PROJECT : A Bone to Pick

After the turkey is carved and eaten, all that remains are . . . the bones. But before you toss away the bird frame or boil it away for soup, pluck out the wishbone. With it, you can create a new kind of holiday memento. We started trading wishbones in my family a few years back, and the practice has become a tradition, a way of wishing luck for all occasions.

Insert a wishbone in a store-bought card or tie it to one of your own. Everyone can use an extra wish now and then.

First Steps

* Carefully remove the wishbone from the turkey breast. Chicken wishbones work well too and are sturdier than turkey bones, which are delicate, though more classically shaped.

* Clean the bone and rinse well. Allow it to dry.

* Using a piece of fine-grade sandpaper, sand the bone until the surface is smooth. Be careful not to use too much pressure; the bone breaks easily.

* Decorate the bone by painting with acrylic craft paint, available at most craft stores, using your own or one of the following designs. Use a brush for the larger areas; a sponge dipped in a little paint and lightly dabbed adds nice texture, and the pointed end of a wooden skewer can be used for small dots, squiggles and lines.

Wedding Bones

Using two chicken bones, paint one gold and the other silver. Allow the surface to dry. Dab a little silver paint onto a dry, clean kitchen sponge, blot on paper, then dab some of the silver onto the gold bone. Repeat process with gold paint and silver bone. Let bones dry.

Birthday Bone

Paint turkey bone with cobalt blue craft paint and let dry. Dot the surface with red paint, using a fine-point paint brush. When dry, add yellow squiggles using the pointed end of a wooden skewer or toothpick and yellow craft paint.

Holiday Bone #1

Paint turkey bone with red or green craft paint and allow it to dry. Add red or green stripes using a fine paint brush. When stripes dry, add gold dots with the tip of a fine paint brush.

Holiday Bone #2

Paint turkey bone with green paint, allow layer to dry, then sponge on gold paint in same manner as Wedding Bone.