Scarecrows are an effective and entertaining way to scare away birds from your garden or flowers, and are great projects to complete with kids! Plus they make great decorations for Halloween or fall celebrations!
Start by building the frame for your scarecrow and then adding clothes. Clothing adds personality and defines which type of scarecrow you are making.
Make a Head
Scarecrows are designed to frighten away birds by imitating human figures. If you want your decorative scarecrow to have the most lifelike appearance possible, start by creating the head and body.
Cloth or burlap sacks stuffed with leaves, straw and/or twigs make great scarecrow heads, though you could also use old clothing or even carved pumpkin. Plastic plant pots, an old football or water bottle, a cloth hat or even an old colander make additional options.
To make the head, start by placing a shirt on one side of your frame and trousers on the other. Pinning them together, fill your scarecrow's body with plastic bags or newspaper, tie off its ends, add headwear and add a hat or other headgear before tying off its ends and adding some accessories like arms and legs before adding your scarecrow hat! For something extra elaborate use paper mache techniques or papier-mache before painting as desired when complete!
Make a Body
Scarecrows can add rustic, cutesy or even slightly scary accents to any garden, and are always welcome additions. Use recycled items such as old clothing, broom handles and twine from around your garden (or purchased at craft stores) as bodies for your scarecrow.
Tie the sleeves of a shirt around each arm to form arms, or stuff rags or straw into each. Use twine to fashion suspenders that attach over your shirt shoulders and hold it upright (Image 1).
Pinch your pants or overalls together and use the belt loops to form legs for your scarecrow, filling each one with rags or straw before filling your legs out with twine or string and creating socks by pulling a long piece through each leg's bottom seam - you could also use boots as feet. Finally, attach its head and hat for the final touch!
Make a Hat
Add a hat to complete the look and provide additional protection from rain and wind. Hats can be created using any scrap fabric from old clothing that no longer fits, such as an old colander. Alternately you could try painting pumpkins with designs on them for this project or carving Jack-o-lanterns from cardboard.
Your scarecrow's body can be filled with any available materials such as plastic bags, dry grass clippings or straw, twigs and even old clothing or shredded paper - though paper is not an ideal material as it quickly gets wet and won't last in outdoor environments.
To construct the shoulder area of a scarecrow, measure from the top of a vertical wood piece down 8 inches, centering a 12-inch paint stir stick horizontally along this line and using wood screws to connect both pieces of wood together.
Make a Pair of Shoes
Scarecrows can help protect your garden from unwelcome visitors while providing an entertaining project for Halloween, Thanksgiving or fall decor. Dressing up a basic wooden frame into an adorable character is simple and inexpensive!
Secure all but a few buttons of the shirt and insert a 6-foot stake through both sleeves of your shirt, being sure to center it evenly (Image 1). This will form the horizontal support of your scarecrow (Image 1).
Fill the shirt and pants of your scarecrow with materials such as hay, straw, grass clippings, shredded paper, plastic bags or old clothing that has seen better days for an authentic appearance. Adding texture with old plant pots or boxes adds depth and interest while adding patchwork fabric pieces or twine can give a scarecrow a unique charm that shows wear-and-tear over time.
