Nature's Thanksgiving Decoration or Placecard Holder

This cute turkey craft is easy to make using household items and great autumn treasures from the outdoors. Get the kids involved with this easy Thanksgiving craft.

Materials:

• Throwaway CD
• Sheet of “fun foam” from a craft store
• Small pinecone
• Almond, shell on
• Long brown nut or brazil nut, shell on
• 2 small white beans
• 2 pipe cleaners, one red and one yellow
• Black marker, for the turkey's eyes
• Small bag of unsalted, shelled pumpkin seeds
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of unpopped popcorn
• Pair of scissors
• Medium-heat glue gun
• Bottle of regular white glue

Instructions:

1. Place, and glue the CD, SHINY SIDE UP, on the “fun foam.” Then trim around it to cut off the extra.
    
2. Fold the yellow pipe cleaner in half. Then, fold each half in three smaller folds, to make two bird feet. Make the middle fold of each set of three – slightly bigger than the folds on either side of it, for a longer middle toe. Then glue it to the base of the pinecone, so the feet stick out from underneath.
    
3. Determine where the larger brown nut should be – to make the body of the little turkey. With your thumb, push in several of the “petals” of the pine cone in the front, centered above where the feet stick out, to accommodate that large nut. This is where the body should be. Then glue the nut in place. Let the glue “set.”
    
4. Cut a piece about 1-½ inches long from the red pipe cleaner. Bend it in half. That’s the wattle. Glue it on, on the top of the large brown nut, so the loop hangs down in the front a little bit. Let the glue “set.”
    
5. Figure out the best side of the almond, and where you want the eyes to go. Then glue each small white bean in place for the eyes. Let the glue “set.” Then, carefully mark in dark pupils onto the white beans, completing the eyes.
    
6. Glue the almond turkey head in place, on top o the ends of the red pipe cleaner wattle. Let the glue “set.”
    
7. Drizzle a line of white glue around the outer edge of the CD. Arrange the shelled pumpkin seeds on it, so they’re glued into place there. Let the glue dry.
    
8. Using white glue, glue the popcorn all over the rest of the exposed surface of the CD, so that the turkey looks like he’s sitting in the corn!

Note: Stand a place card in the front under the turkey's chin to use as a placecard holder.