here is an old photo of a turkey and pumpkins ice sculpture that I did for a Sheraton Hotel in Albuquerque, NM, probably way back in 1997.
last updated 11/24/23 when I added the video. But mainly, updated and expanded 6/22/23 when added to iss
a turkey and pumpkins ice sculpture design
Before I stared carving the turkey design from yesterday’s entry, I would often carve my turkey and pumpkins ice sculpture when I got a request for a turkey. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a real turkey sitting on a pumpkin, but the elements work well together and the pumpkin offers a nice spot for a logo or message as you see in the photo above.
I think in this case, this turkey and pumpkins ice sculpture would be called “turkey and pumpkin” since I seem to have skipped the smaller one. But it was for the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans.
As with the regular turkey design, this sculpture requires about a block and a quarter of ice. And again, the piece of ice required for the tail is about 20”x20”x5”. However, this turkey has a much smaller body and there isn’t as much ice left over.
This sculpture is quite a bit taller than the turkey design and transporting this piece to another site proved to be interesting the first few times, because the piece is awkward and top-heavy. Interestingly, the most stable position is to lay the sculpture down, resting on its tail. This only works though, if the tail is fairly substantial with a strong weld; and of course, lots of padding is used. Also, make sure when carving this piece that there is a strong connection between the turkey and the large pumpkin. Try to avoid taking much ice off the bottom of the sculpture and leave the pumpkins as substantial as possible.
probably turkeys sitting atop pumpkins is a rare thing. Even stranger though, might be this way to make a pumpkin into a turkey from Amazon.
Because of the top-heavy nature of this design, you must also make certain that the bottom of the base is flat and that the sculpture is extremely stable. You may want to use additional ice to carve a wide, flat base that the sculpture can be attached to during set up (a 20”x15”x4” slab would be appropriate) If there is ANY doubt as to the stability of the finished piece with a design like this, DO NOT set it up! An unstable ice sculpture can be extremely dangerous to anyone around the sculpture and it’s just not worth the risk!
well, what I’m making in this video is certainly no turkey and pumpkins ice sculpture! But there IS part of a turkey…
design variations: for the CNC
If I had an I-Sculpt 3D CNC, I’d be sculpting a lot of my turkey and pumpkins ice sculptures on it. However, my Laguna IQ CNC is a bit small for the task. Besides, I used to sculpt a lot of these buggers for Thanksgiving and I got pretty quick at it. I dare say that I’d be better off hand sculpting if I can’t convince my client to get a CNC piece for their Thanksgiving brunch (or whatever they call their Thanksgiving Day event).
I’ve used this somewhat cartoonish version of the turkey and pumpkins ice sculpture design to show to clients, but it wouldn’t work well for a template because of the angled viewpoint. This is probably from my first “brochure” for Thanksgiving, btw.
for more info and some guidelines
If you have any questions about my turkey and pumpkins ice sculpture design for Thanksgiving, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though if it’s been a while.) If you would like to use this ice sculpture design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site. Check out more turkey-adjacent ice sculpture designs here.
You might also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
