Sun Catcher Turkeys

This past week has been insanity, but much more than usual.  We are getting our windows replaced.  All the windows in the house.  What was supposed to take two days to complete is taking seven.  So the house is pretty ripped apart.  And we have been spending more than the average time away from the home in order to keep warm.  Since they have had to take out all the windows.  In the whole house.  In 30 degree weather.  Great timing!

In trying to keep the kids busy and out of trouble, I quickly thought of a fun art project to do that combined a couple ideas I had seen on Pinterest.  It was really entertaining for the kids and we had all the supplies on hand.

Behold the our sun catcher turkey!

I took coffee filters and cut them in a feather shape (what do you call that shape? Oval with two points?) and got three from each filter. I decided that five feathers per turkey would make his fan pretty full, feel free to do four if the odd feather in the middle bothers you.

From there, I let the kids water color paint the coffee filter feathers. Dropping water onto the water color paint made it much easier for them to get enough color on their brush for it to stand out against the white filter (I used a medicine syringe and put three or four drops of water per color). I really liked the feathers where the kids had used almost too much water. The coffee filter absorbed it and the colors spread and mixed together.

To make the turkey, I sketched out a bowling pin and cut him out. If you guys decide you want it, I can trace my turkey shape and post him on here or you to use as a template. It really wasn't too hard to get a basic shape.

I let the feathers dry on top of paper towels and glued on the googly eyes and triangle beak while we waited. Once they were dry, we assembled the turkeys and I glued the body's to the feathers and taped up the back for extra support.

And now they have a home on our sliding door. I love how they look in the sun light and how every feather turned out differently. The kids had a great time painting! All in all, it really didn't take a lot of time to throw together and now we have fantastic November art work to show off!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin