DIY Thanksgiving Place Cards | Turkey Place Card Holders

Make everyone feel welcome with these DIY Thanksgiving place cards! Add a personalized touch to your Thanksgiving dinner table and let your guests know where to sit with these turkey place card holders. These name cards are super cute and SO EASY to make!

Use our free, printable template to make the turkey and attach it to a clothespin to hold the name card! Finish off your Thanksgiving place card with fabric leaves for the turkey’s feathers. It’s such an adorable and festive piece of homemade fall decor!

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Helpful Tips:

1. Double check that the clamp part of the clothespin is facing up before you add the leaves!
2. If you don’t have fabric leaves, use our free, printable leaf template and cut the leaves from coloured paper.

Download our free Thanksgiving place cards template:

Click on the link below to download our free, printable Thanksgiving place cards template! The PDF file will open in a new window. Then simply print the template on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) printer paper.

>>> Thanksgiving Place Cards Template <<<

Do I have to use the turkey template?

Our free, printable turkey template makes it really easy to build these DIY place cards, but you definitely don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

Here are the parts you’ll need to cut out to make the turkey:

• Body: A circular body that narrows to a rounded head. Our turkey body is 2-1/2 inches tall and 1-7/8 inches at the widest part.
• Beak: A triangle shape, about 1/2 inch long.
• Wattle: A long teardrop shape, close to 1 inch long.
• Legs: Two legs with rounded toes, about 3/4 inch long.

How can I use these Thanksgiving place cards?

Once you’ve made the clothespin turkey, print off name cards or cut rectangles and write your own. These turkey place card holders can either stand up or be set flat on the plate.

You can also use these DIY Thanksgiving place cards as food labels on a holiday buffet table!

What type of paper is best for making Thanksgiving place cards?

We used a combination of construction paper, coloured printer paper, and cardstock. Whatever paper that you have will work fine to make the turkey.

We do recommend using cardstock for the name cards, since the thicker paper stays nice and flat once clipped into the clothespin turkey. Regular paper will work as well, if it’s all you have, but it might curl up a bit.

Where can I find leaves for making Thanksgiving place cards?

We used fabric leaves from the dollar store. You should be able to find a good selection there during the fall season, but you can also buy them at craft stores, Walmart, or on Amazon.

You can also collect real fall leaves and use them on your place cards. If you want to do this, use the leaves shortly after collecting them or store them in a plastic bag in the fridge until you need them (no more than a few days).

If you do use real leaves, make sure you don’t make the place cards more than a day in advance. The colours on the leaves should last for at least a couple days, but they’ll start to crisp up overnight.

These Thanksgiving place cards are perfect for your family celebration or friendsgiving party! And they’re also really easy to re-use over and over again. To change up the names, simply open the clothespin and insert a new name tag!

You’ll definitely want to decorate your table with these turkey name cards, but they also work as a party favour or homemade gift. These clothespin turkeys are easy enough for kids to make, using dollar store supplies, and they’re SO CUTE!

Here’s even more Thanksgiving decorating ideas:

Fall Gnome Wreath

Pumpkin Wine Glasses

Wood Slice Pumpkins

Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!