If you follow along on B+C, you’ve seen and admired our canine model, Turkey Temple (one of my favorite pet names, TBH). He is definitely a turkey by trade but clearly not by species. It seems like an obvious choice, but this was Turkey’s first time dressing up as a turkey for Halloween. Spooky season might be over, but its *always* a good idea to dress your dog up for Thanksgiving if they dont mind!!
The fall season brings changing leaves, pumpkin flavored everything, and of course, Thanksgiving. As this major holiday approaches, children get excited to dress up for the occasion Making a homemade turkey costume can be a fun craft to get kids involved With some simple materials and a bit of creativity, you can easily DIY a turkey costume that will have your little one looking festive and adorable.
Gather Your Materials
To begin making your turkey costume you’ll need to gather a few key materials
- Brown construction paper or fabric for the body
- Red and yellow construction paper for the wattle and beak
- White construction paper for the feathers
- Googly eyes or paper cutouts for eyes
- Glue, tape, stapler, or needle and thread for assembling
- Elastic string or ribbon for the headpiece
- Brown pants and shirt for your child to wear underneath
Once you have these supplies ready, you can start crafting your turkey costume.
Create the Turkey’s Body
Cut the brown construction paper or fabric into the shape of a large oval for the turkey’s body. Make it wide and long enough to fit around your child’s torso. You can make a simple tube shape for them to step into or add velcro/snaps to make it easy to secure.
If using paper, tape or staple the edges together. For fabric, sew the edges. Leave the top 4-6 inches open for the head to fit through.
Add the Wattle
The wattle is the red flap of skin that hangs under a turkey’s beak. To make your costume’s wattle, cut a 4-5 inch long oval from the red construction paper. Attach it to the front middle of the turkey’s body using glue or tape.
Make it droop down a few inches below the base of the neck opening. This wiggly wattle will make your turkey look authentic!
Craft the Headpiece
The headpiece portion turns your child into a turkey from the neck up.
Cut the beak shape from yellow paper and glue or tape it to a headband or hat. Next, glue on the googly eyes or paper eye shapes on either side.
Then, take strips of the red paper and glue them in a ring around the base to form the turkey’s comb.
Attach the headpiece to the body using elastic string or ribbon ties. This allows it to comfortably fit on your child’s head.
Add Feathers
What turkey costume would be complete without feathers?
Cut feather shapes from the white paper in various sizes. Glue or tape these feathers all over the turkey’s body and headpiece. Layer the feathers from large to small for a full feathered effect.
Let your child customize their turkey by selecting feather colors and patterns!
Finishing Touches
With the main costume pieces made, add any final touches to complete your homemade turkey.
Use brown fabric paint or marker to add patterning like stripes, spots, or scallops on the feathers. Include little details like feet made from orange paper or fabric.
Stuff the body with batting or tissues to give it a plump, rounded shape. Place a yellow bow at the turkey’s neck to finish it off.
Turkey Costume Ideas
While this tutorial covers a basic turkey costume, there are tons of ways to customize it:
- Add wings made from brown fabric or cardboard
- Use real turkey or bird feathers for an authentic look
- Craft a pilgrim hat from black or brown paper to wear together
- Paint or draw a turkey face instead of using a headpiece
- Attach a small turkey tail from construction paper
- Include colorful patterns on the feathers
- Make it a baby turkey and use yellow fuzzies for downy feathers
Let your creativity run wild to make a turkey costume that’s unique to your child.
Have Fun Strutting Your Stuff
Once complete, watch your child proudly strut their homemade turkey costume! With its fun colors, feathers, waddle and all, this DIY Thanksgiving costume will get everyone smiling. Capture lots of pictures to remember the crafting experience.
Making your own turkey outfit is easy, thrifty, and so much more meaningful than buying a pre-made costume. Follow the steps in this guide to create a personalized turkey look. Your kid will treasure it for years to come. So craft an adorable turkey costume this season and start a new Thanksgiving tradition!
