Pilgrim Turkey: DIY Thanksgiving Door Hanger

by Tamara Bennett | Nov 10, 2019

Every November, there’s a huge debate about how to decorate your home. It’s too late for Halloween decor, but not everybody is ready for Christmas and holiday designs. Well, if you’re one of those people who don’t decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, then you need to paint this turkey pilgrim door hanger! He’s the cutest little thing! I love the colors that we used on his feathers!

Supply List

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Brushes:

DecoArt Americana Paint:

Door Hanger:

If you’re ready to DIY this door hanger, you can order the wooden blank from my shop – it’s already cut out and ready to paint. Or, if you’re ready to start from scratch, grab the printable template and digital cut file!

Not sure which one you need? Check out my recent blog post where I describe both of them and help you choose the best fit for your crafting comfort level. And take a look at my other recent post where I show you how to choose a saw and blades to cut your own from the template!

For this project, I chose some harvest-inspired colors from DecoArt’s Americana Acrylic Paint line. I wanted to balance some earthy, Autumn tones with some bright colorful accents.

The Original Pilgrim Turkey

This is how I originally sketched out my idea for this turkey with the Procreate app. This will give you an idea of how using some different colors on the feathers can give you a whole different look for the door hanger. And of course you can always add some words, like “Gobble ‘Til You Wobble”!

Ready to Paint a Thanksgiving Door Hanger!

I started this project by painting his entire body with a basecoat of honey brown using a wide flat tip brush. Then we painted each of his feathers a different color. Next we finished painting the other basecoat areas like the feet, hat and face with a smaller flat tip brush.

I had to add a second coat of paint to most areas. Then I added polkadots to each of his feathers using a 1 inch round sponge pouncer. Next I took a small round tip brush and outlined most areas in black. Finally I took a smaller round tip brush and added a little gray highlighting to the polkadots, and little white highlights to his face, feet and hat.

DIY It!

If you already follow me on facebook, you might remember this door hanger! I recently painted it on Facebook live to show my followers exactly how I painted it.

Take a look to watch these steps and see exactly how I painted my own Thanksgiving door hanger in this quick video tutorial:

I hope you’ve found some inspiration for a Thanksgiving door hanger for your porch decor! I have some more of my favorite fall door hangers in this post so take a minute to check them out if you need more Autumn ideas. I also painted a pumpkin topiary porch sitter that is perfect for fall here in this blog! Of course, if you’re ready to just jump right into Christmas and holiday decorations, go right ahead. I won’t judge!

Here are a few more Thanksgiving door hangers and products that you can choose in my shop, including some stencils (like “Give Thanks” and “Thankful and Blessed“) and a “Thankful” tshirt that always gets me in the decorating mood! Don’t forget that you can choose the size of your project when you order. So instead of just a door hanger, you could easily turn these into an accent for a wreath or front porch sign that you’re painting!

More Thanksgiving Craft Products in My Shop:

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