orange piece and one tan piece. If you leave your pieces attached to the felt sheet, you’ll have an easier time embroidering your feathers. First, thread your needle with all 6 threads of the embroidery floss. Now, we’ll be using a fly stitch to give the felt its “feathery” appearance. Refer to the picture above to make your fly stitches.
6. Glue the tail onto your turkey.
After you have finished embroidering, cut out all of your felt pieces. Now glue the embroidered tan piece onto the brown one. This will be the back of the tail. For the front, glue on the plain tan piece first, and the embroidered orange piece on top. Now your tail is complete! Glue the tail to the turkey’s body. Don’t glue too low or your turkey won’t stand up!
7. Glue on the turkey’s feet
The last step is to glue on your turkey’s feet onto the bottom of your turkey. Now your turkey is complete!
*Kid friendly version*
To make this craft more kid friendly, swap out hot glue for regular glue, like Elmer’s school glue. Just know that they will take longer to dry, and may be more fragile. You could also eliminate the stitching on the feathers, and pre-cut all felt pieces to make it even easier for little ones. This would make for a fun activity to entertain kids while waiting for their Thanksgiving feast!
That’s it! These little turkeys so easy and quick to make, you can make a whole flock of tiny turkeys this Thanksgiving. They are great to give out as gifts or use as festive decor for your Thanksgiving table.
How are you making Thanksgiving special this year? Do you have any fun crafts or activities in the works? Share in the comments below!