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The day you’ve been waiting for — we dressed our office dog Turkey as a turkey!
If you follow along on B+C, you’ve seen and admired our canine model, Turkey Temple (one of my favorite pet names, TBH). He is definitely a turkey by trade but clearly not by species. It seems like an obvious choice, but this was Turkey’s first time dressing up as a turkey for Halloween. Spooky season might be over, but its *always* a good idea to dress your dog up for Thanksgiving if they dont mind!!
How To Make A Dog Turkey Costume
- red, orange, yellow and white felt
- cardboard
- One-Wrap Velcro
- pen
- fabric scissors
- hot glue gun
1. Draw large, long oval feathers on your yellow felt. Stack the yellow felt on top of the orange felt and cut them both out. Next, draw a curved rectangular shape on the white felt and cut it out.
2. Hot glue the white rectangular shapes to the feathers, then glue the feathers to one another to create a fan shape.
3. Glue a horizontal strip of cardboard to the back of the feathers to help them stand upright.
4. Hot glue a piece of felt to each edge of the feathers and attach a strip of One-Wrap Velcro that is long enough to wrap around your dog’s belly.
5. Cut out a gobble from red felt and attach some One-Wrap Velcro.
Draw 12 long feathers on your yellow felt. Stack the yellow felt on top of the orange felt and cut out your feathers. Cut 12 white curved rectangular pieces to accent the feathers.
Glue the white pieces to the feathers and then glue the feathers to one another into a fan shape.
Attach a long strip of cardboard to the back of the feathers to help them stand up straight once the dog turkey costume is assembled.
Hot glue a piece of felt to each edge of the feathers and attach a strip of One-Wrap Velcro that is long enough to wrap around your dog’s belly.
Draw a gobble onto a piece of red felt, cut it out and glue it to a small piece of One-Wrap Velcro.
Hey Turkey — here’s your turkey costume!
Attach the gobble to your dog by wrapping the One-Wrap Velcro around the collar.
Cutest turkey I ever did see!
Follow us on Pinterest for more cute DIYs like this dog turkey costume!
This post has been updated.
Cheap Homemade Turkey Costume
FAQ
How do you make a turkey handprint?
Start by dipping their thumb in brown paint and making a body shape. Then have them dip their pointer finger in each color (red, yellow, orange) and make dots to look like turkey feathers. Glue on some googly eyes, paint a yellow beak, and draw some turkey legs!
How do you make a turkey costume?
To make a turkey costume, follow these steps: 1. Cut out two large pieces of brown felt, one for the body and one for the wings. The body piece should be about 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall. The wings should be about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long. 2. Cut out two smaller pieces of brown felt, one for the head and one for the tail.
Can you make a turkey costume from a paper bag?
The paper bag method works great for younger kids. Older kids and adults may prefer a costume layered together from real clothes for more comfort and durability. Let’s get started hatching some turkey costume ideas! For little ones, a brown paper grocery bag transformed into a turkey outfit is a simple and clever option.
How do you make a turkey face?
Fun makeup brings any turkey costume to life. Use face paints or makeup to create a turkey face: Eyes: Outline eyes with black liner. Add red or purple eye shadow. Beak: Paint nose and upper lip orange. Line bottom lip black. Wattle: Paint red circle or line under chin and neck. Blend out.
How do you make a turkey body shape?
Tape feet to pants. For feathers, cut leaf shapes from brown, red, orange paper. Use tape to attach feathers to shirt, pants, hat. Draw or paint on turkey face makeup using black and red face paint. OPTIONAL: Stuff pillows under clothes for a plump turkey body shape.
How do you make a turkey tail with scalloped feathers?
Trace out scalloped turkey feathers all the way around the foam board. It should look like a semi-circle of scalloped feathers. Cut out along the traced lines to create the tail. Use a pencil to trace out a few layers of scalloped feathers, following the ones you already cut out.