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I enjoy being creative and making things, and it is extra enjoyable when I make something that is a little more creative.
These Cute Little Wooden Turkeys are one of those projects.
Although, this project wasn’t completely my idea as it was a group effort between me and my wife, Joy, which made it even more enjoyable!
It is always nicer when we can be creative and make something together, which is something we have done since we were dating, before we got married 15 years ago.
When we first met, I didn’t really have hobbies.
I had plenty of things to have fun with and keep me occupied, but nothing that I could say that was truly a hobby.
She had a few hobbies herself and I felt that I needed something that I could call, well, a hobby.
That is when I got into woodworking.
One day, Joy and I went out and bought some tools that would get me going.
I was living with my parents at the time, so I bought one of the sheds they had on their property and converted that into my little workshop.
Joy would be out there with me and we started off making a few different wooden puzzles and a workbench that I still use to this day.
Many years later, I still enjoy her company and love it when we get to work on projects together.
Most of us have probably seen turkeys made from wood, but they are usually pretty large and are made for outdoors.
I wanted something smaller and that can be made and placed just about anywhere and stored away easily.
Project Overview
The Cute Little Wooden Turkeys is a simple little project that you can make within a couple hours, especially if you have the appropriate tools.
Give it a try and get creative with the colors.
You can even play around with the size and shape of the turkeys!
There is a downloadable PDF further down in this article that contains printable sheets you can use as a guide.
It contains cutouts that are designed to be printed full size (100% scale) on 8.5″x11″ paper, but you can scale them down for smaller turkeys or scale them up if you have a printer that can print on larger paper.
Make them however you want and paint them or use older wood to make them more rustic.
The creative possibilities are endless!
Material and Tools List
Below is a list of suggested materials and tools.
There are many ways you can make these turkeys and it may depend on the tools you have on hand.
If you wanted to, you could print out the cutouts and use them to make paper turkeys instead, which would be an excellent project for the kids!
Materials
1x pine board (any size to fit cutouts) – minimum size for the body is a 1×6 board.
Paints I used:
Orange Spray Paint (I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor “Pumpkin Orange”, Gloss – Paid Link)
Green Spray Paint (I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor “Hunter Green”, Satin – Paid Link)
Brown Spray Paint (I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor “Brown Boots”, Satin – Paid Link)
Yellow Spray Paint (I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor “Bright Idea”, Gloss – Paid Link)
Other Materials:
Buttons (Your choice in size and color. I used 7/16 inch diameter black buttons.)
Scissors (Optional)
Spray Adhesive (Optional) – Elmers Spray Adhesive (Paid Link)
Printer and paper (Unless if you want to freehand the design onto the wood)
Wood Glue (Something good if gluing wood, like TiteBond II or TiteBond III (Paid Link) would be good). You could probably get away with using a hot glue gun if you want.
Tools
Depending on how you choose to make these turkeys, you may want to consider some of these tools:
Band Saw, Coping Saw, or a Scroll Saw
Biscuit Jointer (Optional, but makes the assembly stronger)
Brad Nailer or Finish Nails and Hammer (If using finish nails, I would recommend predrilling first)
Sand Paper – Some medium grit
Templates
Download the printable templates here:
Cut Out the Templates
Unless you are freehanding your design onto the wood, print and cut out the templates.
Trace the Patterns
Trace the patterns onto the wood. You have a few options here:
- Spray the back of the templates with spray adhesive and then lightly press them onto the wood.
- Hold the template onto the wood and then trace around the template, drawing directly onto the wood.
- Tape the template in place.
- Using a soft leaded pencil, trace the template lines with heavy thick lines. Transfer this pattern to the wood.
There are various ways to transfer the pattern. Do what is best for you.
Cut out the Parts
You may need to print multiple copies of the template pages where you need more than one of each part.
To make Turkey #1, you will need to cut out:
(1) Part ‘A’
(2) Part ‘B’
(2) Part ‘C’
(1) each of Parts ‘D’, ‘E’, & ‘F’
To make Turkey #2, you will need to cut out:
(1) Part ‘A’
(2) Part ‘B’
(2) Part ‘C’
(1) Part ‘G’
Use a band saw, coping saw, or scroll saw to cut out the parts.
Make sure the straight lines are straight so that you can glue them together easier.
Be very careful when cutting the smaller parts ‘E’ and ‘F’. We wouldn’t want anyone to lose a finger!
Sand and Clean Up
Sand all the parts you cut in the previous step.
If you glued the template onto the wood, you will need to clean that up as well with sanding.
Round up all the edges a little so they aren’t sharp corners. This will give them a little more depth, especially at the feathers.
When you are done sanding, dust off all the parts and make sure they are clean.
Paint the Parts
Now the fun part! Paint them! Color them! Use what ever colors and drawing media you want and have fun!
Paint all edges and faces.
You can use a paint brush if you want instead of spray painting.
Just have fun and make them colorful.
Assemble the Parts
You can glue everything together using a good quality glue. If you are using only glue to assemble this, I would recommend using clamps to hold everything together until the glue dries.
I like using a brad nailer because it is quick and easy, but you can use finish nails. I recommend pre-drilling first if you are using finish nails.
To make the feathers stronger, I used a biscuit jointer. Is it over-kill? Probably, but I know they will hold together nicely for a very long time.
Make sure the bottom of the end feathers are at the bottom of the turkey body. This will allow them to support the turkey so it stands on its own. Not all feathers will sit flush with the bottom due to the curvature the feathers make when you place them together.
Put on display
If you are making these with 1x pine, or something similar, these turkeys should be able to stand on their own.
If you are placing these turkeys on a surface that is no flat, you may need to add a small base to the turkey or support the in another fashion.
Enjoy!
Great to see you back! Really enjoy reading your website. I think you could adapt the Turkey to a Christmas Tree idea, too. Anyways, Happy Holidays to you and your family! May the New Year be better than the last!
Happy Holidays to you as well, Russell! Thanks for the kind words. I like the idea of the Christmas Tree. I will explore that idea and see what I can do. Thanks!