Thanksgiving-Themed Birthday Cake

I'd like to take credit for the MAJOR creative points earned in coming up with a way to combine a Birthday (for college-aged triplets, to be specific)  and Thanksgiving into one cake.  But I can't, because my creative and hilarious Mother-In-Law Marilyn completely thought up this cake idea for me:

I made three 6" layers of cake with a fourth top layer that is a smaller dome shape.  This gave the turkey a round body.  I made a fondant head, with fondant eyes, beak and flappy-turkey-thingy (Please feel free to comment if you know the correct term for this turkey part!)  All the feathers and wings are piped on using my own petal-technique (see this post for details).

To make the cake extra special and personalized, I made one large tail feather for each college they attend.  The logos and feathers are made completely out of tinted gumpaste, with a little edible food marker used for the Bulldog and Tree.

They loved the cake, and I was really happy to help them celebrate with family while they were home for Thanksgiving break.