Forget Basic Wreaths: Decorate Your Front Door With A Cuter Thanksgiving-Inspired DIY

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Thanksgiving is an often-overlooked holiday when it comes to decorating. Luckily, there's an adorable DIY to get your home ready for the November festivities. Plus, it's a cute front door decor alternative to a traditional wreath. Using orange, yellow, red, and brown deco mesh and a turkey sign, you can create a piece of decor with a gobbling personality. The mesh is perfect for crafting feathers, and adding a cute turkey head in the middle will really bring your door decor to life. 

To make this craft, you'll need a wreath form to use as the base. The Floral Garden Metal Wreath Form is only $1.75 at Dollar Tree. The low-cost retailer also carries rolls of deco mesh in various colors and fall patterns for $1.50 each. While the mesh feathers bring colors, texture, and dimension to this autumn display, the turkey's face in the center is key. Consider using another piece of decor, like Smile's Turkey Heads, or a store-bought plush turkey decoration. Otherwise, craft your bird's head from scratch. Depending on how you plan to assemble your project, zip ties, pipe cleaners, clear elastic bands, or glue may also be necessary.

The trick to making a wreath that resembles a cartoon turkey is how you fold and arrange the deco mesh feathers. To get that classic pointed end of a turkey feather, cut squares of mesh and fold them into triangles.Make a bunch of these feathers and secure them around three-quarters of your wreath form with zip ties or pipe cleaners. The deco mesh may also be knotted directly onto the form. 

Add an outer ring of either red, yellow, or orange, and then create two more layers, each with one of the other two colors. Stacking the colors in this way adds dimension to the feathers and gives your turkey that classic cartoon look. Otherwise, use all three colors in a random or repeating pattern for a different style. With this technique, consider adding brown feathers in between the brighter colors. Fill the remaining space at the bottom of the wreath form with brown mesh for the body of the turkey. Bunch the mesh into pouf shapes and tie them to the wire form for an easy solution.

Once you've added all the mesh accents to this DIY Thanksgiving decor, it's time for the turkey. With a store-bought sign or decoration, you may be able to simply glue the bird in the middle of the mesh feathers. Otherwise, glue pipe cleaners or zip ties to the back of the head to secure it to the form.

If you can't find a good turkey head, try making your own. Cut out and paint a shape from plywood or paper, making a small circle for the head and a larger one beneath it for the turkey's breast. Crafting your own also allows you to customize your decor's facial expression. For a more dimensional turkey head, cover a circular piece of styrofoam in more brown mesh. Then, glue on googly eyes, a beak, and a gobbler made from more mesh. 

Add turkey legs to the bottom for a cute touch. Finally, hang your vibrant piece of decor on your front door. If you'd like more options, check out other adorable ways to decorate your front door for Thanksgiving.