How to make a scarecrow

My four year old has outgrown his 4T jeans and cooler weather clothing, and while the majority of them are going to find new homes at our church's Mission Center, we decided to recycle of a few of them and make a new friend, a scarecrow! 

Scarecrows are old.  They have been around for thousands of years.  The Egyptians, Romans and Greeks all used them to protect their crops from hungry birds, although they have not always been made out of hay.  Even native Americans used them!  To read more about the history of scarecrows;  http://www.spfdbus.com/thanksgiving/adopted-scarecrow/history_of_the_scarecrow.htm

If you want to stand up your scarecrow, you will need to make a frame out of wood.  If you are going to sit him on a bench or hay bale, you can skip this part.  We purchased the wood at Home Depot for $.92.  Because I wanted a preschooler sized scarecrow, I measured my little boy.  He is 42 inches tall and he is 41 inches from finger tip to finger tip.  Since I am planning to "plant" the bottom 12" of the frame, to make our scarecrow stand up, I need a stick that is 54" tall and one 41"  to secure his arms.  I used a screw to secure the 2 sticks together. 

As we are leaving the home improvement store, I'm thinking how cute my little guy is, carrying the wood and telling everyone he is going to make himself a scarecrow and use the wood to "hang it".  I think it's so cute that I'm trying to get a picture, and thinking how I wish I had let him wear his little Bob the Builder yellow hard hat, when he quickly turns around, and in a move right out of The Three Stooges, hits me on the nose with that 8 foot long piece of wood.  Instantly, the orange smocks are flying as admirers of my boy are ducking and taking cover as he twirls around to see why I'm shreiking, sending the wood swishing through the air.  My nose is now bleeding and I'm trying to grab the wood, and him.  We are a circus act, a sad, pitiful circus.  Learn from my mistakes... 

Once we get home, and I get cleaned up, I gathered a pair of his favorite jeans and a button down shirt.  We aren't really trying to scare away any crows, and I want it to look more like a scarecrow than a little boy. I like the way the hay looks sticking out of the holes of a button down shirt! 

We purchased a bale of straw at our local feed store for $8. Ask for straw instead of hay, because it's less expensive, and your scarecrow will never know the difference!    Stuff the jeans and shirt.  Again, I want some of the hay to show, so I overstuffed and pulled some down the arms and legs of the jeans.  Then using twine, tie them off so it doesn't fall out. Use tacks or a staple gun to secure the shirt and jeans to the frame.  I also used safety pins to attach the shirt to the jeans. 

The head is the most complicated part of the scarecrow.  The first jack-o-lanterns were made to adorn scarecrows.  You can also use a pumpkin and paint a face on it. (it will last much longer than if you carve it).
When I was a child, we had a scarecrow every year, and my mom would use a small, white pillowcase and paint a face onto it.  It's lighter and will stay in place much longer.  I outlined the face, and since this is a project for my little one and he WANTED to paint, I let him fill in the eyes, etc.  I probably could have done a better job, but the project is about him, and for him, not me. 

Every good scarecrow needs a hat!  My little guy wasn't about to share one of his baseball caps, but he was fine letting me use one of his brother's knit hats.  Be sure and stuff a little extra straw under the hat for hair! 
 

DIY Chalkboards

Check out these cute little chalkboards my kids and I made!  They can be used for so many different purposes, but my daughter and son enjoy using them as they play schoolhouse.  They are perfect for practicing writing his name! 

Making them was super easy, and something my kids could do themselves! 

1.  My oldest son and I picked up what we needed at our local hardware superstore.  We chose boards that were 2 feet long, but had the store cut them in half so that they are each one feet long.
2.  At home, we used sandpaper to smooth down the rough edges. 
3.  We then painted them with Rust-oleum Chalkboard Paint.  We painted both sides and the edges. 

That's it! 

Now, just get some chalk, or make your own homemade sidewalk chalk! 

We gone a little crazy with this idea, chalk painting anything that can't run from us!  We painted my son's baseball bucket, planters and pots, even a little table we have.  Next we are going to paint some pumpkins, I saw the idea on pinterest!  You just gotta love pinterest!
 
Michelle

Texas Mother Goose by David Davis

My children don't know that Mary, Mary was contrary.  In fact, they think she is from Granbury.  Because that is how the rhyme goes in one of their favorite books, Texas Mother Goose. 

The book is filled with all the ones you remember from reading Mother Goose, but each one has been changed to reflect their love of the Lone Star State. 

Almost every night we read, "Sleepy Little Buckaroo"

Sleepy little buckaroo,

You had a busy day.

On your stick horse,

You rode the range

And watched the dogies play.

Close your eyes

And rest tonight;

There's no need for sorrow.

