Thanksgiving Archives – The Pinterested Parent

Scrap Paper Turkey Craft for Thanksgiving

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Here is a little secret about me. I used to be a scrapbooker, a big one. I have books and books filled with lovely memories set on pretty paper with stickers and stories surrounding them.

After having my daughter, I found less and less time to scrapbook, but still have a lot of supplies. I love scrapbook paper. It is pretty. It is thick and it is wonderful to craft with.

Cleaning out our craft room this weekend, I stumbled across a ton of paper stowed away in the closet. We wanted to take advantage of our find and use it to make a cute Thanksgiving craft. I had a ton of scraps to use, so I selected whatever random pieces that I had to work with.

My daughter and I both cut strips of the paper to form our turkey’s feathers.

My daughter told me that I was making a mama turkey and she was making a baby turkey. She cut her scraps into tiny strips.

For the body, I cut out a bowling pin looking shape and my daughter cut out two circles, one larger than the other.

We glued our scrap pieces flared out around our body with the printed side of the scraps facing down. When we were satisfied with the amount of scrap feathers on our turkeys, we flipped them over and added googly eyes and an orange triangle for a beak.

My daughter insisted that the mama and baby turkey had to be glued together. It made perfect sense to me. How cute is my sweet little baby? This is a great craft for Thanksgiving and a wonderful way to practice cutting skills.

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Thu
27 ^th

Craft Stick Stamped Thanksgiving Turkey

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My daughter loves to create and will do it with anything that is at her fingertips. Yesterday, she grabbed a pair of scissors and cut out two squares. She told me that she was going to make a jelly sandwich. She went and got some paint and a craft stick and spread her two squares with paint and made a grape jelly sandwich.

Watching her paint with the craft stick gave me an idea. With Thanksgiving nearing, I thought that we could use the craft stick as paint stamp to create a cute turkey craft.

Craft Stick Stamped Turkey

We squeezed acrylic paints in the color of our choosing onto paper plates and then dipped half of the craft stick into the paint.

We pressed the paint covered stick onto a piece of paper. We continued to dip and stamp the craft stick around the paper to form the turkey’s feathers.

Once we stamped on all of the feathers to our liking, we set our paint aside to dry. If the paint is very thick in spots, you can blot the paint to help it dry.

While the paint dried, we cut two circles. We made one of the circles larger than the other and then cut out a small triangle for a beak and a waddle to go under the beak.

We just slightly overlapped the smaller circle over the larger circle and glued it into place. We each glued a pair of googly eyes onto the top of the smaller circle and then glued the beak and waddle underneath it.

Once the paint dried, we glued the turkey’s body in front of its feathers.

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Wed
19 ^th

Pine Cone Pets

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A fun thing happened the other day. I found a huge bag of pine cones in my basement.

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I was excited beyond belief with our find. Pine cones make wonderful craft materials. The scales and the spaces in between make it a great material for children to use. They can stuff pom poms or tissue in between the scales or wrap the pine cones in yarn or ribbon. There are a number of options.

We wanted to make some cute critters with our pine cones and used air dry clay and pipe cleaners to form our creations. We are huge fans of the air dry clay, but you can try this with play dough as well.

Press a small piece of clay underneath the pine cone to make a sturdy base for your creature.

Roll out a ball of clay to form a head and press it into the upper portion of your pine cone. Press googly eyes into the clay. (When the clay hardens, if an eye falls out, use a dab of glue to hold it back into place)

We cut a bunch of pipe cleaners in half and some into smaller pieces to form arms, wings, antennae or other details. You may also carve into the clay to form facial details. My daughter used her finger to carve a mouth into one of her creations. She made four critters in all. They were adorable and she even gave me one as a present to put on my night stand.

I made a few animals of my own.

I used the same techniques as above. We used the clay at the bottom to form a solid base and then used clay to form the eyes for the owl and then the head for the butterfly and the turkey. Each of these got a pair of googly eyes pressed into them. The beaks for the owl and the turkey were cut out of orange foam and the waddle for the turkey was cut out of red foam. Glue was used to hold these into place. Pipe cleaners were used to form feathers, wings, feet and antennae and horns for our assorted creatures.

These were so much fun to make. I am sure that we will be making more of these together soon.

