September 27, 2011: Homemade Scarecrow Recipe

It’s just about a month away from Halloween now and it’s time to start thinking about decorating for the holiday and the season. Halloween is my DMIL’s very favorite holiday and I’m sending her some decorating ideas I found in a magazine. But for me, it’s not so much about ghouls and goblins but celebrating autumn. Every year I make a scarecrow and thought I’d share the directions with you.

Start with two pieces of scrap wood. Shown here is one about 5 feet long and one about 3 feet long. The longest piece becomes the base of the body, going through the head and down to the feet. The shorter piece supports the arms. Just take a short nail (I used a roofing nail) and secure the two pieces in the shape of a cross, as shown.

My scarecrow is wearing an old T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Now, dress up your scarecrow. I used an old flour sack for the head and stuffed it with plastic bags. A marker made his eyes, nose, and mouth. If you really want to get fancy, you can sew on his features or use things like buttons for eyes. Put the clothes on your cross frame first, before stuffing, and poke the board through one leg of the pants. The pants will hang down until you give them something to keep them in place around the “waist”.

Next up is stuffing your scarecrow. I suggest using plastic grocery bags or crumpled up newspaper pages. There’s no need to stuff him with straw – just stray bits of straw stuffed in the ends of the sleeves and pant legs will make your scarecrow look authentic.

Once he’s stuffed, tuck in his shirt. You can use safety pins to secure the pants to the shirt, if necessary. Now just add the little details. I gave my guy a bandanna and a hat. You could give yours a pair of work gloves and boots, a belt, a vest, or even a pair of suspenders (which will work wonders for keeping his pants up!). Your scarecrow should stand up all by himself - or you can pound the board keeping his body rigid into the ground.

To me, nothing says “autumn” like a scarecrow in the front yard! And kids love ‘em!