I really need to replace the banner pic above with something better…
updated 11/24/23 with the video of the making of the turkey fan tail. And then on 7/20/23 with lots of reorganization, fixed broken links, added more sarcastic words, etc.
a sad little collection of only 7 Thanksgiving ice sculpture designs. I can do better, really!
I haven’t really come up with many Thanksgiving ice sculpture designs lately. I’ve done a few new ones, but not ones that all all set to post. So for right not, this is what we’ve got. But the more attention the site gets, the more I’ll be able to spend more time on designs.
Around Thanksgiving, ice sculptors do much of their turkey carving a bit differently than most: with chainsaws and big blocks of ice. I’ve posted a number of Thanksgiving ice sculpture designs in the past, but in an effort to make things a little more convenient, I’ve collected the designs I’ve posted so far here.
I’d like to also add my turkey fan design and an engraved Mayflower piece, but so far, all I have are some incomplete posts. I have made them before though; below, you can see a video for the turkey fan tail. I’d to put together more Thanksgiving ice sculpture designs, especially for the CNC machine, but we’ll see how it goes. Hope that what I’ve got helps you!
quick links to the short list of designs
Here’s a list of what I’ve got so far:
cornucopia with logo or message
cornucopia for food presentation
Mayflower
Mayflower engraved
pilgrim
Thanksgiving emblem
turkey
turkey and pumpkins
turkey fan with “Happy Thanksgiving!”
cornucopia with logo or message
The logo cornucopia design is just a nice way for a property to show off their logo in the sculpture and is intended to sit in amongst a harvest fruit and vegetable display. The sculpture design doesn’t work for all logos, but “Happy Thanksgiving!” or something similar can be substituted in these cases.
the standard cornucopia
The standard cornucopia is fairly straightforward and a classic Thanksgiving ice sculpture design. It is designed to be displayed with harvest fruits and vegetables spilling out of its mouth. The mouth of the cornucopia is cut at an angle to make the best use of the block of ice.
the Mayflower
The Mayflower is a fairly complicated Thanksgiving ice sculpture design that requires more than one block of ice, some delicate carving, possibly some snowfill engraving, and some fairly straightforward welds. This is not a sculpture you’d want to approach lightly, but it would make for a great presentation.
a stern pilgrim
The Thanksgiving pilgrim design is likely the most difficult Thanksgiving ice sculpture design in this group, and requires a simple weld, snowfill engraving, and some delicate carving. If you’ve never carved a person before, this would be a challenging way to start.
basically, it's a Thanksgiving sign
The simple Thanksgiving emblem is just that, a small snowfill engraved sign with the words “Happy Thanksgiving!” with some autumn leaves engraved on the front. One weld is required as well as snowfill engraving skills.
turkeys
The turkeys require a large weld for the tail fan. Sometimes they also ends up as pretty heavy sculptures. There are 2 variations, but the only major difference is the sizes.
The single block turkey is just like a standard turkey design, but some compromises have been made so that the turkey can be cut from a single block. You end up with a smaller and lighter turkey that’s slightly out of proportion, but you don’t have to go into a fresh block of ice.
turkey and pumpkins
The turkey and pumpkins design is a lot like the single block turkey design, but like the standard turkey, it requires more than one block of ice. The pumpkins elevate the turkey up out of the tray a little bit and the pumpkin is a great space for a logo. Once again, you have to weld the turkey’s tail on.
the ebook
This ebook has 12 designs, 36 pages, and lots of useful ice sculpting info.
These Thanksgiving ice sculpture designs are also collected in the Thanksgiving design ebook. And the ebook also includes a few designs that are not on ice carving secrets, such as the buckle bowl, a cartoon turkey, and a Thanksgiving pumpkin (along with lots of carving info). But you can’t get it right now; I’m working on that!
related links
I have several other design collections on the site: Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July even! Then there are Halloween and holiday links below.
Also, you might also find photos and info about my Thanksgiving ice sculpture designs on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. (Probably try IG or fb, especially if commenting below is turned off.) Should you decide to carve one of these sculptures, I’d love to see pictures of how it turns out! Hopefully, you have lots to be thankful for this year as the holiday season begins in earnest. Happy carving and happy Thanksgiving!
