The best part of the fall is the decorating season lasts from September to November which is considerable longer than most of the other seasons. I love the fall mums and pumpkins of assorted colors, and the changing of the color of the leaves and cooler nights. Harvesting of the gardens are slowing down and summers finest flowers are fading fast.
For the past four years or more I have been creating new decorative characters out of tomato cages. I have used them for porch decorations and to adorn my brick pillar lights at the end of my driveway. This year I was running out of original ideas so I got to work trying out different things that might work. After many failures I decided that my choice for this year is my pair of scarecrows. The hardest part of the planning stage for me is trying to get the part you want to light up in the right place for the scarecrow. Also the fact they are going to be exposed to the weather and wind has to be taken into consideration in the plans.
I started with smaller tomato cages placed upside down so widest part is at the bottom and the prongs are on the top. I than bend the prongs over to the make a flat top. They could be cut off also if need be. Mine fit tightly over the light fixtures we have but they needed to have a taller base to sit on to accommadate the light bases. This is were I had to use creative ideas for something that can be worked around the light bases. For my idea I found the oval foil turkey pans would work because I could cut them easily and fit them around the light stem. I still had a few inches that I needed to fill so I used a pool noodle that will become the arms of the scarecrow. Burlap was my choice for the face /bottom section of the scarecrow. I used old flannel shirts that I cut up to use for the covering of the base foil pans. I used duck tape to tape it down and it keep it securely in place. The sleeves of the flannel shirt are used to slide the pool noodle through and a dowel rod is slid in the hole in the pool noodle to keep it together and in a good oval shape that will rest on top of the covered foil pan. I had two hula skirts that I used for the hair ( raffia would also work just as well and it is available in most craft departments). I used assorted ribbons and floral pieces to decorate the finished product . I painted the face on with a fabric paint. It needed a heavy coat so that when the light shone through the face the features could still be seen. I have posted some photos that may be helpful . This is a more involved project compared to my other tomato cage characters, but the planning time and effort have paid off in the enjoyment of creating them. I hope you will enjoy them . Happy Fall !
The hat was made out of felt from a pattern I found on Pinterest. http://www.wherethesmileshavebeen.com/diy-scarecrow-costume/
Loved them all. Will try. Thank you. I decided when putting away my tomato holders. See if anybody had a idea with these. Thanks again.