This table runner is one of my most sentimental mom projects we’ve done to date. Those little hands grow so quickly, and having something that captures all the stages is pretty special. Let me tell you how to make your own turkey table runner keepsake.
Once upon a time, I shared this Thanksgiving playdate we had with friends. Over the years, I’ve had numerous messages and emails asking questions about how I did it. I’m pretty sure that original post was two computers ago, and I can’t find the original pictures. I hope this tutorial post helps YOU be able to create your own tradition with your kids.
Start your project by getting a basic, plain table runner. You can buy these anywhere. Mine is from Ikea. It doesn’t even have to be new. Mine had stains, and I’ll show you how that’s ok.
Start by painting your kid’s hands. I use a foam brush because it absorbs the paint quickly and gets it on pretty evenly. My kids are a bit older this time around, so they were able to paint their own hands. Mamas of littles, just have your baby wipes ready to start grabbing and cleaning their hands after you get their hand painted and stamped onto your table runner. 
Part of the fun of using an old table runner is you can place your handprints right on top of the stain to cover it up. Once your hand is painted and stamped onto your table runner, press on each finger to make sure the paint transferred to the runner well.
Some ideas for your turkeys:
- You can add a new turkey every year to the table runner. With this idea, you will see how their hands (ahem…turkeys get larger every year)
- You can color code each child their own color or you could have them choose their favorite color that year to use for their turkey. This is fun because you can see their interests as well.
Once your handprints are down, you can embellish your print to look like a turkey. Use any colors or design that you like! I painted my kid’s turkeys this time, but your kids might have fun adding onto their handprint by themselves. This is the season of smears and some imperfections. It’s part of the beauty. ENJOY it! They will be grown before we know it.
After your turkeys are complete, you can have your child write their name beside their turkey. Make sure you date your group of turkeys. If you add on to your table runner the following year, you can clearly see the changes in years. (At the end of this turkey craft, you can see my table runner with 2011 and 2012 handprints). I will be going back and adding the year to this table runner.
What do you think!? Can you see yourself making a table runner keepsake!? I recommend spot cleaning these. If you want to be extra protective, maybe you display it on a buffet or somewhere away from the primary food table.
Let me know, if you have any more questions and I will try to clear those up!
Do you have a child who is fascinated with things in the kitchen? How about the pot holders? We do. Random, I know. What can I say? One of our sons uses them anytime he is warming up stuff or toasting things in the kitchen. I’ve tried to show him he’s not in a real danger zone with his warming duties, but he loves the pot holders. Maybe it makes him feel like a real chef!? It’s one of those easy parent-child issues that doesn’t really matter, so we’ve embraced the pot holder fetish.
I started out by gathering a ton of supplies. Next, I had to consider what type of animal or creature to make! A monster or dinosaur were my first ideas because you could get super creative with colors and textures. With Thanksgiving coming up, I decided to make a turkey (knowing my first grader would have a blast with him).
I started by cutting out the turkey’s beak. After placing it where it should go, I decided it needed to be a bit bigger. It helped me to cut out several of my pieces from the felt and just place them where they would go, before hot gluing them in place. This checked scale and placement before I committed to it.
After I had my main design, I hot glued the felt pieces in place and started playing with more materials. I added googly eyes and feathers for more fun textures.
I loved it so much, I started snapping pictures to send to my husband immediately. I knew this turkey needed someone besides me to talk to, so I whipped up a horse to be his friend.
My favorite part of the horse is the eyelashes! They are the side of a feather.
What do you think!? Do you need to create some pot holder puppets as well!? I don’t think these will be used with our toaster oven, but they sure make a fun toy! Let your imagination go wild! What creature would you make??
One of my favorite things to do with my kids is to create with them. In these moments, we can sit and talk and jump from being in our own imaginations to dreaming with one another. It’s so fun. It’s often in these moments that we come up with cool ideas like this pom pom bead.
We got a big pile of pom poms, and the next step is to just attach these two materials!
We used our hot glue gun. We simply held the bead by the openings so the side of the bead is open. We placed a small dab of hot glue on the bead and pressed the pom pom on top.
This is such a quick process! Before you know it, you will have a huge pile of pom pom beads! We love how the beads are cheap and quick, yet they create a whole new dimension and texture to our garland! My girl loved stringing these up with her other pieces! It was such a fun and easy sewing project for her!
What do you think? Would your little one like to create some pom pom beads to sew with too? You could make a garland with just pom pom beads. Or maybe replace the triangle with fabric strips!? With a little imagination, the possibilities are endless.
Christmas is coming. Can’t you see a long strand of these wrapped around a small table top tree? How cute!