Make a scarecrow to add to your fall decorations. Flickr photo by St0rmz.
This craft comes to us from Linda Knaub. She has helped folks build their own scarecrows at the “Make and Take It Scarecrow” workshop during the Fall Festival at Stauffers of Kissel Hill. She says some people decorate with scarecrows year after year because they like the old-fashioned, traditional feel of them. “They have always had a scarecrow in the fall, and it is a family tradition that gets handed down,” Knaub says.
Knaub says people combine scarecrows with other popular autumn decorations such as straw bales, corn stalks, potted mums, Indian corn and gourds. “Most people will use one large straw bale and sit a scarecrow on it with a pumpkin beside him,” she says. Finishing touches might be mums around the base of the straw or corn stalks and Indian corn tied to the porch railing. She has seen some non-traditional scarecrow outfits such as a business suit or Harley-Davidson look complete with riding boots.
Follow the steps to make your own scarecrow at home.
If you’d rather have a helping hand, head to the scarecrow workshop at the Fall Festival at Stauffers of Kissel Hill. The festival will be held at both locations in our area: 3949 Carlisle Road, Dover Township, and 4450 Lincoln Highway, York. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is a fee for the scarecrow workshop and 10% of the sales will benefit the York County SPCA. Don’t miss the many free events for the whole family including pumpkin painting, Halloween hopscotch, Monster Mash bean bag toss, miniature golf and more. Visit www.skh.com for more details.
Supplies needed
• Scrap wood: One 2-foot-long piece and one 18-inch piece.
• Tree stakes or other pole, such as a broom handle (for a freestanding scarecrow)
• A shirt and pants or skirt
• 3-foot-by-3-foot piece of burlap or other object to use for head
• Twine
• Staple gun
• Paint pens
• Straw
1. Build a backbone.
For a sitting or leaning scarecrow, Knaub suggests a wooden cross- shaped frame about 2 feet tall and 18 inches wide. For the frames provided at her workshop, she uses wood that is about Ω-inch thick and 2 inches wide. For a standing scarecrow, tie it to an upright structure, such as a porch post or clothesline pole. To make your scarecrow freestanding, you will need tree stakes or a broom handle to stick down the pants legs and into the ground.
Step 2
2. Create the head.
Cut a square of burlap that is about 3 feet by 3 feet. Place straw in the middle, then fold it over and round it to look like a head. Staple the burlap shut and attach the head to the frame with the staple gun. Knaub notes that only adults use the staple guns at her workshops.
Step 3
3. Construct the chest.
Put the shirt on the cross-shaped frame as if it were a clothes hanger. Stuff the arms, then button the shirt all the way and stuff the chest. Tuck the shirt into the pants, thread twine through the belt loops and tie it tightly. Allow some straw to stick out for hands, then secure at the wrists with twine.
Step. 4
4. Build the bottom.
Stuff the pants with straw, allowing a bundle to stick out at the bottom for feet. Tie off the pants with twine at the ankles. Staple the waistband of the jeans to the cross-shaped frame. Now is the time to insert the tree stakes or broom handle into the pants legs if your scarecrow is going to be freestanding.
5. Fashion a face.
Use paint pens to draw eyes, nose and mouth. At her workshop, Knaub displays a poster with samples of what facial features might look like to give kids some ideas. To produce a traditional “Wizard of Oz” scarecrow look, Knaub says to go with googly eyes, triangle nose, oblong mouth and rosy cheeks. “Some people really get creative with theirs and some stick with the traditional scarecrow face,” she says. Last, top off your “tattie-bogie” with a hat, leaving a bit of straw peeking out for hair.
The finished scarecrow.
Sources: “The Scarecrow: Fact and Fable” by Peter Haining, and “Scarecrows: Making Harvest Figures and Other Yard Folks” by Felder Rushing
- Beth Bence Reinke for Smart
