Stick Turkey (Thanksgiving Decoration from your back yard)

Can you believe Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away!?

I cannot.

Christmas is on my mind. I have been crafting for it and preparing my Handmade Christmas party (that you are invited too!), but I don’t want to skip Thanksgiving in the process. Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love the changing colors and the special time it is to reflect on all we have to be thankful for.

I made this simple, rustic stick turkey as an easy decorative element to add to my Thanksgiving decor. It cost me less than $3.00 (since I had all the supplies but the wood egg) and was so easy! If you would like to make one too, here are the supplies you will need:

Materials:

• Wood sticks
• Wood Egg
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks
• Rust-oleum Paprika Spray paint
• Felt scrap (for beak)
• Two beads (for eyes)
• Feathers (add for decorative)

I started by spray painting my wood egg a really pretty fall color with Rust-oleum’s Paprika. After it was dry, I lightly sanded it to give the wood egg a little beat up more rustic charming look.

I then searched through my sticks to find a good round one that would work as the head. I liked the stick I found because it was flat at one end to hot glue tightly on to the egg. I placed a little hot glue  to the back of the stick and stuck it in place about two-thirds down the egg. I held it in place while the glue set and then hot glued a small thin stick on either side of it to create a fuller round turkey head.

The next part was to turn the egg around and start on the tail. I put a strand of hot glue down the middle of the egg and stuck one of my taller sticks on it. I used that stick as the middle stick and started placing sticks (going smaller in size) down on either side of it. Note: Make sure to not glue the sticks too far down towards the base of the egg that would prevent the turkey from sitting upright.

Once you have a wide tail that you like, it is complete! I used 11 sticks to create the width tail I liked. Depending on your size stick and wood egg you might want more or less.

Next, I used a small felt scrap and two beads to embellish my turkey’s face. I just used a little hot glue to hold them in place. I decided to add a few feathers to my tail to make it a more obvious turkey. You, of course, don’t have to do this and can keep the tail more rustic by just using the sticks. Once all of these elements were on, my stick turkey was finished! I added him to my table’s centerpiece and love how he sits all proud and happy on it!

I think the natural wood elements in the turkey look so good with the pine cones and real fall leaves we gathered on a hike this week. You add in my hand print table runner, burlap strips make shift table-cloth, and Happy Thanksgiving banner, and we have a really simple pretty fall display. I love it.

What about you? Do you love Thanksgiving too or is Christmas already on your mind?

Is it possible to decorate for BOTH holidays at the same time. I need tips since we are having a Thanks-mas (Thanksgiving + Christmas celebration) at my house with my whole family. So, please tell me how you do this month’s decor!

Happy Friday! I hope you all have a great weekend!