Now that Halloween is over, I am officially in Thanksgiving decorating mode. To kick things off, I created cute turkey place cards.
If you would like to make some for yourself, you’ll need:
One bag of mixed nuts, in the shells. Pull out the walnuts and hazelnuts.
Hot glue gun
Dried, pressed leaves. If you don’t have pretty leaves to dry, fake leaves or paper would work, too.
A black pen
Oogly eyes or cardstock circles with black dots drawn in
Colored cardstock for beak and feet. I used an old cereal box for the feet.
To start, glue the hazelnut, pretty, slightly pointed side forward, to the top front of the walnut. Again, the walnut should have the slightly pointed area to the front. Then, write each guest’s name on one leaf. Find similar sized leaves (4 more) for each turkey. Glue the name leaf to the back at the center of the walnut. Glue the remaining leaves and cover the glue from the previous leaves.
Cut ‘feet’ out of cardstock or thin cardboard. First, make a slightly rounded ‘V’ shape about 1 inch long.
Cut toes by making another rounded ‘V’ in the center. Then cut two more ‘V’s, totaling four toes. Add a dollop of glue to the back of the V and place the walnut on top, making the turkey stand.
To make the face, use an all purpose glue to attach the eyes. For the beak, cut a small piece of cardstock, fold in half, and cut again into a triangle. Add glue to the V of the triangle and glue to the hazelnut. Then, you’re done!
Top each place setting with a turkey and get ready to feast.
Isn’t he cute? And, when you’re done, you can eat him. Sort of like eating the chocolate Easter bunnies.
Oh, here’s another cute idea. Well, I think it’s cute. Remember these felt leaf bowls I made? Well, why not create a few more and use them as individual bread baskets? We always have so much food on the table and so little room for each person. This can limit the large platters on the table, and it’s something cute for guests to take home.
If you don’t want to take the time to use tweed, you could just cut out several felt leaves, stitch the darts together and use a felt only bowl. The leaf bowl above used a 6 inch, from top to bottom, excluding the stem, template.
Gloria
/ November 2, 2010Oh my gosh…those are adorable!!
Kara Paslay Designs
/ November 2, 2010Hey Amanda! Just wanted to let you know your dining room B and A is up over on my blog! Thanks so much for contributing!
McCall
/ November 2, 2010I love this! Those little turkeys are absolutely ADORABLE!
Chandeen Santos
/ November 2, 2010Love the little turkeys!! I’m hosting next year and getting ideas already. Thanks for the great idea.
Suzanne
/ November 2, 2010Visiting from CSI — Love these little turkeys! They are adorable!
Gwen @ Gwenny Penny
/ November 3, 2010So cute! I love the way he looks sitting on the place setting. Visiting from CSI.
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 3, 2010Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I think they’re super cute, but they’re also really easy to make AND it’s a great project for kids to help with. Vincent loved collecting the leaves.
Rene
/ November 4, 2010Those are the cutest little turkeys! I’m bookmarking this idea.
-Rene
Jen
/ November 4, 2010These have to be the cutest things I have ever seen!!
I’m featuring this on my blog today! I hope you don’t mind!
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 5, 2010Hi Jen,
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I think they’re cute, but I’m biased. Of course, please do feature them on your blog.
Thanks!!
Amanda
Beverly
/ November 5, 2010Goodness – you’re full of great ideas! I love the little acorn turkeys – the names written on the leaves is too cute. The individual felt bowl idea is great too! Thanks.
Alida L
/ November 5, 2010How adorable! I am so going to do this for Thanksgiving!
I’m visiting from Tatertots and Jello, here is my blog:
http://imakestuff4fun.blogspot.com/2010/11/turkey-girls-with-twirly-skirts.html
Shirley L
/ November 5, 2010OH my goodness these are adorable!
pk @ Room Remix
/ November 9, 2010Super cute! Thanks for sharing the idea.
jen
/ November 15, 2010These are adorable! I hope you don’t mind – I adapted them a little and made my own idea (here: http://homeinthecountry.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/walnut-turkeys/)
Thanks for the inspiration!
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 15, 2010hi Jen,
I don’t mind at all! I’ll check them out!
Thanks!
Amanda