DLTK's Holiday Crafts for Kids
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
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.
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.
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.
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*)
Printable version of these instructions
