At this time of year, at harvest time, if you have any crops, even if it’s just a small vegetable patch like ours, making a scarecrow can be fun for children. At the state fair a few weeks ago, we came across a few good-looking scarecrows, and they reminded me of the scarecrow we made years ago.
We’ve never had an abundant harvest from our small vegetable garden. Even though we’ve imported soil (our soil is horribly acidic because of the pine trees) and watered the crops faithfully, all we ever get is a few sparse vegetables, not really enough for even a salad for one dinner. The birds were eating the few crops we actually had one year. That’s when we decided to make our first scarecrow.
To make the scarecrow, I unscrewed a broom handle for the back of the scarecrow, so that we had something to stab into the dirt, and so that the shirt and pants wouldn’t fall apart. I found an old piece of hose, which I poked through both arms to make them more stiff. I used a pillow case stuffed with plastic grocery bags for the head. We chose a plaid, long-sleeved shirt and denim overalls for the body. After stuffing all of it with plastic bags (we could have used pine needles, come to think of it!), we put a straw hat on the head. My husband’s snow boots finished off the look. Oh, and I almost forgot the gloves that we used as hands. I safety-pinned those on, because gravity would have caused the scarecrow’s gloves to fall off the moment we put the scarecrow upright.
My children were so proud of the scarecrow they had made. We kept it up for a few weeks until the first frost, when all the crops were frozen anyway. We pulled it all apart, putting the clothes in the laundry. All in all, it took less than an hour to make, and the kids had a great time.
This brings back such great memories of scarecrows on porches while trick-or-treating! I can’t wait to try this with the kids!
What a fun project for kids of all ages!
That is the cutest idea ever!! I might just get the kids to make one this year for Halloween – it is pretty big in our house and they never want to make anything, but this they might!
Such a fun project! We always had a scarecrow on my porch (during Fall) growing up. Will have to make one this year! Thanks!
Darling! We make pumpkin people every year, but these are super cute and a lot more durable! So fun!
We made some squash creatures one year by hot gluing google eyes, feathers, and other craft supplies onto the squashes. They were really cute!
that is so cute!
What an adorable idea! I bet it was really fun to make this too!
What a fun thing to do! Your scarecrow looks awesome!
How fun! Fall is my favorite time of year and I can’t wait to get out our decorations.
seriously, how fun is that!! & easier than i would have guessed!