Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath Craft Tutorial

Don’t Skip Thanksgiving! Decorate your door with this easy Tulle Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath craft! Your guests will love seeing this Thanksgiving Wreath on your Door decor!

This article originally published Nov 22, 2016. It has been updated for your convenience. 

Why is it that Thanksgiving Decor is so difficult to find? Sure, you can find Halloween items as early as the end of July! And you can easily craft our Witch Hat Headband almost year-round! But come September all the Christmas decor hits the stores and not a single item for Thanksgiving!

We are firm believers in not skipping Thanksgiving. While it is really hard to find fun Thanksgiving Decor items, I do what I can to help make our home festive for Thanksgiving. Like this simple Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath craft!

We do a lot of last-minute crafts in our home. Especially when I spend months looking for new Thanksgiving decorations only to come up disappointed.

So that just means I have to make them myself! Thus, the last-minute Thanksgiving crafts you get to enjoy!

Our Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath craft is one I have been planning on making for years! And I do mean years. I had the idea and desire to make one right after I made our first Christmas Tulle Wreath!

But since it was December, I figured I was way out of season. And then I revisited the idea when I made our very popular Halloween Tulle Wreath.

But at that time, sickness hit our home and we didn’t emerge until after Thanksgiving…AGAIN!

Good grief! I was starting to feel like I was never going to get my Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath craft!

But this year, I said ENOUGH! I’m going to get my Thanksgiving turkey wreath!

And hey, it may be cutting it really close, but it happened the day before Thanksgiving! So obviously, that didn’t give much time for everyone else to make one in time for Thanksgiving.

But this year you have plenty of time to make your own Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath!

Our little Turkey only spent a few short days on our front door that first year. But he kept nicely in storage. And now he will be hitting my front door again come November 1st!

So let’s show just how easy this Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath craft is!

Tulle Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath Craft

I call it a 2-day craft, simply because you have to allow some paint to dry. And I can only snag a few hours away from Miss Rose at a time while she naps.

But the acrylic paint only takes about an hour to dry. So really, if you don’t have a baby underfoot, you can get it all done in one day.

Watch our Video Tutorial here!!!
You can also catch it on Youtube.

Supplies:

• Foam wreath. You can pick any size you want. I went small.
• FolkArt outdoor acrylic Paint – Maple Syrup, Lemon Custard yellow, Licorice black
• Styrofoam ball medium for the turkey head – measure it next to the wreath you pick to ensure the correct size
• Styrofoam cone small for the turkey beak – again measure it next to the styrofoam ball for proper size
• Two Small styrofoam balls for the eyes – measure against other items to ensure proper proportion
• 1 red craft foam sheet
• Brown Yarn
• 25 yards Red Tulle
• 25 yards Orange Tulle
• 25 yards Brown Tulle
• 25 yards Yellow Tulle
• Toothpicks
• Hot Glue gunand Hot Glue
• 3 Foam Paint Brushes
• Fabric Scissors
• Length of Cardboard

I regularly purchase my craft supplies from Walmart, Michaels, and Amazon.

Step 1: Paint 

The first thing to do is to get the styrofoam pieces painted. The larger round ball, cone, and small round balls.

Use the maple syrup acrylic paint to paint the large round ball. This will be the Turkey’s head.

Since it is styrofoam you can’t really brush like a normal painting. Its texture is too rough. Simply dab it around and work to make the painting even.

Since it is circular, add toothpicks into the base to create a stand where the ball can dry without resting on a surface.

Paint the Cone with the Lemon Custard acrylic paint. Again create a base with toothpicks so it can stand and dry.

Finally, using the black acrylic paint, you will paint just a small area in the front of each of the smaller circles. These will be the pupils of the eyeballs.

I had an extra cone around, so I inserted one toothpick into the back of each eye and inserted it into the spare cone to give the eyes a spot to dry.

Allow a minimum of 1 hour to dry. Check to ensure each item is completely dry and not tacky to the touch before moving on.

Step 2: Cutting the Tulle

This can be a very tedious process. But there is a trick to cutting up the tulle. Decide how fluffy you want your “feathers” to be. You need tulle long enough to tie around the wreath, but short enough to fluff out after being tied.

You can usually do well with tulle between 16-20″ in length. Try different pieces and decide which length you like best once it is tied on.

When you know the length of the tulle you want, cut out a strip of cardboard with a box cutter from a spare shipping box.

Wrap the tulle around the length of the cardboard, over and over again. You will count until you have about 30 strips (not complete circles) wound around the cardboard.

Use the scissors and trim off the spool. Then cut at the opposite ends of the cardboard. You just cut 30 strips of tulle in less than 5 minutes!

