How to Fold Turkey Napkins for Your Thanksgiving Celebration, Step by Step

It's all in the details! That's not to discount all the labor and love that went into your Thanksgiving meal, but it's the little things that can make a celebration truly memorable. Take, for instance, the napkins and linens that complete your holiday table setting. You could reach for your go-to set of napkin rings—or you could wow the crowd with a nifty Thanksgiving napkin folding technique.

Not just meant to wipe up messes or hold flatware at the ready, your dinner napkins can add a creative aesthetic to your Thanksgiving table and help keep everything impressively cohesive and on theme. That's why we can't help but fawn over this Thanksgiving turkey napkin fold. And can you blame us when it's so adorable?

Sure to delight guests young and old, this Thanksgiving napkin folding technique uses three napkins to create the body of the bird and its pleated plumes. But rest assured that it's easier to arrange than it looks!

Below, see how to pull off this Thanksgiving napkin folding technique step by step.

Step 1

To create the body of the turkey, take a square napkin and fold it in half diagonally. Firmly press along the fold.

Step 2

Re-open the napkin and fold in both the left and right sides to meet at the center crease, forming an upside-down kite shape.

Step 3

Shape a folded piece of aluminum foil into a triangle and fit it into the napkin. Then, fold the left side of the napkin over the foil to meet at the center crease. Fold inward again, layering napkin over foil. Repeat on the right side.

Step 4

Tuck in the bottom point, and then fold the napkin in half. Curve the top napkin point into a head with the open edges towards the back. Open the bottom section of napkin, leaving the "head" folded. Bend the napkin and foil so the turkey head sits upright.

Step 5

To make the turkey's tail, take a second napkin and fold it in half. Then, fold it accordion-style into 1-inch pleats.

Step 6

Grasp the center of the napkin and fold it into a fan. Open one side of the fan, using doubled-sided tape to bind the two ends of the center pleat.

Do the same with a third napkin, opening one side so it stands taller than the first fan. Again, use doubled-sided tape to bind the two ends of the center pleat.

Step 7

Place both napkins behind the turkey's body (your first napkin).

Display at each place setting on your Thanksgiving table and prepare for the ohhs and ahhs to roll in.