Our little scarecrow craft is a fun way to reuse dryer sheets.  These little scarecrows have many uses.  They can be used as a pencil topper, stuck into the center of an apple as a table decoration, on a wreath, or in a plant.   They are really fun to make as a take-home craft for kids at classroom harvest parties or at the Thanksgiving table too! 

 

 

What you'll need:

• Scarecrow Pattern pieces

• Tacky glue or hot glue (please use adult supervision for the hot glue)

• Brown foam sheet

• Small piece of scrap fabric

• 1 used dryer sheet

• 2-3 cotton balls (or 2 face tissues if you do not have cotton balls)

• String or orange plastic string ( the kind you would use to make a lanyard)

• 1 small rubber band

• Thin tip black marker

• Googly eyes

• Pencil

• Scissors

• Paper crinkle filling

• Small dry flower or autumn leaf

 

How to make it:

1. Print out our Scarecrow hat and outfit pattern.  Cut them out of brown craft foam.

2. Make the head by squishing together 2-3 cotton balls depending on their size.  If you do not have cotton balls you can make ahead with face tissues by taking two face tissues, stacking them, and folding them in towards the center to create a ball.

3. Cover the tissue ball or cotton balls with the dryer sheet, gathering the dryer sheet around the ball.

4. Take the pencil eraser end and nestle it into the center of the tissues or cotton balls and wrap a rubber band around the base of the head, securing the pencil in the center.  Tie some string around the rubber band to cover.  Trim the edges of the string.

5. Take the outfit piece and guide it onto the pencil through the neck hole.  Stuff the dryer sheet ends in through the neck hole also.

6. Open up the outfit and divide the dryer sheet into two sections that will be the arms.

7. For each arm section wrap some of the paper crinkle filling in the dryer sheet allowing some of it to extend past the dryer sheet ends.  Tie off the ends of each arm at the wrist with a string.

8.       Tie another string around the waist of the scarecrow and trim ends.

9. For the Hat:   First, we will attach the hair to the top of the scarecrow head and to the hat pieces.   The hat is made with two pieces.  Glue on some of the crinkle filling to be the hair on both hat pieces, attaching the crinkle filling along the inside brim of the hat – trim the crinkle filling once the glue is dry over where you want the bangs of the hair will be.  Glue on a little bit of crinkle filling at the inside top of the hat also. 

10. To attach the two hat pieces – run a bead of glue along each side edge of the hat pieces and glue them together.

11. With a black marker, draw in the mouth and nose.  Glue on the googly eyes to your scarecrow.

12. Details:

•  Add a hat sash to the brim with a scrap of fabric and glue.

• Add a small square of fabric to be a patch on the outfit attaching with glue.

• Add a fabric leaf or flower to the hat with glue.

Use as a pencil or pen topper, or if you want to use these cute scarecrows at a place setting.  Simply insert the scarecrow into an apple and set one each person’s place adding a name tag to each.

You can use your scarecrows in a plant to add a festive touch or even attached them to a holiday wreath or centerpiece.  They make a fun take-home gift for kids at the Thanksgiving table.