$Pinecone and pipe cleaner animals. Check out our other pine cone animals. These are cute and easy to make. Use clay or play dough for this turkey craft for kids. Fall or autumn \, Thanksgiving arts and crafts. Nature$

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Fri
30 ^th

Puzzle Piece Turkey Craft

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It has been a hectic of couple of weeks. Between moving out of our house, the construction on our new house not being finished, our daughter starting preschool & just the regular everyday stuff, I have barely had a moment to think. We have had to slow down on our regular craft routine because we have limited supplies with almost all of our home still in storage.

This morning before school, Mai asked if we could do a craft. I promised her that we would when we got home. With Thanksgiving nearing, we decided to make another turkey craft and dug through our supplies to see what was available. The first bag we came across had some old puzzle pieces in it & that is what we decided to use.

What you will need:

Old puzzle pieces

Paint

Construction paper

Googly eyes

Markers

Glue

Directions:

Paint your puzzle pieces in the color of your choice.

Mai wanted purple, I chose red & Ashley chose to mix her colors.

Ashley was so excited, she painted almost the whole bag of puzzle pieces.

After you are done painting them. Let them dry.

Cut the turkey’s body out of brown construction paper. Also cut out a beak & feet.

Glue the body onto a piece of paper. Glue on googly eyes, the beak & feet.

When your puzzle pieces are dry, glue them around the body to form the feathers. Draw in the wattle using a red marker.

Mai made her whole turkey by herself.

I did the bodies for me & a tired little Ashley.

This was a quick and easy craft

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Fri
16 ^th

Button Cornucopia Thanksgiving Craft

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Buttons, buttons, buttons…my daughter is just crazy for buttons. Whether it is using them in sensory play, selling them in her pretend button store or doing crafts with them she loves them.

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Mai saw a picture of a cornucopia the other day. She thought that it was a trumpet. I tried my best to explain to her what it was, while she looked at me with a big silly grin on her face. Since Thanksgiving is nearing, a cornucopia craft seemed like a great idea.

Button Cornucopia Craft

I cut two cornucopia horns out of construction paper, one for Mai & one for me. I used a sharpie to draw in a few details and then glued them to construction paper.

I gave my daughter her cornucopia & I took mine. I explained to her quickly that the buttons should spill out of the horn like the fruit and vegetables would. She squeezed her glue all over the construction paper & added her buttons. As she placed each button she explained to me what she was putting in her horn. She filled it with chocolate buttons, blueberry ones & even ice cubes.

She began to build upwards with her buttons explaining that it was a hungry flamingo. We had fun making our cornucopias together. When we were done, she took the leftover buttons and opened her button store for business.

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Sun
04 ^th

Button Color Match Turkey Craft

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We have been packing in a lot of fall fun & activities lately. We visited a corn maze recently.

In the maze there was a series of questions at each checkpoint in the maze leading to the maze’s end. All of the questions were about turkeys. My daughter was excited every time we found a checkpoint. We asked her a question and would try to figure it out all together. She thought it was especially funny when she found out that the red thing dangling from its neck was called a wattle. She still found it funny last night when we made a turkey craft.

Our turkey craft matched up colorful buttons with the coordinating feathers.

What you will need:

Construction paper:

Buttons

Glue

Googly eyes

Directions:

Cut out shapes for the turkey feathers out of construction paper & then glue onto another piece of paper.

Cut out a shape for the turkey’s body.

Cut out the turkey’s feet & beak & glue them onto the turkey. Cut out the wattle (still funny) & glue it to the neck.

Glue the turkey body over the feathers & add a pair of googly eyes.

Sort out the colored buttons that coordinate with the turkey feathers.

Have your child glue the buttons onto its coordinating color.

Our turkey came out adorable, wattle & all. I can’t wait for more turkey crafts.

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Mon
24 ^th

100 Things That I am Thankful For

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Why is it that it takes the holidays for us to reflect on the things in our life that are most important? On New Year’s we resolve to better ourselves, on Valentine’s Day we show appreciation for our spouses & lovers and on Thanksgiving we give thanks for all of the gifts that god has given us. We should resolve to be better every day. We should celebrate our love & all of these gifts every second, but with the stresses of work, bills & daily life often we do forget. The holidays do offer a great nudge. This week is Thanksgiving. There are many things that I am grateful for but often take for granted. I challenged myself to make a list of 100 things, some are things that I cannot live without, some are the little things that make me smile, but all are things that make be thankful. These are not listed in any particular order.

