How to make a scarecrow
Oh dear, the Scarecrow Festival starts tomorrow, and I don’t have anything made and no idea – what will I do!
Don’t panic, it is very easy to build a scarecrow. It doesn’t have to be a great work of art, or awfully clever. Scarecrows are a very easygoing sort, they don’t care what they are made of or what they are stuffed with. Most of them are not too particular about their looks. They have a tradition of wearing old cast-off clothing, after all, and their job is t stand out in a field day and night in all weather with nothing to do but make the crows laugh at human frailty.
The simplest traditional form of scarecrow begins with two pieces of wood fastened together in a cross. The head can be stuffed fabric or perhaps a gourd or pumpkin (pumpkins are heavy, but a large dried gourd would make a dandy head that wouldn’t make the scarecrow topheavy).
A good base for a very simple scarecrow is a wire coathanger. Hang on a coat or shirt, pin pants or a skirt onto the inside of the upper garment. Tie the head onto the hook part of the hanger. Hang it on a wall. Voilá! Scarecrow! Coathanger wire can be used as part of the “skeleton” of any light-weight scarecrow.
Traditional scarecrows are stuffed with straw. Since mowt of you can’t run out to the barn for that, you will have to use alternatives. The ubiquitous plastic grocery bag is great for stuffing. So is bubble-wrap or other packaging material that you saved up just in case you might need it to send someone a fragile gift. “Plastic peanuts” can be used to bulk out a bag. Just be sure that the stuffing won’t get too heavy if the scarecrow stands out in the rain; he or she might fall over if not well supported.
Trees or other freestanding upright objects can be used for support. A scarecrow, particularly one that is coathanger based, might be hung from a tree.
…more soon
