Thanksgiving Turkey Fabric Tablecloth Craft Project

This Thanksgiving inspired turkey tablecloth craft project is perfect for a group of kids. They can work on it together and it will last for a long time. Although this specific example is made out of a canvas fabric you should make this out of a vinyl tablecloth. You could either buy a pre made solid colored plastic tablecloth or buy some of that material at the fabric store.

To Make a Thanksgiving Turkey Fabric Table Cloth You will need:

Canvas
Fabric Paint
Paint Brushes
Accent Fabric
Fabric Glue
Fabric paint Sticks or Puff Paint tubes

Measure your table to determine what size able cloth you will need.

Next, Cut your fabric out to the desire length to fit your table. You could also purchase a plain white fabric tablecloth to do this project. This will give you a finished work surface that all you have to do is decorate.

Now, get the paint ready for the kids. This can be a slightly messy project, so I recommend doing it outside if at all possible. Pour a different color of fabric paint in it's own plate. Plastic or Styrofoam plates work best. If you are out of disposable plates you can easily cover a ceramic plate in aluminum foil for the paint.

Let the kids dip their hands into the paint. They need to dip their hand into the paint flat. They should not cover their entire hand in paint, only the palm. If they get too much paint on their hand, wash them off completely and start over.

Now they need to press their hands onto the fabric tablecloth. Make sure they space their hands around the table cloth covering every area evenly. It is a very good idea to save a piece of scrap fabric so the kids can practice making their hand prints. This will show them how much paint they need on their hands to get a good and clean print.

Use lots of different colors for the hand prints. I try to match mine to my Thanksgiving décor. Orange, green, and yellow are all great colors. Limit the hand print paint colors to about three colors for a pulled together look. For an artsy and eclectic look mix and match as many colors as possible.

Let the painted hand prints dry before you move on to the next step.

Once the paint has dried let he kids add the details to their hand print turkeys on the tablecloth. They should add eyes, beaks, feet, and tails for a realistic look. Puff paint is perfect for outline details, Paint pens work well too. Older kids may want to use paint brushes dipped into fabric paint.

Once all of the paint has dried you can add a finishing boarder to the tablecloth.

Cut out a 6 inch wide strip of Thanksgiving accent fabric. You can use a solid color or even some fun accent fabric with a Thanksgiving print on it.

You will need 4 strips; each should be the length of each of the sides of the tablecloth. Add on Four inches to the length of each strip.

Lay the strips of accent fabric out with the pattern side down. Fold up one inch on each long side of the strip. Fold over the strip into the middle of the fabric and iron it down. This will make your strip 4 inches wide.

Now, fold the entire strip over perfectly in half. This will leave you with a 2 sided 2 inch piece of fabric with no rough edges. This will be your tablecloth border.

Use no sew, fabric glue, or a sewing machine to attach the accent fabric to the edges of your tablecloth.

Apply the long side of the Thanksgiving accent fabric to the table cloth first. Then apply one end strip. Tuck the edges of the end of the fabric in to create a neat and finished edge. Repeat on the final short side.

Tips: Wash and dry all of you fabric before you make this Thanksgiving turkey tablecloth. This will go ahead and shrink fabric and set it for the fabric paint.