Thanksgiving project

A few years ago I decided I would make "abstract" gourd turkeys and send them to my grandmothers.  I loved the way they turned out...most of all, I liked that they were a vessel for communicating the many "I am thankful for"s that my family wanted to share with our loved ones.

I tied a red balloon around the stem/beak to a gourd that had a head, neck, body proportion.  I cut out a bunch of colorful leaf shapes and wrote specific, individualized "I am thankful for..." statements with my family on each leaf that was then push-pinned in a fanned out "feather" pattern" to the round piece of cork that I found in the garden section at the hardware store.  I had drilled two holes on one side of the circle and threaded ribbon through it so it could be tied around the "fattest" part of the gourd.  (My granny said that as the gourd dried, she had to keep tying the ribbon belt tighter)

In case you want to make your own version...the supplies needed are few -

1 "goose neck" gourd for body, 1 red balloon for a gobbler, a garden supply cork round, paper shapes for feathers, push pins, ribbon, your own "thankful for"s.