How to Make a Paper Scarecrow

Scarecrows can be helpful when you want to keep birds out of your garden. They’re also the inspiration for some whimsical fall crafts. Even small children can get in on the scarecrow craze with this simple paper scarecrow project.

What You Need

Card stock
Construction paper in a variety of colors
Pencil
White craft glue or glue stick
Magic markers
Googly eyes
Straw or raffia

Instructions

1. Draw a basic scarecrow template on card stock. If you’re not sure how to do it, try drawing a puffy “T” shape with a circle on top for the head.

2. Cut out the scarecrow template.

3. Using the pencil, draw clothes for your scarecrow on the construction paper. Use the template to ensure that they will fit correctly. You could make a shirt and overalls or a dress, and add accessories such as hats, gloves, shoes and more.

4. Cut out the clothes. Use markers to decorate them.

5. Draw a face on your scarecrow. Make small dots where you will put the eyes, then glue them on.

6. Glue the clothes onto your scarecrow. Let dry.

7. Glue straw or raffia under the bottom of sleeves and pants. You could also cut out a hat shape and glue straw to it to make a straw hat.

Tips

Find some small buttons to embellish your scarecrow with. Add them to shirts or overalls.

Place a stick-on magnet on the back of the scarecrow for easy display on the refrigerator.

Make a paper crow out of black construction paper. Cut feet and a beak out of yellow or orange paper, and add googly eyes.
Stick it on the scarecrow’s arm for added fun.

Embellish your scarecrow’s hat with some dried flowers.

Use Spanish moss to make hair for your scarecrow. Glue it around the head or under the hat.

Instead of drawing the nose on, you could glue on a pom pom or a construction paper triangle. For the mouth, you could use a chenille stem.

Consider making some patches for your scarecrow’s clothes. Simply cut squares out of contrasting colors of construction paper and glue them on randomly.

If you want your scarecrow to last for years to come, use only card stock and construction paper to make it. Then laminate it and cut away the excess plastic, leaving ¼ inch around the edges to maintain the seal.

If you prefer, you could make the scarecrow’s clothing out of patterned scrapbooking paper or wallpaper scraps. You may need to glue these types of paper to card stock first to make them sturdier.