You don’t need an elaborate assortment of supplies and an unlimited amount of time to create Thanksgiving-themed crafts. In fact, you can make many Thanksgiving crafts without any special supplies or skills. Using simple, common household items you can create easy Thanksgiving crafts that can be displayed throughout your home while you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
Paper-Cup Turkey
Kaboose.com rates paper-cup turkeys as an easy-to-make Thanksgiving craft. For paper-cup turkeys, the base of the turkey is made by turning a paper or foam cup upside down and painting it brown. A piece of white construction paper cut out in the shape of a hand serves as the turkey’s feathers. The feathers should be colored using fall colors such as brown, green and red. Once the feathers are glued to the back of the cup, the turkey’s plume is complete. A small, red, heart-shaped paper cutout or foam piece turned upside down with a small paper or foam triangle glued to it, point-side down, creates the turkey’s waddle and beak. When this is glued on to a pom-pom, along with two paper or wiggly eyes, you have a head for the turkey. The head is then glued onto the cup and two feet are cut out from orange construction paper and glued to the bottom of the cup, which completes the turkey.
Paper Bag Turkey
You can create a turkey puppet using a paper bag, construction paper, glue, scissors and markers in a few simple steps. A lunch-sized paper bag, with the flap side facing up, serves as the head and body of the turkey. Hand tracings on several pieces of seasonal colored construction paper are used to create the turkey’s feathers. Red, orange, brown and yellow are festive, seasonal paper choices. Once the tracings are cut out, they are glued to the back of the paper bag to create the turkey’s plume. The number of hand cutouts you use will depend on how full you want your turkey’s plume. Paper cutouts can be used to create the turkey’s eyes, beak and waddle, or you can draw them directly onto the paper bag.
Cornucopia Place Holders
An ice cream cone filled with fruit-shaped candies or dried fruits and nuts is used to create a cornucopia place holder. A filled cone for each guest should be laid on its side on a paper napkin or a piece of construction paper. The filling should overflow and spill out of the cone onto the napkin so that it resembles a traditional cornucopia. Decorative icing is used to write the name of each guest on the side of the ice cream cone. Each cornucopia is placed on the Thanksgiving table where the appropriate guest will be seated.
