Turkey tabletop tutorial for the t'kids

I mentioned the other day that I've been crafting up a storm for several stories I've been writing for the newspaper. Well, here's a slice of one article that's supposed to run tomorrow.

The story is about handmade decor ideas for Thanksgiving, and I couldn't resist including something for the kids. The crayon holders you see here were made by me, but little ones definitely could participate in making this craft. 

Thank goodness I made two because both girls have really taken a liking to them. Bo, of course, claimed the bigger one with the "big girl pencils" and Magpie really just wants to roll hers on the floor and suck on the crayons. Hey, anything to keep them occupied for five or ten minutes. 

Here's an excerpt from the article with directions:

Any parent of small children knows how hard it is to keep a youngster at the dinner table on a typical night. Add the excitement of having cousins or friends over, plus the length of a multi-course meal, and you might have a recipe for disaster.

Take a tip from restaurants: distract the children with a set of Crayons and a paper placemat for coloring.

The paper placemat can simply be an 11-inch by 17-inch sheet of white computer paper. Or, drape long sheets of butcher paper over the “kids table” to serve as a doodle-able tablecloth.

To hold the Crayons, you’re going to turn an empty aluminum can, such as one that once held tomato paste or string beans, into a turkey.

Rinse and dry the can. If there are sharp edges around the rim, cover them with masking or electrical tape.

Cover the can with a scrap of fabric by applying glue to the can and rolling the fabric over it. Trim away any excess fabric.

Cut feathers from different colors of felt. Tip: wool felt is much easier to work with than craft felt. Yes, it’s more expensive, but you’ll only need a small amount for this project.

You can reinforce the feathers either by doubling up the felt and gluing the two pieces together or gluing a popsicle stick inside two layers. You also could make fan-like layers of feathers or use real feathers instead.

Now fold a small piece of brown felt in half and cut out two identical turkey heads. Cut one small wattle out of red felt and sandwich it in between the two brown turkey heads. Either glue or sew the heads together, leaving the neck area somewhat open so it can spread onto the can. 

(Looks like I should have stitched up my jeans while I was at it.)

Using a hot glue gun, glue the feathers and the turkey head to the can.

Fill the can with crayons or colored pencils and you've just added a few minutes to the duration of Thanksgiving dinner.

Here's Bo in action. A pleasant site, except for the fact that she was supposed to be at the table with us eating dinner.