Happy November, everyone! Wouldn't this sweet little turkey make a cute accent to your Thanksgiving holiday table as anything BUT a boring hot pad/coaster? :)
Mr. Turkey is made from felt and measures 7-3/4" tall x 7-1/4" wide. Taylored Expressions' generously-sized Sack It-Turkey die makes this project easy ... here's how to make him (all bold products are linked below in the supply section):
1. Die cut the Sack It To You base from Camel WoolFelt. You'll notice a crease in the felt below the turkey's shirt collar die -- that is where the die cut would normally be scored and folded to form the bottom of the sack. This is where the turkey "body" would normally end, but I left the excess to make his body a little larger. (You'll also see some excess scrap felt on the left side of the Sack It base, which will be trimmed off later).
After cutting the Sack It base, I die cut the hat from Black WoolFelt:
2. With coasters or hot pads, I like to keep the felt totally flat, so dishes/mugs won't wobble over/off, so here's how I do that:
As opposed to the felt pieces (eyes, nose, collar, tie, etc.) being glued on top of each other and the face/sack base, I die cut those item spaces OUT of the base first, then inlay those other colors of die cut felt parts back INTO the sack base. The photo below shows the eyes, nose, and half of the collar already cut out of the base. Then since there is only one collar die included in this set, you'll need to flip the turkey base over to die cut the other half of the collar:
3. Next, since the bow tie would normally be on TOP of the collar, I inlaid the white collar pieces back into the base and die cut the bow tie OUT of those pieces:
4. Next, the black die cut felt bow tie and Gold WoolFelt nose are laid back into their spots and the snood (apparently that is what the piece hanging over a Tom Turkey's nose is called!) die cut OUT:
5. After die cutting all the pieces in their colors of felt AND die cut OUT of the base, I die cut an additional darker Chocolate WoolFelt Sack It To You base on which to assemble all of the die cut pieces:
6. Using Fabri-Tac, start gluing all the felt pieces into place:
7. To finish the turkey, turn him over and glue on his tail feathers:
8. To finish the back nicely, and to provide stability for the turkey as well as additional heat protection, I die cut two circles from cork:
and glued them on:
Now Mr. Turkey is ready for your coffee mug:
Or hot dish:
Fortunately, Taylored Expressions has a whole line of adorable generously-sized Sack It dies which would make ANY dinnertime (or breakfast or lunch!) more enjoyable (AND functional)!
Wishing you a very happy Turkey Day! ~ Sharon
