Affordable & Easy DIY Fall Scarecrow

If you live in a neighborhood that loves Halloween, you may be wondering how to take part in the festivities without breaking the bank.

One of the most festive Halloween decorations you can make at home is a scarecrow!
This DIY Scarecrow uses common household items – and a few cheap items that you could find at a local hardware store – which makes this DIY project affordable for almost any budget.

Here are the items you will need:

• 1 bale of hay
• Twine
• Scissors
• Hammer
• Nails
• 1 board (A 2X4 works great here)
• 1 pair of old jeans
• 1 old button up flannel
• Straw hat
• Bandanna
• Piece of burlap for the head (big enough to wrap around the ball and tuck into the shirt)
• 1 bouncy ball (for the head)
• Markers

Step 1: The Body

Take the flannel shirt and pants and the straw, and start tearing apart the hay bale. Unbutton the flannel shirt and the jeans, and then grab the hay you tore off the bale and start stuffing the shirt and pants.

When the shirt and pants look realistic in size, tie off the bottom of the shirt and gently set them down. In order to make hands and feel, stick the hay out of the sleeves and pant legs. Use the twine to tie off the wrists and pants.

Step 2: The Head

Next, grab the bouncy ball, hay, burlap, and twine. Place the bouncy ball in a pile of hay on top of the piece of burlap. Adding the hay to the bouncy ball helps create a semblance of a more oblong head instead of a perfectly round head.

Once you have enough straw in the piece of burlap, wrap the burlap around the head and tie it off with a piece of twine.

Step 3: Attaching the Head to the Body

Set the torso of the scarecrow up in a chair, and grab the head, bandana, and board. Push the board through the neck hole in the flannel shirt, and leave enough length out of the shirt so that the head can fully attach to the board.

When you are done, the head should be securely stuck onto the torso. Take that bandana and wrap it around the neck of the scarecrow.

Step 4: Fastening the Body

For this step, you might want to enlist someone’s help! Grab the torso of the scarecrow and slide it into the pants. (If you don’t mind ruining the jeans, you can nail them to the board in the torso.)

Step 5: Completing the Ensemble

Take some of the remaining hay and tie a bundle of hay together – the bundle should be no longer than your forearm and about as thick as your arm – and make sure the tie secures the bundle. Use the hammer and nails to nail this bundle of hay to the head of the scarecrow by nailing the hay to the board.

This hay becomes the scarecrow’s hair. Next, attach the hat to the scarecrow’s head over the hair by nailing the hat to the board. You can use this opportunity to rearrange the hair to make it more realistic.

Place the scarecrow in an old chair or on top of a hay bale, and draw with the black and red permanent markers on the head of the scarecrow to make a face.

Voila! You now have an adorable scarecrow Halloween decoration!