Twig scarecrow

Not all scarecrows have to chase birds; some just look great in the garden. Dean makes his dignified stick men from apple or peach boughs. Hat brims and ties are cut from galvanized tin, sold at salvage yards; a can lid or tarpaper are fine, too. Edward Toolhands (shown on left), has hands made from old tool heads. For safety, clamp wood pieces to a worktable before cutting and drilling. Round all corners of tin.

Materials and equipment:
• saw
• tree limbs and sticks
• wood chisel
• penknife
• drill
• 1-1/4-inch nails
• hammer
• tin snips
• sheet tin
• 1/2-inch dowel (4 inches long for hat)
• 3/4-inch dowel (4 feet long for stand)

Instructions

Click here to see steps.

A. Saw a tree limb for the body. (This one is 18 inches long and 4 inches in diameter) For the face, remove an 8-inch section of bark by scoring in circles with a chisel, then peeling the bark with a penknife. Drill a 1/2-Inch diameter hole 2-inches deep into the body top.

B. Cut small nose and eye pieces from tree branches and nail in place. Chisel out the mouth. Using tin snips, cut a bow-tie shape from tin. Cut a log piece for the hat crown; drill a 1/2-inch diameter hole 2-inches deep in the base of the crown. Cut a 4-inch length of 1/2-Inch dowel.

C. For the hat brim, cut tin into a circle (about 9 inches in diameter). Drill a 1/2-inch diameter hole in the center. Fit the hat dowel into the log crown, then slide on the tin brim. Fit the free end of the dowel into the log body and slide the pieces together until they fit snugly.

D. Cut arms from twigs. With the pen knife, whittle one end of each twig flat on one side and nail it to the body; predrill nail holes in the twigs if the arms seem likely to split. Nail on the bow tie. Drill a 31/-inch diameter hole in the base of the body for the stand.

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Excerpted from Seasons at Seven Gate Farm by Mary Seehafer Sears. Copyright 1996 by Hearst Communications, Inc. Excerpted, with permission by Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.