Turkey Crafts

These Thanksgiving turkey blow-ups are full of hot air!

What You'll Need:

Round balloons

Poster board

Glue

Markers

Scissors

These turkeys come in all the colors of the rainbow.

Blow up lots of different-colored round or oval balloons. Then cut strips of poster board to make stands for the balloons to rest on. Cut some strips 3 inches wide and 6 inches long. Cut other strips 1-1/2 inches wide and 10 inches long. This will give the height and look of your turkeys more variety.

Glue the ends of each strip together. Draw a line of glue around the top edge of each stand, and gently press a balloon onto it. Draw turkey heads and tails, and cut them out of the poster board.

Add a little extra flap at the bottom of the neck and the base of the tail. These flaps can be bent and glued onto each end of the balloon to form the turkey.

Make a whole flock of these terrific party decorations. (Balloons are choking hazards -- keep them away from small children.)

Keep reading to learn how to make a Thanksgiving costume that will delight your friends and family.

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Entertain the Thanksgiving crowd at your house by turning into a giant turkey with this turkey costume.

What You'll Need:

Box

Paint

Paintbrushes

Scissors

Glue

Tissue paper

Cardboard

Craft feathers

T-shirt

Tights

There will be two turkeys in the house this Thanksgiving: one on the dinner table and one dancing through the house. Turn yourself into a festive holiday turkey.

Make a turkey head by painting a cardboard box (large enough to fit your head inside) red. Cut out holes for the eyes.

Tear off yellow, orange, and red tissue paper feathers, and glue them all over the front of the box, leaving the eye holes free.

Cut a triangle-shaped beak from cardboard, paint it yellow, and glue it underneath the eyes on the front of the box. You can also cut the wattle from cardboard, paint it red, and attach it to the bottom front of the box.

Glue craft feathers onto an old red T-shirt, and put on some red tights to complete the costume. Now, practice your gobble and start talking turkey.

The holidays are a great time to fill the house with festive decorations. Click the next page to learn how to make some cool -- and comfortable -- Thanksgiving decorations.

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Place these tiny turkey pillows on the couch during the Thanksgiving holiday for a soft, turkey touch.

What You'll Need:

Old knit glove

Cotton balls

Glue

Clothespins

Craft feathers

Yellow and red felt

Scissors

2 wiggle eyes

Fabric paint

These soft little pillows are just the thing to brighten up the furniture during the Thanksgiving season.

To make your turkey pillow, stuff an old knit glove with cotton balls until it is entirely full. Turn the bottom edges inside, and glue them together. Hold the edges shut with clothespins until the glue dries.

Glue colorful craft feathers between and around the fingers of the glove. Cut a beak from yellow felt and a wattle (the turkey's red throat) from red felt. Glue them on the side of the thumb.

Decorate your bird by gluing on wiggle eyes. You can also paint details on the turkey's body with fabric paint. You might want to paint a name on your turkey. How about Tillie? Terwilliger? Thomasina?

You'll need something to keep everybody entertained after Thanksgiving dinner. On the next page you'll learn about a fun Thanksgiving game.

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Pin the Tail on the Turkey is a great game for everyone to play after that big Thanksgiving meal. It's guaranteed to get everyone giggling.

What You'll Need:

Large poster board

Crayons

Construction paper

Double-sided tape

Scissors

Bandanna

Help the Thanksgiving turkey get a tail!

Draw a large, silly-looking turkey without any tail feathers on a piece of poster board. Hang it on the back of a door or on a wall.

Draw lots of turkey tail feathers on construction paper, and cut them out. Put a small piece of double-sided tape on the end of each feather.

To play pin the tail on the turkey, use a bandanna to blindfold players one at a time. Twirl them around three times, and point them in the direction of the turkey.

Who can pin the tail on the turkey? Perhaps the prize will be a big slice of pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving is about family, friends -- and food. Make a delicious Thanksgiving centerpiece next.

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Make an edible centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table with this tabletop gobbler.

Adult Help Needed.

What You'll Need:

Apple

Orange slices, raisins, cranberries, carrots, celery, and other fruit you'd like to use

Knife

Toothpicks

Place the apple on a table with the stem on the table. This is the body of the turkey. Have an adult help you cut up the fruit and vegetables you have chosen.

Then start working on your turkey. Use the toothpicks to stick the pieces onto the turkey. He needs a tail, a head, a wattle (the red thing that hangs down his neck), a beak, eyes, feet, and anything else you can think of.

Use your imagination, and don't worry if your turkey doesn't look like the real thing. It will be a wonderful decoration for your table. And you can eat your turkey for a healthy snack. (Note: Don't eat the cranberries; they are very tart.)

