GO GREEN: While keeping the kids busy :)

Tin Can Turkey

Gobble gobble! This adorable little turkey-themed craft for kids is perfect for filling with wrapped candy. Place him on the Thanksgiving table and everyone will comment on just how cute he is!

What you'll need:

• 1 vegetable can
• Felt: brown, red, orange, tan, goldenrod, white, black
• Scissors
• Tail Patterns
• All other patterns
• Scissors
• White craft glue
• Hot glue gun

How to make it:

1. Inspect the opening of the vegetable can and be sure there aren’t any sharp edges. If there are, use a piece of sandpaper to wear them down. Remove label, wash and dry completely.
2. Lay can on its side on the short end of the sheet of brown felt. Roll up to determine how much felt you will need, trim the end so that you have about an inch overlap at the top, bottom and around the perimeter as well. Glue the brown felt to the can, folding over the excess and gluing to the bottom and inside the lip of the can. Look for the seam, this will be the back of your turkey.
3. Using pattern, cut out the tail from a piece of cardstock, you will need this to glue your felt to as the felt is too flimsy to stand on its own. Using the other patterns, cut out a red waddle, white eyes, black pupils, brown head, black eyebrows, goldenrod beak, tan collar, and orange feet. For tail feathers, cut out 2 red, 2 tan, 1 orange, 1 goldenrod and 1 brown.
4. Glue the collar, straight side lines up with the top of the can, to the front of the turkey (remember, seam is in the back).
5. Glue the red waddle just above the bottom of the collar.
6. Glue the head over the top of the waddle, leaving just the bumps of the waddle showing below the head. The head will be above the lip of the can
7. Glue on the whites of the eyes in the center of the head. Glue on the black pupils to the white.
8. Glue on the goldenrod beak, overlapping the bottom of the eyes slightly.
9. Glue on the eyebrows above the eyes, pointing upward.
10. Glue 2 orange feet to the bottom portion of the can (see photo).
11. Lay the card stock tail template on to the table. Glue a red felt tail feather on top of the far right point. Repeat on the left side with the other red tail feather. Glue a tan feather to the next point on the right, overlapping the first red one. Do this on the left as well, using a goldenrod tail feather.
12. Repeat on the right with an orange feather and on the left with a tan feather. Finally, glue the brown feather to the center point, overlapping feathers on both sides. Be sure there is no card stock peeking through, all should be covered with felt feathers.
13. Hot glue the completed tail to the back of the can. Put some hot glue on the sides of the can and squeeze the tail feathers around the side by gripping the can with your hand.

Tips:

• You can use any colors you like for the feathers, our choices are just festive suggestions.
• Save vegetable and other tin cans for fun projects like this one all year long.
• Felt is fairly inexpensive, so stock up whenever you can. We buy ours at our local craft supply store for 20 cents per sheet.