How To Make Pine Cone Turkeys

Read all of the steps before starting.

Step 1: Project Preparation

Read through the project and gather the materials needed for making the pine cone turkeys. Pine cones that are gathered outside will need some time to dry before making them into turkeys. You will also want to check them for bugs.  If you are doing this craft with a group, precutting the chenille stems and gathering the materials for each child will make the craft go faster.

Step 2: Cut Bumps

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Cut the chenille stems into individual bumps. Use wire cutters to cut in the center of the narrow places between each bump. Do your best to keep the bumps plump and fluffy.

Step 3: Make Head

Fashion a red bump into an S-shape. Glue it to the open, rounded end of the pine cone with it extending above the pine cone a bit to form the turkey's head. The fluffy part of the bump is the turkey's wattle.

Step 4: Make Legs

Bend an orange bump in half to form a V-shape for the legs. Glue this to the bottom of the pine cone, inserting it partially between opened scales. Form feet by bending the ends. You can also fashion feet and toes from orange pipe cleaners twisted onto the ends of the bump.

Step 5: Make Tail

Bend five to seven bumps  in half, keeping the center rounded and fluffy, to form feathers for the tail. Twist the ends together. It's easy to make a rounded top by bending the middle of the bump over a pencil or a pen.

Step 6: Glue Tail

Glue feathers to the stem end of the pine cone using a glue gun, wood glue or a good quality craft glue that dries clear. Use as many feathers as will fit nicely on the pine cone. Only apply glue to the twisted ends of the feathers. If the stem end of the pine cone isn't flat, glue the feathers to a ring fashioned from a pipe cleaner. Let the glue dry, then glue the ring holding the feathers to the pine cone.

Step 7: Finishing Up

After the glue has dried, adjust the shape of the chenille bumps to make the turkey look more realistic. When you set the table of Thanksgiving, put a turkey at each place setting or add them to the centerpiece. They make a colorful addition to the table!