Create a Festive Flock of Canning Lid Turkeys
Create a Festive Flock of Canning Lid Turkeys
Welcome to your new favorite Thanksgiving craft! This easy DIY takes ordinary metal canning lids and transforms them into a trio of adorable turkeys, perfect for autumn décor. Before we begin, be sure to pin this tutorial for later.
Why Kids Will Love Making These Turkeys
This Thanksgiving craft has appeal for all ages but is especially enjoyable for young children. Here’s what makes it such a winning classroom or home activity:
Promotes Creativity & Self-Expression While step-by-step instructions are provided, there’s still ample room for imagination. Kids can pick their own feather colors and shapes, add extra doodads like sequins or beads, and more.
Develops Fine Motor Skills Cutting out the felt pieces, gluing on all the small components, and painting builds finger dexterity and coordination.
Quick & Budget-Friendly Using recycled materials means there’s very little prep. And you likely already have everything needed at home with no special trips to craft stores required.
Makes a Cute Holiday Decoration The cute handmade turkeys have endless display possibilities. Line them up on the tablescape, scatter them around the centerpiece, or cluster them on a tiered tray.
Adds Festive DIY Touches Thanksgiving is full of store-bought disposable decor. Proudly handmade details like this add special homemade charm and memories.
So let those creative juices flow! Crafting turkeys out of canning jar lids makes for inexpensive art you can gobble up.
Gathering Your Materials for the Canning Lid Turkey Craft
You likely have most, if not all, of the supplies needed for this simple Thanksgiving craft already around the house. But if not, a quick trip to your local craft or dollar store should do the trick. I’ve included some affiliate links below for convenience.
- Metal Canning Jar Lids – The silver metal lids act as the base for our turkeys. Recycling used ones works perfectly.
- Wiggle Eyes – These self-adhesive plastic googly eyes provide tons of personality. Choose small or large.
- Glue Gun and Glue Sticks – Great for adhering the eyes, feathers, and other embellishments. High temp glue works best.
- Silk Leaves – These faux leaves make the feathers and tail feathers with some snipping.
- Tumbling Tower Game Pieces – The wooden blocks become the turkey heads and bodies.
- Brown Craft Paint – For painting the blocks to resemble turkey plumage. Any multi-surface paint works.
- Gold and Burgundy Craft Felt – Cut into small pieces to form the turkey wattles and snoodles (dangling chin bits).
- Marker or Straight Pins – Helpful for marking where to attach the feathers and features.
- Paint Brush – For painting on the brown craft paint color.
- Scissors – Essential for cutting out the felt pieces and snipping the silk greenery.
Now that you’ve gathered everything on the supply list, let’s take a closer look at how it all comes together.
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PATTERNS JAR LID TURKEY
Creating Your Canning Lid Turkeys Step-by-Step
Follow these simple steps to transform basic materials into a flock of festive faux turkeys. Feel free to get creative with additional embellishments!
STEP 1: Basecoat Lids Gather supplies. Basecoat the metal canning jar lids with brown multi-surface acrylic craft paint. Allow to dry fully before adding a second coat if needed for coverage.
STEP 2: Print and Cut Out Patterns Download, print, and cut out the canning lid turkey patterns included below. Trace the beak shape onto gold craft felt and the wattle onto burgundy craft felt. Cut out with scissors.
STEP 3: Adhere Face Features Create a distinctive turkey face by attaching wiggle eyes, the felt waddle piece, and felt beak using a glue gun or strong liquid craft glue.
STEP 4: Make the Feathers Trim the plastic stem piece off three faux silk leaves. Adhere them to the back of the lid using hot glue to form the feathered tail.
STEP 5: Craft the Stand Glue two wooden tumbling tower game pieces together to form a base. Paint brown to match the lid once dry.
STEP 6: Attach the Stand Affix the stand to the bottom center edge of the turkey lid with glue. Hold until fully set and stable.
Display Your Canning Lid Turkeys with Thanksgiving Pride
With just a bit of easy cutting, gluing, sticking and painting, you can transform basic household ingredients into an endearing flock of Thanksgiving turkeys. Feel free to multiply the supplies to make a whole family!
Once complete, prominently display your handcrafted creations as the perfect handmade accent to your autumn décor and tablescape. Lean them up against a centerpiece or cornucopia, cluster together on a tiered tray or stand, or line them up marching across the table.
However you choose to showcase them, these budget-friendly turkeys are sure to elicit smiles and showcase seasonal DIY spirit. Just don’t let the cats get to them!