1. My husband & daughter and my extended family

2. Life and health

3. A good-natured debate

4. Watching my daughter sleep

5. Low fat frozen yogurt

6. Weekends off

7. My memories

8. Sweatpants

9. Art

10. My daughter’s laughter

11. Owls

12. Changes of season

13. My mother-in-law

14. Spanx

15. Meditation

16. The money in my wallet

17. Beauty in unexpected places

18. Our travels

19. Chocolate

20. Inspiration

21. My sister

22. Color

23. Day dreams

24. Heated mattress pads

25. Inside jokes

26. Home movies

27. Forgiveness

28. Good friends that are always there

29. Books

30. Unsolicited compliments

31. Thunderstorms

32. ‘The Princess Bride’

33. Tears of happiness

34. Hugs

35. Upbeat people

36. Decaf coffee

37. Foot rubs

38. Singing when no ones listening

39. Raw honey

40. Our dog

41. All the I love yous

42. Old photographs

43. A good sneeze

44. The blogs that I follow & the ones that follow me

45. Peppermint Patties- Get the sensation

46. My mother visiting in my dreams

47. Pinterest

48. Central Air

49. Post-It notes

50. The Beatles

51. Water

52. My snooze button

53. Dance

54. Finding a solution to a problem

55. Bubble baths

56. The warmth of the sun

57. Cherry blossoms

58. Swiffer

59. Baby feet

60. Traditions

61. Drive through windows

62. “The Big Bang Theory” nerds

63. Naps

64. Movie quotes

65. Moments of silence

66. Kisses

67. Brie & jelly

68. Dimples

69. Anti-bacterial wipes

70. Netflix Streaming

71. Internet shopping

72. Sunsets

73. Family outings

74. That perfect little black dress

75. Herbal tea

76. Pearl jewelry

77. The sound of bagpipes

78. Respect

79. Moments of clarity

80. Snow Days

81. Looking up at the stars

82. Cuddling on the couch

83. Our home

84. Christmas Carols

85. The sounds & smell of the beach

86. Toe socks – Have you ever worn a pair? You would be thankful too.

87. A blank canvas

88. A quick-witted comeback

89. Girls’ nights out

90. Kindness of strangers

91. Nutella

92. The lessons I have learned from the mistakes I have made

93. Puns

94. Musicals

95. Vicks Vapor Rub

96. A lit fireplace on a cold night

97. Hair colorant

98. Over-sized sweaters

99. My glue gun

100. God for blessing me with all of these gifts

What are you most thankful for? Can you list 100 things that you are grateful for? I challenge you to post your list. Link back to me if you do so that I may see what makes you thankful.

Thu
30 ^th

Tissue Layering & Paper Plate Crafts

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There are many reasons that I love craft projects with my toddler. One of the big ones is that it keeps her mind & hands occupied. I do many crafts side by side with her, but sometimes it is great to have her work independently while I cook supper or get chores done. Arts & crafts are a far better alternative to sitting in front of the television. This is why I love tissue paper crafting. It can keep her content for long periods of time.

Tearing the tissue into pieces is fun for her destructive little hands. Layering the tissue in different colors & patterns is a great creative outlet for my little artist.

What you will need:

Different colored sheets of tissue paper

Paper plates

Vinegar

Elmer’s glue

Paint brush

Mix 3 parts vinegar with 1 part glue & stir. The vinegar will cause the colors to bleed together & the glue will adhere the tissue to the plate.

Cut or rip the tissue paper into several pieces & colors. Layer the tissue pieces & paint on the vinegar/glue mixture. Do a few pieces at a time. Let dry & then trim the excess that hangs over the edges.

Mai said that she wanted to make a fish. We picked two colors & layered the bottom of a paper plate. Let it dry & trim around the edges. Cut out a triangle for the mouth & set the triangle aside. Cut out a triangle using a piece of construction paper. Glue the triangle mouth cutout to the inside of the construction paper cutout & glue to the opposite end of the fish’s mouth. Glue a small black circle inside of a larger black circle & glue above the mouth to make an eye.

Mai wanted to make more animals. She asked for us to make animals that live on a farm. Since Thanksgiving is coming, I suggested a turkey.

