How to Make a Decorative Turkey Basket

Decorate your bread basket for Thanksgiving this year, by making it look like a turkey! The kids will enjoy being a part of the festivities, and creating this basket will give them something to do while you create the meal for the family. This turkey basket is a great addition to the dinner table, and while it is festive, it is easy to remove the "turkey parts" to return your basket to normal after the holiday is over.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Glue
• Wooden spoon
• Craft eyes
• Various colors of construction paper
• Wrapping paper
• Old magazines
• Wooden skewers
• Foam craft blocks

1. Press a large block of craft foam into the bottom of the basket. This will allow you to poke the necessary parts into the basket to create the turkey. Make sure the foam is several inches thick, but that it does not totally fill the basket, so there is still room to place food in the basket after it is decorated.

2. Glue two craft eyes onto the back of the wooden spoon. This will be the head of the turkey. Next, cut a triangle out of yellow construction paper to create the beak of the turkey. Glue this onto the middle of the back of the spoon.

3. Cut out a red wattle for the turkey and glue it next to the beak. Allow the turkey head to dry for a bit before inserting it into the foam at the front of the basket.

4. Cut out a bunch of feathers from different colors of construction paper. You can create a template for the feather out of cardboard, then simply trace the feather onto the construction paper, this way you can make sure they are all the same size.

5. Cut out slightly smaller feathers from the wrapping paper or magazine pages. Again, you can make a cardboard template for these feathers to ensure they are also the same size.

6. Glue a wooden skewer between the construction paper feather and the wrapping paper/magazine picture feather. This way, the skewer is sandwiched between the two sizes of feathers. Leave several inches of the skewer sticking out, so you can poke the end of the skewer into the craft foam to arrange the feathers at the back of the basket.

7. Arrange the feathers at the back of the basket by poking them into the craft foam. Cover the inside of the basket and the foam with a towel, and you are ready to place your food into the basket and serve your family and friends from your new Thanksgiving masterpiece!

Tips & Warnings

• Cover the table or workspace with waxed paper or newspaper to make for an easier clean up.
• Consider using glitter, markers, crayons, or stickers to decorate the feathers rather than wrapping paper or magazines.
• Be sure to cover the craft foam with a towel before putting your food items into the basket. This will ensure the food does not get foam crumbs on it.