How to easily paint a cute turkey rock table setting

Painting rocks are all the rage these days.  Whether you leave them for someone to find or you gift them for paperweights, they are inexpensive and fun.  This turkey rock is cute and you personalize it with the name of your guest.  Leave the turkey rock at each table setting and your guest can take it home as a customized party favor and memento.

Add the date and year on the back and the turkey rock will be a lasting memento of the holiday.  You can even have the back blank and let each guest write something they are thankful for before the meal.  It’s a fun tradition for Thanksgiving.

Let's get started:

Materials:

Rock

Acrylic paint in white, brown, lt. brown, yellow, red, orange, and black

Sharpie or any permanent marker in black

Small paintbrush

Newspaper to protect your work surface

pencil

Instructions:

1.      First, paint the entire rock front and back with orange paint.  Let each side dry before painting the other and then let completely dry.  It may help to use a hair dryer to dry all the layers quickly.

2.      Now, use a pencil to lightly add guidelines for all the shapes. The head is a teardrop oval.  The body is a larger oval.  The beak is a small diamond shape. The feet are three claws on each side of the body. The eyes are two round circles on each side of the beak.  The waddle is a long fat comma shape.  And the feathers are spoke-like fan shapes with a curved top.  You will just fill in the spaces as you would a coloring book!  Super easy.  If you don’t like your pencil lines, erase them and start over.

3.     Use the paintbrush and brown paint to block in the head. Next, with the same brown, add a rounded shape. This is the body, which is approximately twice the size of the head.  Let dry.  (See photo)  You are blocking in the basic shapes working around the eyes, beak, and waddle. You will be going over all the lines on entire turkey with the marker when it is finished and dry.

4.     Now add the tail feathers.  Using the brown paint, start at the bottom and work all around the body making each feather like a fan shape, slightly curved at the top. Now use the white paint on the top of the feathers curving the top. Let dry.  Add the features.  Paint the eyes in white, the beak yellow, and feet yellow, and the waddle red.  Let dry.

5.     When all the painted areas are dry, Use the Sharpie or permanent fine line marker to outline all the feathers, body, and features.

6.     Highlight your turkey by making some light brown lines on the body. Add the pupils of the eyes with the marker.  You may also want to use a little thinned white paint to add some highlights on the feathers and body. (See photo)

7.     Finally use some white paint to add the name on the feathers, counting the letters so that they are in the center.

8.     Add the date and year on the back of the rock, or leave blank and let each guest write what they are thankful for.  Place at each place setting.  Your guests can take their turkey rock home as a party favor.

Easy to make quick and yummy jalapeño poppers

With the holidays right around the corner quickly whip up some of these yummy jalapeño poppers to snack on before the main course. 

If your guests aren’t into spicy snacks then you can just mix up the filling, add a 15-ounce jar of mild salsa.  Heat it up until the cheese melts in the microwave and you have a delicious sausage Queso for tortilla chips!

If you have guests with meat or meat preferences, change it up by using chicken or meat free sausages.

 Yummy Jalapeño poppers
 

1 lb. Hot Italian sausage

1 8-ounce brick of cream softened

Cup of sharp shredded cheddar cheese

12-15 Jalapenos, halved and seeded

Green onions, chopped

15 oz. jar of mild salsa (for queso option only)

Preheat oven to 425.  In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat till browned.  Drain the grease.  In a medium bowl mix sausage, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and onion together until well blended.

Next, spoon the sausage mix into the jalapeno halves.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, till brown and bubbly.

Garnish with some more chopped green onions add to a decorative platter and serve.

For the queso option, add the jar of salsa to the filling, stir and heat in a microwave till it’s hot and bubbly. Serve with chips.

Visit Bowdabra blog for more dinner easy recipes and crafts!  

How to use nature for easy acorn Thanksgiving décor

Nothing looks more autumn-y than this acorn Thanksgiving décor!  It’s so easy to use acorns to decorate and for craft projects.  You will need to clean them and then heat in the oven for 10 minutes or more at 350 degrees before you use them but after that the skies the limit!

These are so easy to make look like zentangle designs and even pop on a face or two as a cute little surprise.  Set them around the table or in a centerpiece with a candle and your guests will fall in love with your acorn Thanksgiving décor. 

Materials:

·      Acorns and caps  (Many times the caps separate from the acorns which is fine because you glue them on after painting anyway.

·      Corrugated cardboard piece to work on

·      Acrylic paints in chosen colors

·      Sharpie markers, black, white, silver, and colors of choice

·      Fine sandpaper

·      Duct tape

·      Gloss acrylic finish

·      Small paintbrush and paper plate for palette

·      Aluminum foil

·      Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Instructions:

1.     First wash and dry all the acorns and caps.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place the acorns on it.  Set your oven to 350 degrees and heat for at least 10 minutes.  Remove and let cool before working with them.

2.      Next, fold pieces of duct tape so that you have the sticky side up and attach to a piece of scrap corrugated cardboard

3.     Now use the fine sandpaper to lightly sand the acorns so that the paint will adhere. 

4.     Then attach the acorns wide side facing down to the sticky tape on the cardboard to hold it while you paint them.  You don’t need to paint the top areas since you will cover that area with the caps.  At the same time apply a coat of gloss finish on the acorn caps.

5.     For the next step, apply some paint into a paper plate or palette and using a small paintbrush paint each acorn.  Let dry and apply a second coat.  Let dry completely. 

6.     Now to make the design use a sharpie marker.  First, make a line all around the acorn close to the top.  Second, draw loops all around the bottom of the line.  Then make another line all around closer to the bottom. Now make small circle in between both lines centering between the loops.  Next draw lines from the circle to the center of the loops and the bottom line.  Continue all around. It will look like an X from the small circle.  (See photos)

 

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

7.     Now make larger loops under the bottom line all around.

 

Step 6

8.     Turn the acorn with the bottom semi-pointed end is facing you.  Draw a circle on the bottom and then attach with lines to the loops you just drew. (See photo)  Easy!

Finishing

9.     Attach the cap with some hot glue.

10. For an alternate fun surprise draw a face on a couple of acorns.  Use silver or white on the darker painted acorns. (See photo)

11. Place the acorns around the table or surround them around a holiday candle centerpiece.