Coolest Homemade DIY Turkey Costume with a Punny Twist

Here’s my original DIY Turkey costume. What’s on the menu, you ask? Creativity! Fun! Family! Friendship! And Entertainment!

Annually, the Eastside Turkey Trot 5k Run is held Thanksgiving morning at the Eastern Community YMCA, Oregon, Ohio. Matt Folk from Second Sole of Toledo, Perrysburg, Ohio coordinates the event with proceeds going toward the YMCA Scholarship Fund.

My goal every year is to design the BEST DIY Turkey Costume and capture the beloved award and related recognition! As a runner of 41 years, I spent many years on the podium with outstanding times from various running distances. In 2008, I underwent a life changing event and received a pacemaker and a defibrillator and fortunately I was allowed to continue running but I developed a new goal: I would design outfits to run in to match the theme of the race, something no one else was doing at the time. In the running community, this is now a norm nationwide. With a room full of a multiple array of outfits, my favorite time of the year is fall and I focus on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!

“What Do You Call A Running Turkey? FAST FOOD!”

This past summer while cleaning up the toy room from my grandchildren’s “house” and putting the plastic food in a container, a light bulb went off! I mentally started envisioning my outfit for the Turkey Run. In November, the bike I ordered for my grandson arrived and the “table” was constructed from the box. Measuring out the middle of the table, I centered a medium size plate, drew a circle around it, and cut the piece of cardboard out. In the cupboard, I found Thanksgiving plates and napkins and folded the napkins l around a fork and spoon and tied them with a yarn bow. I poked 2 holes on the top of the table, about 2 inches from the end, and attached a cord ($1.00) to hold as leverage while I ran. With a glue gun in hand ($12.00), I centered the dollar plastic tablecloth, cut it to size, and glued it in place.

On the plates, I glued the plastic food, corn, potato, croissant and attached the plates and silverware to the table. With fresh cranberries in the freezer, I took out a few and glued them on the plate. Fresh real rolls from the previous nights dinner were added, as well as real pumpkin tarts. I sprayed the tarts with hairspray prior to adding them to the table. What’s dinner without a glass of wine? Strawberry jello was the perfect mixture and the plastic glasses were glued together. The jello was kept in the refrigerator until the morning of the race when I glued them on the table. A slit was made in the plastic tablecloth for my head and off to the race we went. A Turkey hat added the finishing touch ($10.00).

One of my habits is to trust my design and I never do a run in my outfit prior to the real race and I stuck true to my tradition. Of course, there is usually a minor issue which needs some sort of tweaking and this was the scenario once we arrived at the race. For some reason, I set the table with the strings on the wrong end but I rearranged the knot under the table and used a single rope instead of a double while I ran.

Not being able to control the Ohio weather, the morning presented high 30 degree temperatures with continuous light rain. Although challenging to run the 3.1 mile route, I received cheers, laughter, and positive acknowledgment the entire course. Crossing the finish line in 41.29, I immediately received a 10 pound Turkey as the best Turkey costume winner and 2nd female in the 65-69 age group!

Goals achieved: Using my creativity, I provided an entertaining fun Thanksgiving FAST FOOD morning for family, and friends with my DIY Turkey costume!

Related costumes:

Leave a Comment Cancel reply