Archive for the ‘make it’ Category

I could wile away the hours
Conferrin’ with the flowers
Consultin’ with the rain
And my head I’d be scratchin’
While my thoughts were busy hatchin’
If I only had a brain…

There’s something homey and humble about a good scarecrow.

They are so make-it-do that it seems like a shame to ever buy a scarecrow.  They should be made using an old holey shirt and overalls that have seen better days.

My kids and I decided to make a scarecrow yesterday.  I decided he needed to be made with whatever we could find on hand.

Here are the makings of our scarecrow:

• 8 foot wooden garden stake.  I cut 18 inches off top with a chop saw to make him a better height, and to use for the shoulders.  The stake will still feel tall, but it will be hammered into the soil, so it’s a great size… you can always cut it down more if you’d like a smaller scarecrow, but you can’t put it back.

• Twine. Good for a million and one uses including a scarecrow.

• A large brimmed straw hat.  We couldn’t find a large straw hat on hand, but the girls found an old dollar store safari hat from our dress-up box.  They set to work with a seam ripper to remove the plastic binding on the edge of the hat.  With a little pulling and fraying the weave, we had a very suitable hat. It’s a bit smaller than I’d like, but it was easy and free.

• Burlap. From my garden supplies.  For wrapping up a tree to protect it from the deer in winter, perfect for making a scarecrow face. (A burlap potato or coffee bag would be nice too.)  Burlap stinks by the way.

• A bit of brown felt for eyes and nose.

• An old worn out shirt.

• Old overalls.  We scored and found a holey linen jumper in my maternity clothes box.  Yes, I wore an overall jumper.  I assure you it was the height of maternity style in 2000. Never mind. Can I blame it on pregnancy hormones?  My scarecrow does look super cute in it, if that counts for anything.  And yes, I said it was a JUMPER not overalls.  That’s nothing that scissors and a sewing machine couldn’t remedy.

A slit up the front and another slit up the back….

Turn it inside out and pin.  Then stitch, stitch, stitch and the girls turned a jumper into overalls.  Lily’s hand is reaching in to remind Emma, “You only get to stitch to this pin, then it’s my turn.”

This is exactly when making it do it is fun.  The girls loved altering Mr. Scarecrow’s clothes.

Now for the head.  I debated what to stuff his head full of… sawdust, straw, newspapers, hopes, dreams….  Well, I quickly decided plastic sacks beat out newspapers.  Newspapers might make for a lumpy head… and not fare so well in a downpour.

So we filled one plastic grocery sack full of other sacks until it was just the right size for a head.  Then we cut a nice wide circle of burlap around the sack… approximately 36 inches wide.  No need to measure or cut a perfect circle.

I didn’t get a good shot of the stake, but it goes inside the plastic bag that has been tied tight in a knot.

Then wrap the burlap around the bag and the stake.  Tie it all tight with twine.  I wrapped the twine around several times before tying my knot.

Once you have the head in place, it’s easier to see where the shoulders should be.  Hammer the shoulders on with two nails to keep it from rotating.

This was a job perfect for my son.  He should be a carpenter he loves to hammer so much.

The eyes and nose were cut free hand out of felt.  I was happy to have them be a little wonky.  Then I sewed them on his face with a whip stitch.  A hot glue gun would have worked too, but stitching only took a few minutes.

I was planning on stitching a mouth and may still.  I thought a stitched curved smile with little cross lines would be fun.  But I kind of like him without a mouth… so we’ll see.  What do you think?

Then all that was left was to dress him up.  I tied his shirt around the stake at the bottom and we added a few bags to take away his angular shoulders.

At the last minute we added a handkerchief to his pocket for a little color… and for him to wipe his brow.  Keeping the crows away is hard work after all.

The best part of making a scarecrow is it can be a work in progress. The kids think he should have some straw coming out his hands and neck.  But we didn’t have straw, but I may try to pick some up.

I also think he needs a few patches on his knees, now that I get a good look at him.

Our whole family is in love with our new scarecrow.  There has been debate over his name- Hank or Bob?

Whether or not he’s good at scaring crows, we may never know.  But we did find out, to our great amusement, that he’s good at scaring dogs.  Our dog, Finn came loping by unawares and stopped in his tracks, then jumped backed like he’d had an electric jolt and barked at our intruder.

Good to know he’s on watch duty, even if he can’t tell the real thing from a fake.