I used 30 strips of yellow, orange and brown tulle. But because I wanted to start and end with Red, I used 35 strips of red tulle.

HUGE time saver! If you need help, watch our video tutorial above to see how it is done.

Step 3: Wrap The Yarn

I used to say tying all the tulle in place took the longest when doing a tulle wreath. But I take it back! Wrapping yarn around a wreath is much more time-consuming! So, get comfortable for this next step.

Lay the wreath flat. Estimate how much of the Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath craft you want to show as the “chest” or underside of your turkey. Mark it with a pen.

I aimed for slightly less than 1/3 of the circle.

Then secure the end of the yard on one end with hot glue.

Wrap the yarn around the wreath. Keep the yarn taut as you go to ensure a smooth wrapping.

When you reach your 2nd mark, trim the yard and secure the end with more hot glue.

Step 4: Tie the Tulle

Decide which pattern of colors you want your tulle to have on your Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath. I decided to go in a Red, Yellow, Orange, Brown pattern.

Layout the tulle strips in the color pattern of your choice.

Begin tying the tulle onto the wreath. Start at one end of the yarn and work your way around the wreath to cover the area where the styrofoam is still visible.

Tie on five strips of each color. Then tie on 5 strips of the next color. And repeat this process until you are out of tulle or you are all the way around to the other end of the yarn.

Once you have all the tulle strips attached, adjust the “tightness” of the colors around the wreath. If one batch of red appears a little squished, adjust the other tulle around it to give it a little more room.

Then fluff all the tulle ends to give the look of fluffy feathers.

Step 5: Attach the Head

Insert 1-2 toothpicks into the base of the round ball you painted brown.

Add a little hot glue on the base of the styrofoam ball near the toothpicks.

Insert the toothpicks into the wreath in the center of the yarn section.

Push until the toothpicks are fully submerged into the wreath and the turkey head is solid against the yarn. The glue should help secure the head to the wreath.

Using the turkey beak cone as a size gauge, cut a strip of red foam that is the same width as the cone, but double the length. This will be the Snood of the Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath.

Cut a Snood shape out of the red foam sheet. I free-handed the cutting.

Place hot glue on the tip of the back of the Snood and then attach it to the center of the turkey head. You can place it at an angle if you so desire.

Insert a toothpick into the center of the back of the Turkey Beak. Add Hot Glue to the base around the toothpick.

Insert the toothpick through the top of the snood and into the turkey head.

Push until the turkey beak is securely attached to the head. It will overlap the snood.

Now add 2 toothpicks to the head where you want the eyes placed.

Attach the eyes to the toothpicks to ensure they look right. If not adjust the toothpicks or the eyes on the toothpicks.

Once you get the eyes right, then add hot glue to the bottom of the eyes and reattach to the toothpicks to glue them into place.

Step 6: Hang

Create a “hanger” from more tulle. Decide which patch of tulle is directly center above the turkey head and cut a length of tulle.

Work attaching the tulle in the middle of the patch of tulle that matches the color.

Create a hook with the tulle. Secure both ends and work it to the back of the tulle.

Now you have a hook that isn’t obviously visible.

Hang your Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath on your door and enjoy!

I’ve been asked many times how I hang my wreaths on my door.

I’ve tried those crazy  “over the door Hooks”. Yes, they work. But they don’t always get the wreath to hand where I want it to hang. Plus sometimes if your door jam is too tight, it won’t close properly with an “over the door” hanger.

What I have been using recently has been working brilliantly! I purchase a few 3M Outdoor Command Hooks. You definitely want the OUTDOOR version because they last much longer to the outdoor elements than the regular command hooks.

I stick one on my front door and hang my wreaths. That’s it!

If I want to change how my wreath hangs, I can easily remove the hook without any damage to my door. I love them!

But no matter how you hang your Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath, one thing will definitely be the same!

You will for certain get a lot of comments on your new awesome Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath!

It’s a great conversation starter and will make your home quite festive for the Thanksgiving season!

So don’t skip decorating for Thanksgiving anymore!

And be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can see how it turned out!

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Check out our other easy Last Minute Thanksgiving Crafts! We have great ideas to help keep the kids happy while they are waiting for the turkey to be ready to devour! Like a fun Apple Turkey Craft (snack time included) or a simple Clay Pot Turkey Craft!

And don’t make your turkey cringe, be sure to use our Turkey Brine recipe, so you can have the juiciest Turkey you have ever tasted!

Autumn is also when all the Babies begin to arrive! At least among my acquaintances. So be prepared for your next baby shower with an Adorable Gender Neutral Hot Air Balloon Diaper Cake.

Where will you hang your Thanksgiving Turkey Wreath craft?