How to Make a Scarecrow

Making a scarecrow in the fall is almost as much of a rite of passage as jumping in piles of leaves and carving pumpkins. It's a simple thing to make, and fun too. Here are some tips for making one of your own.

Gather the Stuffing
Your first step in creating your very own scarecrow will be to rake up some leaves from your yard to use as his stuffing. I know where I live, this presents no difficulty. If it does for you, you might be able to find an elderly neighbor who needs their yard raked and wouldn't mind at all if you take those leaves away!

Gather the Clothes
Find some old pants, an old long-sleeved shirt (flannel works great!), old shoes, and a hat and a ski mask. You'll also want some gardening gloves. Keep them at the ready.

Use elastics to close sleeves and legs
Use some heavy duty (not super, but bigger than paper) elastics to tie off the ends of the legs and the arms. This will keep the stuffing inside of your scarecrow!

Stuff the scarecrow
This might be the funnest part. Stuff the leaves into the scarecrow so that they're firm enough to make him sit upright. Make sure you get to the ends of the legs and arms, and into the head so he keeps his head upright. Elastic off the waist and the neck.

Put him all together
You can either set him on place, or use safety pins to be sure he won't fall apart. I suggest the safety pins at the neck and waist.

Give him a face
For the face, you can either sew it onto the mask, or use paint. If you use paint, it's easy to make eyes, nose and mouth.

Set him up
Take out one of the lawn chairs you won't be using for the rest of the season. Make your scarecrow comfy! Right outside the door will be funny, if you get trick-or-treaters.

Decorate him
If the clothes aren't decoration enough, plop a farmer's hat onto his head. Set a pitchfork in his hand somehow. Put a pumpkin in his lap. There are lots of things you can to do make him look more real.

Decorate around him
You can put some leaves or hay around him - a hay bale is a nice touch, too, with a couple pumpkins or gourds on it.

Keep him stuffed
When you notice your scarecrow going limp, all you have to do it gather up some more leaves and stuff them on in. He'll plump right back up!