If you’ve never made a scarecrow before, make one this week, it’s good, clean fun!

I would not be just a nuffin’
My head all full of stuffin’
My heart all full of pain
I would dance and be merry
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a brain

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And just in case you haven’t, be sure to leave a comment on yesterday’s post to enter to win the $25 Visa Gift Card Giveaway.

I was thinking about how (in the good old days) we used to scavenge our Halloween costumes from the attic or from the thrift store.  Sure, my mom would sew costumes here and there, but often we used our ingenuity, safety pins and a hot glue gun.

I’ve always sewn fun costumes for my kids, which is very time consuming.  (It can also lead to swearing when I’m sewing on super slick synthetics… yuck!)   I’ve always done my best to buy the fabric on sale or with a coupon, but even still sewing a costume isn’t always cheap.  It has been worth it though, because I knew we would get lots of play value out our costumes as dress ups.

Now that my kids are getting older and less likely to play dress ups, I love the scavenge idea more and more.

Here’s few scavenger costume ideas we’ve used in the past.

Indiana Jones

My son went to an Indian Jones movie party and even though his costume was the result of a frantic scavenger hunt, he took 1st Place in the “look alike” contest.  He was most excited about winning a $50 gift certificate!

What you’ll need:

• White or cream button down shirt
• Khaki pants
• Boots
• A brown leather belt
• A fedora- that might just be the most important element
• A whip-  Check out this awesome tutorial
• A satchel
• A revolver- optional, but NOT for school

Rosie the Riveter

Emma dressed like Rosie for Lily’s last year’s Refection photography entry.  This is an easy costume to scavenger!

What you’ll need:

• A blue (or white- since we make it do) button down shirt
• A square of red polka dot fabric for a head scarf
• Jeans- preferably sailor style
• Bobby pins for a pin curl
• For shoes- unless you are being judged by a historian… there are lots of options including Oxfords, Penny loafers or Mary Janes… whatever you have I say.
• Optional might be a tool belt and a few tools or even a WWII airplane to hold
• Also optional but fun is a sign “We can do it!”

WWII Paratrooper Soldier

Two of my kids dressed up like 101st Airborne Paratroopers for a 4th of July parade a few years ago.  Again scavenger hunt was in order.  The helmets came from a friend, the camo clothes from my son’s wardrobe… he’s fond of camo.

This year for Halloween my son’s 5th grade class does a wax museum and all the student dress up like a notable American.  My son has chosen war hero Major Richard Winters of the 101st Airborne Easy Company.

Here’s what you and Ben will need:

• An army jacket- We’ve found his grandfather’s old army jacket from the 1950’s in grandpa’s attic
• Camo pants- I’ll be picking up some new camo pants that will be part of his regular wardrobe the rest of the year
• Boots- Not sure what I’ll do with this- maybe make faux- boot covers for his shoes- any good soldier will tell you it’s the boots that make the Airborne Paratrooper!
• A parachute-  Made from a white, round, disposable, plastic tablecloth.  Punch a few holes around and in from the edges and tie with long strings that come together and attach to the jacket.  Better yet, if you can get a vest to attach the parachute to that’s even better.
• A WWII Army helmet- Plastic ones are readily available on the cheap
• We’ll be heading down the Army Navy Supply for some real patches for the jacket

After looking through the Chasing Fireflies Catalog that showed up in our mailbox a few weeks ago- here’s my scavenger challenges for my girl’s Halloween costumes this year:

The girls want SCARY costumes!

OOOh this costume will be fun.  I’m thinking I’ll make great use out of old sheets and cheap lace fabric.  We even have an old tutu from a dance performance that will come in handy here.  Yes, I will need my sewing machine a bit… but not like making a costume from scratch.

Here’s the costume I love best.  I think my daughter would have a great time creating a beak from things we have in our art supply… I’ll just need to pick up some black feathers from the craft store.

We already have a wonderful long black tutu and feather boa, from their dance performances, that will be absolutely perfect.

Making the feathered wrist bands would be SO fun….  They LONG black nails are something else.  My daughter loves them, of course, but she may not love them as much when holding a trick or treat bag.

But the costume my daughter hopes for is a vampire and she likes this costume best.  This one would be a little trickier to scavenge.  Long black tutu maybe… some web style lace would need to be bought.  But we’ll see.

Have you started thinking about Halloween costumes?  Will you make? Buy? Or scavenge?