DLTK's Holiday Crafts
Necktie Scarecrow Craft
This 12 to 18inch tall
necktie scarecrow is loads of fun and quite simple to make. It makes
a good gift for Grandma during gardening season. Or you can put it
into a flower arrangement from your spring or fall garden and display it
that way. Tasha just put it in her bedroom beside a sunflower
picture she drew!
I've also given some ideas on
how to work it into a Sunday School lesson.
MATERIALS
- an old necktie (make sure daddy or
grandpa are ok with you chopping it up!)
- scraps of wool (yellow or tan) or
raffia. If you do not have these, cut yellow construction paper
into thin strips.
- string, wool (any color) or twist-ties
- the toe of an old pair of nylons
- two sticks (or you can use drinking
straws or pieces of dowling)
- markers
- kleenex, cotton balls or stuffing
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INSTRUCTIONS
- Use string, wool or twist ties to lash your two sticks (or straws)
together.
- When you're done lashing they should look like a cross (see
photo).
- If you are interested in doing this craft in conjunction with
Sunday School, you can point out that it looks like a
cross.
- Then read Exodus 34:22... Celebrate the Harvest. The craft
goes nicely with a Thanksgiving/ harvest Sunday School
theme...
- and the fact that it starts with the cross, makes it a more
meaningful Christian craft. You can talk about how Jesus is
the foundation of this craft (or the central component of this
craft) just as he is in our lives.
- One of my big, consistent messages to my children is that God
isn't just with us on Sunday from 10am to 11am *laugh*... I love
to make "regular" crafts and point out religious
significance out of the blue to reiterate that message.
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MAKE THE BODY (clothes)
- Take your tie and cut it about half way. You can see from the
photo about how much of the tie you need.
- Fold the tie in half and snip an X in the middle of it.
- Push the top of the cross through the X. The tie now looks
like a robe over your cross.
- From the leftover piece of tie, cut two pieces the length of the
scarecrows arms for it's sleeves.
- Tie the sleeves onto the arms at the "shoulders"
with wool, string or twist-ties
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MAKE THE ARMS
- wrap some wool loosely around your hand about 10 times (see photo
for about how much)
- take the wool off and tie it or twist-tie it to the arm at the
"wrist". Snip the ends.
- Tie the ends of the sleeves around the wrist so they go over the
wool a little bit and so the sleeves don't flop around
- Repeat for the other arm.
- If you don't have wool or raffia, cut thin
strips of construction paper and attach them to the wrist.
Everything else in the instructions is the same.
- Once your arms are done, tie a string (or twist tie) around the body
as a belt.
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MAKE THE HEAD
- Take the toe of the nylon (we only had white ones around, so that's
what we used).
- Stuff the nylon with stuffing, cotton balls or kleenex so it looks
like a proportionate head to the rest of the body.
- Stick the top of the cross (neck) inside the head and tie with
string or twist tie.
- Use markers to draw on a little face and hair.
- OPTIONAL: Glue some wool on for hair.
- We put a scrap of white material (it came from inside the tie)
over top of the wool hair as a "kerchief".
- You can purchase tiny straw hats at craft stores and use those
(but you know me... I rarely buy anything *blush*)
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