Materials

6" terra cotta rose pot
4" terra cotta standard pot
miniature straw hat with a 6" brim
2 split wooden 1" balls
1 pair of false eyelashes
miniature clay pot nose
1" dowel rod, 4-5 feet long
3" diameter wood circle
sheet of 2mm white craft foam
18-gauge craft wire
blue painter's tape
painter's caulk
8 standard 2" terra cotta clay pots
flat artist's paint brush
small liner brush
hand saw
wood screw and drill
6 wooden 1" spools for spacers
small package natural-colored raffia
acrylic paint: white, black, denim blue, yellow, golden brown, light blue, rusty red
apple butter brown antiquing medium
polyurethane sealer for outdoor use
Aleene's Patio and Garden Outdoor Adhesive or Liquid Nails

Steps:

1. Turn the 6-inch rose pot upside down to create the body. Turn the 4-inch standard pot upside down and glue the rim to the bottom of the overturned rose pot. This creates the head (figure A).

2. Create the face by clustering the eyes and nose tightly together. Use two split balls for eyes and glue them in place with sides touching. Add the mini clay pot for the nose, glued directly underneath the eyes, touching the bottom of them. You may need to hold them in place with blue painter's tape until the glue dries (figure B).

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F
	Figure G
	Figure H
	Figure I
	Figure J
	Figure K
	Figure L

3. Cut the two arms from the 1-inch dowel rod using a hand saw. Make them 6 inches in length. The remaining length of dowel rod is the stake. Take the 3-inch circular piece of wood and screw in to one end of the stake. This creates a larger surface area to glue the scarecrow to the stake (figure C).

4. Prepare the stake for the legs by drilling a small hole through the dowel rod about 5 inches down from the 3-inch circle; this is what we will string the wire for the legs through, so they can dangle freely.

5. Using a 7-inch square piece of craft foam, create shirtsleeves around the dowel arms by wrapping and gluing so the seam is hidden in the back. Line up one end of the dowel with the foam and wrap to the opposite end overhangs with foam. Do the same with both arms; this creates a space to tuck in raffia to cuffs.

6. Glue the arms in place on the body by gluing the flat ends of the dowels, without the overlap, to the rose pot up near the head. Use the painter's caulk to fill in any gaps between the arms and the body and allow it to dry (figure D).

7. You need to paint the legs before assembling them. Paint all of the 2-inch pots denim blue.

8. Paint the bottom half of the rose pot denim blue and simulate overalls on the top half by painting two vertical stripes in front and two in back.

9. Paint the open spaces under the overalls in a yellow and white checkered pattern to represent a shirt (figure E). Continue the yellow and white checkered pattern out onto the sleeves.

10. Paint the whole head and face a golden brown.

11. Paint the lower half of the eyeballs with white and add a light blue iris and big black pupils. Add white highlight spots on the pupil (figure F).

12. Paint the end of the nose a rusty red color as well as dime-size circles on each cheek.

13. Outline the eyes, nose and cheeks with a dotted back line. Draw in a smile in black with small simulated stitch marks on it. Continue the dotted outline across the checkers on the shirt. Add the stitching details on the overalls (figure G).

14. To add depth, brush antiquing gel over every piece, including the hat, and wipe off the desired amount with a damp cloth. If it is to be used outdoors, cover each piece with several coats of polyurethane sealer.

15. Assemble the legs by tying a bunch of raffia to one end of the 18-gauge wire, creating a raffia tassel effect (figure H).

16. Add a 2-inch pot, making sure the raffia knot is shoved up inside the end of the pot, so there is about 3 inches of raffia hanging out from underneath.

17. Add a 1-inch spool on the wire to create a spacer between two of the leg pots (figure I). String on another leg pot, upside down up through the inside of the pot and out the drainage hole. Continue in this fashion until there are four pots and three spacers on one leg (figure J).

18. Then draw the string through the pre-drilled hole in the stake and begin repeating your leg steps backwards on the other side, leaving about 4 inches of bare wire at the top of both legs. Add a pot, spool, pot, spool, pot, spool, pot.

19. Slide the whole leg up a little on the wire to give room to tie off your last bunch of raffia; then slide the whole leg back down, hiding the raffia knot inside the bottom pot (figure K). Set the stake with legs off to the side.

20. Finish the arms by gluing a bunch tied like a tassel of raffia into the ends of the shirt. Also take a wad of raffia and glue to the head as hair. Glue the hat in place and then trim off the excess raffia to show the face, basically give him a haircut.

21. Apply the eyelashes to the lid line and glue in place.

22. Glue the 3-inch circle to the inside of the rose pot, and he is ready for your garden (figure L).

Tips: Try embellishing the scarecrow with some artificial sunflowers or a crow made from polymer clay.