Free Layered Turkey SVG for an Easy Thanksgiving Craft with Paper

Looking for an easy Thanksgiving craft with paper? Look no further than this adorable little layered turkey SVG!

This layered cutting file is perfect for Thanksgiving and his happy little expression is sure to put a smile on everyone’s face!

See how to stick all the layers together (and the order they go in!) in this tutorial.

Layered Thanksgiving turkey materials

Watch the video below to see how to make the mandala turkey SVG. Or, keep scrolling for a written tutorial.

Here is a list of the materials that I used to make this project:

Please note that some of the links included in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.

• Cricut Maker
• Light blue Cricut cutting mat
• Coloured Card (I used 160gsm weight of card)
• Pumpkin patterned paper (mine is from The Range which is a UK store)
• Collall All Purpose Glue
• Needle Tip Applicator Bottle
• 3D foam pads
• Shadow box (I used a 20x20cm shadow box from Hobbycraft)

Layered Thanksgiving turkey SVG assembly instructions

Here’s how to make your very own Thanksgiving turkey wall art using a Cricut machine!

Step 1) Download the free file & unzip the downloaded folder

Before you upload the SVG to Design Space, you need to unzip the download folder that it comes in.

• How to unzip a folder on Windows computer
• How to unzip a folder on a Mac
• How to unzip a folder on an iPad/iPhone
• How to unzip a folder on an Android device

Step 2) Upload the SVG file into Design Space

Open up Cricut Design Space and upload the file called SVG_Turkey_CraftWithSarah.svg

Make sure you upload the file which starts SVG_ in the filename!!

This is how it should look after you have uploaded the file:

After uploading, the turkey design will show in your “Recently Uploaded Images”. Click on it and then press “Add to Canvas” to put it onto your Project.

Click the turkey on your canvas and use the width/height boxes near the top of the screen to make it the size that you want to cut it.

I made mine 7 inches wide to fit inside my shadow box. I definitely wouldn’t recommend going much smaller than about 5.5 inches in width as some of the details are quite delicate, so if you make the design much smaller it may be difficult to cut.

When you’re happy with the size of the turkey SVG in Design Space, click “Make It” and follow the instructions on-screen to cut out all the layers.

Step 3) Stick the layered turkey together

Use 3D foam pads and glue to stick the layers together.

Use this guide to see the order to stick the layers together in. A high quality printable version of this assembly guide is included in the folder when you download this SVG.

My favourite glue to use on papercraft projects is Collall All Purpose Glue.

It’s SO good because it doesn’t “warp” or bend the cardstock like some glues do. You can use as much of it as you want and the card stays perfect – and it dries perfectly clear too!

To make it even easier to apply glue to layered card projects, I highly recommend getting some of these needle tip applicator bottles to put the glue into.

The nozzles are REALLY tiny which makes them perfect for putting glue in the pieces of cardstock that make up this turkey.

Some of the layers will be stuck together with 3D foam pads to give more dimension and create the “3D” appearance.

When adding the foam pads to the relevant layers, make sure you add some in the middle of the pieces of card so it give stability to the middles. If you don’t add any foam pads in the middles then it can “sag” under the weight of the other layers which doesn’t look as good.

Step 4) Frame your layered turkey papercraft project

The final step is to frame your turkey craft!

I layered together several sheets of scrapbook paper which I cut to the size of my frame.

I love how the muted colours in the background make the brightness of tail plume stand out.

Here’s how to design your own backgrounds in Design Space:

And here is the finished result…

I hope that you enjoy this free layered turkey SVG!

Love layered SVGs? Check out my other free layered SVG files

Happy crafting,
Sarah x