Making hand turkeys is a beloved Thanksgiving tradition for crafty kids and adults alike. With just some simple supplies and your imagination you can easily DIY cute hand turkeys to decorate your home or give as holiday gifts. Follow this step-by-step guide to create your own unique edible turkeys using only your hand as the template!
Gather Your Hand Turkey Crafting Supplies
To make hand turkeys, you only need a few basic arts and crafts items:
- White paper or cardstock for the base
- Pencils, crayons and markers for coloring
- Glue or tape to affix decorations (optional)
- Extra decor like googly eyes, pom poms, glitter, feathers (optional)
For more durability, choose thicker paper or cardstock especially if making hand turkey placemats. Get creative with construction paper tissue paper or even coloring book pages for the bodies.
Trace Your Hand to Form the Turkey Shape
Start by tracing your hand! Spread fingers wide and place your hand palm-down on the paper. Trace fully around the hand in pencil.
Lift hand and draw a line connecting wrist endpoints to complete the turkey body. Sketch lines from finger bottoms to make feathers. Easy!
Pro tip: Remove rings and bracelets for clearer lines when tracing. For tiny hands, an adult can do the tracing.
Add Color, Features and Other Turkey Details
Time for the fun part! Color in your turkey with crayons, markers or colored pencils. Go wild with feather hues. Add basic features like eyes, mouth, waddle and feet with pens or markers.
Embellish your hand turkey with extra craft materials. Try gluing on googly eyes, pom pom snood, felt beard and glittered hat. The options are endless!
Create Your Turkey’s Backstory and Personality
Beyond basic coloring, give your hand turkey its own backstory, name and personality through creative embellishments.
Add glasses or a bowtie for a scholarly turkey. Use a red crayon for wattle acne on a teenage turkey. Glue on rainbow feathers for a pride turkey. Have fun making it unique!
Craft Turkey Hands as Placecards for Thanksgiving Table Settings
Transform hand turkeys into festive placecards! On your turkey’s “feathers,” write guest names and table seating assignments.
Place completed turkey hands at table settings so guests can find their spots. This also doubles as a lively Thanksgiving activity for antsy kids.
Display Your Handmade Turkeys Around the Home as Decor
Once complete, proudly exhibit hand turkeys around the home as Thanksgiving décor.
Hang turkeys on the fridge or around doorways with string. Perch turkeys in a bowl of dried corn or marshmallows on the table. Lean against candleholders or vases for makeshift feather bouquets.
Give Hand Turkeys to Family, Friends and Neighbors as Holiday Gifts
Your homemade hand turkeys make excellent non-edible Thanksgiving gifts!
Mail turkeys in envelopes to faraway family. Use them as DIY gift tags by punching a hole and tying onto gifts with ribbon. Or simply give framed turkeys as Thanksgiving hostess presents.
Hand Turkey Inspiration for Kids and Adults
Hand turkeys are a playful way for crafters of all ages to tap into their creativity. Follow this simple how-to and soon you’ll have a flock of fun feathery friends to celebrate Turkey Day!
With endless decoration possibilities, no two hand turkeys need to look alike. Try making turkeys together as a family and see the unique creations everyone dreams up. Let your imagination run wild with colors, textures, accessories and more.
Show off your flock of handmade turkeys throughout the fall season. And most importantly, have fun crafting! From preschoolers to great-grandparents, hand turkeys are a Thanksgiving project anyone can gobble up.
Step 3: Eye, Gizzard, and Beak
Introduction: Make a Hand Turkey
Draw a thanksgiving turkey with your hand
FAQ
What is a hand turkey?
For the uninitiated, hand turkeys are made by tracing an outline of your hand or painting and stamping it, then transforming the fingers into fanned feathers and adding an eye, beak, and gobble to the thumb, often in autumnal hues.
How do you make a turkey body?
Trace both your left and right foot. You can create the turkey body out of any color you want, but brown is the most commonly used and will resemble the look of a turkey the most. Trace your hands on six to seven pieces of colorful construction paper. Use whatever colors you like the best, and use a pencil or pen to trace around your fingers.
Are all hand turkeys the same?
All hand turkeys kind of look the same – but they also are all really different. We’ve included some fun ideas below for other craft supplies to add to your project for even more creativity.
How do you draw a Turkey with a pencil?
Trace an outline of your hand. Trace around your hand’s fingers and thumb. The thumb will be the face of your turkey, the hand will represent the body, and your fingers will represent its feathers. You can use any color of pencil you want for the outline, but make sure that the color stands out so people can see it.