My home is surrounded by pine trees and at this time of year, we have an abundance of pine cones laying around the yard. I am always thinking up ways to decorate and use pine cones around the house. My latest venture is a pine cone turkey and it literally cost me nothing to make! Even if you don't have pine cones laying around, this is a really easy, fun, and affordable craft that you can do with kids and the turkeys can be used to decorate for the holidays!


What you will need:
Pinecone
Leaves
Acorn
Wooden skewer {Painted or stained brown and cut to about 1.5-2 inches long. Make sure to keep one pointy end.}
Scrap piece of red felt or fabric.
Glue sticks and hot glue gun

Directions:
1. Choose a short and stumpy pine cone.
2. Gather a few leaves and fan them out to form the turkey's tail feathers. Using your hot glue gun {if doing this craft with a child, use Elmers Glue}, glue the leaves together so that they stay together.

3. Hot glue the leaves onto the back of the pine cone.
4. Press firmly together and hold until the glue sets or dries. Takes about 30 seconds.

At this point, this is what you will have:
5. Stick the painted or stained skewer--pointy end down--into the pine cone. You'll have to play around with finding the perfect spot for it. Once you find the right spot, take it back out and add some glue to skewer and place it back in the same spot.
6. Cut the wattle from the red felt. I just cut an amoeba looking shape LOL. Here's a tip though--cut it a little longer than you need. That way you can use that extra length to glue onto the neck or skewer. It will act as a platform of sorts too and help steady the head.
7. Once you have the wattle, glue it onto the top of the skewer or neck and press firmly for a few seconds.
8. Finally, take the acorn and glue onto the top of the skewer or neck.


Use the turkeys to decorate your home for the holidays or for your Thanksgiving table. You can even use these little guys as place card holders. Just cut out a piece of cardstock {I freehanded} and hand write your guests' names. Tuck into the pine cone and you have a beautiful place card holder and place setting!