Turkeys, turkeys, everywhere. They will be after you make the Thanksgiving decorations on the next page.

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This clay turkey can be used as a colorful Thanksgiving decoration on a holiday dinner table, in a window, or even peeking out of a bookshelf.

What You'll Need:

Modeling clay

Stiff paper

Scissors

Crayons or markers

Newspaper

Paper cups

Paint

Cotton swabs

Turn a ball of clay and a handful of cotton swabs into a fat turkey with a tail full of feathers.

To make the turkey, roll some modeling clay into a ball for the turkey's body.

Cut a turkey head and neck shape from a piece of stiff paper. Draw the turkey's eyes and color the head, beak, wattle, and neck. Insert the stiff paper head and neck piece into the clay body.

Now you're ready for the tail. Lay newspaper on your work surface. Pour a small amount of several different colors of paint into different cups. Place the turkey and paint cups on the newspaper.

Dip one side of the cotton swab in a paint cup, and attach the other end to the turkey's rump. Keep dipping and attaching until the turkey's tail is colorful and full.

Your Thanksgiving table will be extra festive with the addition of the turkey table favors on the next page.

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Spruce up the Thanksgiving table with these turkey table favors.

Adult help needed.

What You'll Need:

One 1-1/8-inch wood doll pin base

Wood balls (1-3/4-inch diameter, 1-1/4-inch diameter)

Wood teardrop cutouts (11 large, 2 small)

Acrylic paint (brown, yellow, red, orange)

Paintbrushes

Low-temperature glue gun and glue sticks

Cardboard box

Acrylic spray sealer

Tracing paper

Pencil

Scissors

Felt (1x2 inches orange, 1x2 inches red)

2 wiggle eyes (8mm each)

Tweezers

Paint all the wood pieces in the following colors: doll pin base, the 1-3/4-inch ball, and the 1-1/4-inch ball -- brown; four large teardrops -- yellow; four large teardrops -- red; three large teardrops and two small teardrops -- orange. Let dry, then apply a second coat of paint. Let dry completely.

To make the turkey's body, glue the 1-3/4-inch ball to the doll pin base. For the head, glue the 1-1/4-inch wood ball to the front top of the body.

Arrange the large teardrop pieces as shown in the illustration above for the turkey's feathers. Overlap the edges of the teardrops and glue them together so they form a half circle of feathers. Glue the half circle of feathers to the body at the center and at each end of the half circle.

To make the wings, glue a small teardrop to each side of the body. Put the turkey in a cardboard box in a well-ventilated area, and have an adult help you lightly spray it with acrylic sealer. Let dry.

To make the beak, use the pattern you can download here to trace and cut out 2 triangles from the orange felt. Align the short sides of each triangle and glue them to the center front of the head.

Use the pattern to trace and cut out the wattle from the red felt. Glue the top of the wattle to the head just below the beak. Glue the wiggle eyes to the turkey's head above the beak (you may want to use tweezers to help you with this).

Keep reading for a turkey craft that'll greet you with a gobble.

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A bag with handles is a perfect fit over a doorknob. Make this turkey door decoration, and give thanks for the holiday.

What You'll Need:

8×10-inch paper bag with handles

Card stock or construction paper: yellow, orange, brown

Red felt rickrack, 5 inches

2 wiggle eyes

Tools:

Pencil

Scissors

Markers

Paper crimper

Craft glue

Lay the bag flat on your work surface with the bottom fold facing up.

Trace the feather pattern onto card stock or paper to make four yellow, three orange, and two brown feathers. Cut out, and decorate the tips of the feathers with markers.

Fold each feather in half lengthwise, and put through the paper crimper. Unfold, and glue them to the bag, starting with the center feather and working out to the sides.

Draw a peanut-shape head on brown paper and trace the beak pattern onto orange paper; cut out. Outline the head with brown marker.

Fold the rickrack in half, and glue just the ends to the center of the face. Fold the beak in half to make a crease; unfold, and glue it over the ends of the rickrack. Glue the wiggle eyes above the beak.

Glue the head to the bag so the top half is on the bag and the bottom half is on the bag bottom. Fold in the sides of the bottom, forming triangles that look like wings; glue in place.

Note: Enlarge patterns by 133 percent.

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ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERSTurkey Blow-Ups by Lisa Lerner, Kersten HamiltonTurkey Costume by Lisa Lerner, Kersten HamiltonTiny Turkey Pillows by Lisa Lerner, Kersten HamiltonPin the Tail on the Turkey by Lisa Lerner, Kersten Hamilton