Front Door Decor: Autumn Leaf Turkey

Make something truly unique for your Thanksgiving front door with a thrift store frame and a few dollar store supplies.

It's a fun way to welcome guests instead of hanging a traditional wreath.

And an quick and crafty home decor DIY.



I have tons of great front door décor for October and Halloween and even more fabulous options for Christmas, but in between, when November rolls around, I am always at a loss.

Thanks to Pinterest and the super creative world of blogging, I'm no longer excited by the prospect of yet another wreath on my front door.

This year, I wanted something different, something truly unique and really creative.

But what exactly?

I had no idea.

Then last week, I wandered into the thrift store looking for some fall decor and found this lovely old frame and knew immediately how I was going to dress up my home for the holiday.


Of course, once I had finished my cute little gobbler, I realized that he would look really great inside the house as well.

So I moved him around to see where I liked him best.

Front door, wall or fireplace mantel...

I honestly still can't decide, but that's ok, I love options.

This is where it all started. 



I picked up the picture up for $5.00 at the local thrift store. I absolutely love the frame.

It's a great size, it has real presence.

It's old pine, weathered and beaten.

So charming. 

I had fully intended to paint over the still life for a complete upcycle, but once I turned it over and read the personal inscription, dated 1955, I just couldn't do it.

Someone obviously put a lot of time and effort into this piece and the artist (and sentimentalist) in me just did not have the heart to erase it. 

I'm still not sure what I am going to do with it, but that's a post for another day.


Luckily, I had an extra 16 x20 board - the kind of board I use to mount my paint by number canvases - in the basement and I painted it orange.

When it was dry I added the turkey. I simply painted a circle, added a head, neck and some feet. It was a very basic shape.

Just like the turkey I painted on my upcycled ceiling fan blades.

When that was dry, I used black to add some definition to the body.


Constructing the tail was the fun part.

I used Mod Podge to glue fabric leaves that I picked up at Dollar Tree to the board.

I mapped out my pattern first and when I was happy with the arrangement, I grabbed my foam brush.

It was still a bit tacky when I stenciled the letters on to the board.

I am not a perfectionist, but that's ok, I wanted a bit of a primitive look to complement the frame.


My craft cabinet is full of remnants and I'm so happy when I get to pull something out of it!

I used glitter foam for the beak and waddle and a piece of wired orange ribbon to add some sparkle. The last touch was a pair of wiggly eyes.


I used two small finishing nails to anchor the board into the frame and added picture hooks and twelve pound picture string to the back.

And voila, my truly unique, vintage frame turned front door décor was complete.



At least I think it's going on my front door!

Hmmm...where do you think it looks best?

I have tons of front door decor ideas...like this one: