This instructable will be a lot of fun for kids and the entire family as it adds a twist to a little Thanksgiving tradition that I've seen in my home growing up and in several other places as well. It stems from an instructable that I made several years ago found here:

Rock Candy Instructable

These delectable sugary treats become the centerpiece of a Thanksgiving decoration as your turkey's feathers turn into a sugary treat that you can customize to any array of colors and flavors you like!

Step 1: Materials

Sugar
Water
1/2" Wood approximately 12"x12"
Wooden dowels
Food dye and flavoring
Paint

Please see the other instructable for a more complete list of ingredients for the Rock Candy

Step 2: Start the Rock Candy

Since the rock candy takes several days up to two weeks to grow you'll want to start this first and give yourself time to move through the rest of the project. This step really consists of my first instructable found here:

Rock Candy Instructable

Please see that instructable for detailed instructions to this step. You can see a summary of the steps below:

Heat up water-sugar mixture.
Coat wooden dowel in sugar.
Suspend item from step 2 in a glass jar.
Pour hot mixture into jar.
Let jar sit until crystals form to the size you'd like.

Make sure to follow my first instructable and as you wait for the crystals to grow you can begin the next steps in this instructable.

Step 3: Prepare the Turkey

For this step we'll cut out the wood pieces that form the body of the turkey. You can use the templates in the attached file "Turkey Outline.pdf" for the wood pieces.

When I make this I print the second page at 75% to create a second layer of body for the rock candy sticks to sit in, but this is optional if you want a thinner turkey.

Cut out the paper outline and trace around it onto t

Use a band saw, skilsaw, or other form of cutting device at your disposal to cut the outline of the turkey. You'll then want to sand the corners so they aren't so sharp and provide a nice rounded edge.

Next you'll paint each of the wooden pieces to whichever turkey colors you'd like. I used the colors above, but sometimes children might like to get a little creative with bright neon turkeys!

After that you'll glue the turkey pieces together using wood glue, and when the glue dries you can drill the holes in your turkey as seen in the attached image. Your turkey is now ready for its sweet sugary feathers!

Turkey Outline.pdf
Download

Step 4: Give the Turkey Feathers

Once the rock candy has completely grown and the crystals are to the size you desire, place each wooden dowel of the rock candy into the holes you drilled in the turkey.

You can also use optional "googly eyes" for the turkey or paint them on yourself. Another recommendation I would make for the future is that the holes I drilled into the turkey would be more strategically placed at intervals so the rock candy wouldn't run into each other. I still managed to situate them in a fairly organized and aesthetic manner.

Let me know what you think about this and I would love to hear feedback and future suggestions.