Your selfie as a square Thanksgiving profile picture: a 2000s flash photo holding a pumpkin pie, or a cartoon with maple leaves. Face centred, flaws shown.
Real workflow: a clean-shaven man in a navy sweater against a grey wall, then the same man holding a pumpkin pie at a table with small pumpkins and orange lights behind him, and his cartoon version in a mustard scarf and corduroy jacket on an orange to red background. On the photo his closed-mouth smile turned into a wide grin and the white T-shirt collar shows under the sweater; the cartoon added crow's feet.
At a glance
Thanksgiving is on Thursday 26 November this year, and every November part of TikTok swaps its profile picture for a Thanksgiving one. The Thanksgiving PFP goes back to posts from 2022. makeviral.ai says the drawn backgrounds came back on 2 November 2026 and credits a 2024 clip with 116,000 views, a vendor's figure we haven't checked. This workflow makes two looks: a flash snapshot with a pumpkin pie, the kind a compact camera took at family dinners in the 2000s, and a cartoon with falling maple leaves.
A profile picture gets looked at in a tiny circle, so both prompts centre the face and leave room around the head. Nano Banana Pro kept the demo's face shape, hair and eyebrows. It also took liberties. On the photo, a closed-mouth smile becomes a big toothy grin, the white T-shirt collar from the original photo comes back under the sweater, and the flash shines harder on the forehead than we asked. The cartoon draws crow's feet the man doesn't have.
For December, the same idea exists as a Christmas profile picture. For a seasonal portrait without the dinner table, try the colour sweater on black and white or the pumpkin head photoshoot. Both renders cost 38 credits, see pricing.
These are the files of the workflow above, exactly as the models produced them, unretouched. The starting point is shown when there is one.
Starting point
Render
People celebrating Thanksgiving in the US who want a seasonal profile picture for TikTok, Instagram or Facebook from a selfie, expats and families with relatives in America, creators getting their accounts ready for the holiday.
A sharp, well lit selfie taken straight on, of you or of someone who agreed, and a description of their face and hair in the prompt, including any beard or glasses.
Take a sharp selfie straight on
Face level, good light, no filter. A crop at chest height is enough, since the model adds the sweater, the pie and the table.
Rewrite the face description
The prompts say short hair and clean-shaven. If you have a beard, glasses or long hair, write it into both prompts, or the model shaves you and cuts your hair.
Run the photo, the cartoon or both
Each node costs 19 credits. The flash photo has the nostalgic feel the trend is about. The cartoon stays readable at very small sizes, like on TikTok or Discord.
Check it in the circle before Thursday
Upload the image to your app and look at it at its real size. If the pie pushes your face too high, ask for the pie held lower, at chest height, and run that node again.
The same canvas, tuned for different needs: each variation is two or three lines of prompt away.
The flash photo looks like you and has the slightly messy charm of a real family snapshot. The cartoon simplifies your features into flat shapes and reads better on a tiny avatar. Run both and compare them at the size your contacts will see.
Swap "a whole homemade pumpkin pie in a glass dish" for a pecan pie, a dish of stuffing or a plate of turkey. Keep it held with both hands at chest height so the face stays centred. Not tested on the demo.
Canadian Thanksgiving is already behind us this year, but the template works the same next autumn. The cartoon's maple leaves fit, and neither prompt names a country or a date.
Run the template once per person with their own selfie, changing only the face description. You get a set of pictures in the same style, one each. Not tested on the demo, and everyone has to agree.
The prompts say clean-shaven, so a beard disappears unless you change that line. Write "the same short dark beard" or "the same round glasses" in both prompts. The cartoon simplifies faces the most, so be precise there.
The orange to red gradient stands out on a light interface but turns muddy on a dark one. Try a cream background with the same leaves, or a deep brown, by changing one line in the cartoon prompt.
Both prompts describe the demo man: short hair, no beard. Leave that in and the model may shave you or shorten your hair. Rewrite those lines before you run anything.
On the demo, a closed-mouth smile became a wide grin with teeth. If that isn't how you smile, add "the same closed-mouth smile" to the face description and run the photo again.
A profile picture stands for a person in front of all their contacts. Only use photos of people who said yes, and never one of a famous person.
That's the look of the trend: a snapshot from a 2000s compact camera, direct flash, a warm dim background. The prompt asks for it on purpose, and bans the orange date stamp in the corner.
No, it comes out square, edge to edge. Your app applies the circle when you upload it. The prompt bans round masks and borders, so no white corners show.
No. The trend is American, and Canada has its own Thanksgiving in October, but anyone can use the template: expats, families with relatives in the US, or people who simply like the autumn look.
38 credits, 19 per render on Nano Banana Pro. Running one image again costs 19 credits.
2048 x 2048 pixels, square. That's far more than any app needs, since a profile picture ends up a few dozen pixels wide.
The original photo has a white T-shirt under a navy sweater, and the model kept that layer. Write "plain crew neck, no T-shirt underneath" if you don't want it.
The prompt asks for direct flash and a little shine on the skin, because that's the 2000s snapshot look. On the demo it came out stronger than asked. Remove "a little shine on the skin" for a matte face.
There's no set date. makeviral.ai saw the trend come back in early November. Switch whenever you like, and swap it for a Christmas one once Thursday 26 November is over.
Make a Thanksgiving PFP from your selfie with AI
Use this workflowFree account, no card required. The workflow opens pre-filled in your canvas.
Nano Banana Pro
Flux Kontext
Seedream 5 Pro