Layer & brush one color of tissue to the center of a paper plate.

Form another layer around the yellow in orange & then add another layer in red. Let dry. Cut the excess paper around the edges.

Cut out a shape for the turkey body & glue to the bottom center. Cut a piece for the turkey waddle & glue into place.

Add a beak & some googly eyes. Finish off your turkey by adding pipe cleaner legs & feet to the bottom.

Sun
26 ^th

Pine Cone & Play-Doh Turkey Crafts

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One of my favorite parts of my daughter’s days at daycare are receiving her daily reports & seeing all of the craft projects that she brings home. I love seeing her beautiful crafts, even the ones that she does with someone else.

This week she brought home a lovely fall one. It was branches bound together & decorated with Play-Doh. Miss Laura said that Mai worked on it for 2 hours.

This weekend there was a sale on Play-Doh at the supermarket, so I stocked up. Mai was so excited when I came home with a box filled with 24 different shades of it. She dove right in & started creating.

She is becoming quite the little artist. Her imagination is developing so quickly. I watched her as she kneaded & forms different shapes & put them together. She explained to me as she molded her creation what she was making. “Look mama, a frog! He has a blue fly on his tongue.” I have to admit, I was very proud.

She did not stop there. “Look Mama, I made Dukey’s poop.” Oh dear! It does look like Dukey’s poop.

Since we already were in such a crafty mood & had a table full of Play-Doh, I thought we could make something together.

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft

This just require pine cones & Play-doh. I used craft pine cones only because they were handy. You can use ones from your yard as well.

Form & mold the turkey’s head to the fat part of the pine cone. Show your child how to do it & let them do it to their own.
(If your pine cone is wobbly, place a chunk of Play-doh underneath to keep sturdy.)

Form long oval shaped pieces to use as the turkey feathers.

Insert towards the back between the pine cone scales.

Again, show your little one how to do it.

Add the beak. Older children may be able to do this step, but the smaller hands might need the help. Mai asked mama to make her turkey face.

Add the eyes next.

Add the turkey’s waddle & you are done.

Wed
13 ^th

Mommy & Me Thanksgiving Crafts

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I think every parent wants & hopes that their children will show interest in things that they are passionate about. Of course they will discover their own talents and passions, but to be able to have something to share and to connect to them with would be amazing. For my husband, who is a marathon runner, he has aspirations of Mai running races with him someday. He also loves to golf. He bought Mai her first toy golf set when she was just starting to walk.

Since the day my daughter was born, I have been excited for the day that we would be able to do arts & craft projects together. I think I bought her, her first box of crayons before she could even hold one. I started her on finger paints before she turned one. I have been so hopeful that she would love art as much as I do. She likes to color and use her finger paints and she loves it when mommy draws pictures for her. She will often give me special requests by handing me her crayon and shouting “horse” or making an elephant sound. God, is she cute.

With the holidays coming, I have been daydreaming of decorating sugar cookies and making gingerbread houses but since Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, I thought we could do a Thanksgiving Day craft favorite. Who hasn’t made the classic hand turkey as a child? I think most of us, probably have. I wanted to make a special turkey that joined our two hands together. Unfortunately, it is hard to explain to a nearly 2 year old toddler, that she can’t wiggle her hand around in the paint to make a mommy/daughter hand turkey.

Instead, Mai finger painted with her Cool Whip paints and had fun on her own, but did let mommy take a footprint.

I took her foot print and added it to my hand. The foot would be the wing to my hand’s turkey’s body.

I added the feet & wattle using paint & here is mommy & Mai’s hand & foot turkey.

Here is another cute and easy idea.

What you will need…

Styrofoam flower cone

Pipe cleaners in assorted colors

Googly eyes

Glue

Take the styrofoam cone and cut it to your desired height. I carved around the top also to give the appearance of a head.

Bend the pipe cleaners in half to use as the feathers.

Poke & insert folded pipe cleaners into the back of the styrofoam to form feathers.

Use an orange or yellow pipe cleaner & cut into small pieces to use for the feet & beak. Knot a red pipe cleaner to use as the turkey wattle. Glue on the googly eyes and done.

This is an easy project for kids of all ages.

Up next…Things That Make My Daughter Laugh

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Thanksgiving