You'll wake to greet the Texas sun

And ride the trail tomorrow.

I had, and loved a stick horse as a child.  My children have all had stick horses, too.  My oldest son's was a store bought, plastic one that made all sorts of horsey sounds.  My daughter's was made from an actual sock, a more boutiquey version we purchased for her in the Fort Worth Stockyards. 

My four year old has a stick horse, but he never rides it.

After reading Sleepy Little Buckaroo at bedtime, I asked him why - it's amazing the things you have time to think about during summer, when your mind isn't racing to make sure clothes are washed and lunches made for school the next day.

He answered that he liked it, but it didn't like him. 

So, I suggested that we make him a stick horse, filled with love so that we knew it would love him!

Items Needed:

• We went to home depot to purchase the dowel rod, because we don't have the traditional broom stick.  I chose the 1" x 3' dowel.
• A sock.  You can use any color or style of sock.  This one is an anklet, but it's really thick.  I tried one of my husbands socks, but the horse's face seemed a little too long.  I saw some tutorials which used fabrics, jean legs, etc. but I like the classic sock look best. 
• Stuffing for the sock, I used a polyester fiberfill, you can purchase at any art store (or Walmart).
• buttons for eyes, or you can use google eyes, or make them from material or paint them on your sock.
• needle and thread - I can't sew, but if I could do this, than so can you!
• hot glue gun - what I didn't sew, I glued! 
• ribbon for bridle and reins
• yarn for forelock and mane
• nylon cord for securing the sock to the stick. 

Steps:

1. Fill the sock with stuffing.  You want to be certain the heel of the sock is very thick, since that is where the stick will go.  We added a little red felt heart, similar to Build A Bear, so we could be certain the horse would love him!
2. Insert stick, making sure there is plenty of stuffing between rod and sock, for child's safety.
3. Wrap nylon cord around sock to secure it to the stick.  
4. Sew on or glue on eyes.  This is something you MUST do after stuffing the sock.  It would be much easier to sew them on before stuffing, but the stuffing is different each time, and never looks just right.
5. Add on the ribbon for the bridle and reins.  You might be able to get away with glueing on the bridle, but you need to sew on the reins, since your child is going to be pulling on these. 
6. I like the look of the loops for the forelock and mane.  I made lots of loops with the yarn and tied them together for the forelock.  For the mane, I used a piece of yarn and sewed down the back of the sock, then tied more loops of yarn onto this. 

From start to finish, it took me about an hour and a half, minus potty breaks and playing breaks.  Of course, I had a four year old helping me, so I also had to search for the supplies alot, and constantly gather up the yarn, because he would run around the house with it, making a "spider web".  If you aren't getting this kind of "help", it will probably go faster for you. 

Why the long face on my four year old? 
Because I made him stop playing so
I could take a picture!

And, he loves it, and the horse loves him. 

We are going to do a follow up activity, and ask his friends to meet us at the park with THEIR stick horses, for a real rompin' stompin' rodeo!  

 
 

                          

                                                                            





recycled pallet garden

You know the weird feeling you get when you learn a new word, and then suddenly you are hearing or seeing it over and over again?  It's such a strange feeling, and even has a name, the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.  Just watch, you are going to hear it about it again, soon!
My recent experience with Baader-Meinhof included garden pallets, not that I hadn't HEARD of garden pallets before, but....  it's like this.  I saw this garden project posted on Guard'n Planet's facebook page (which I love their blog, you should check them out!) http://www.facebook.com/guardnplanet?ref=ts
which recycled old pallets and used them as a raised garden bed!  I immediately wanted to do it, but thought where in the world do I find old, wooden pallets?   That very day, my neighbor just two houses down put one out for the garbage pickup!  Within 2 weeks, I had (actually my husband and  kids, who I bribed into going and bringing home) collected the 3 pallets I wanted all from different neighbor's trash!  It's just crazy how that works!

Here's how we did it:
Painting the pallets was fun, something that really excited the kids about this project!  We used a gloss spray paint. 
We turned the dirt under where the pallets would fit, and put down a weed barrier.  Then we added some old hay to stabilize the rockier pallets. 
I bought some compost and potting soil, and began filling the gaps in the pallets.  In the picture we have planted jalapenos, but I also have okra, eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, and melons to add to it! 
My big concern was our dogs, who immediately came and checked it out.  I was afraid they would think it was a new sunbathing patio for them.  So far, they have left it completely alone, which I contribute to the spaces in the slats. 

My Mommy Tips:

• I don't recommend using white.  The old wood just soaked up the paint, and even after 2 cans I wasn't satisfied.  The red and blue only needed one can of paint each. 
• Buy kid size gardening gloves.  The pallets are just splinters waiting to happen.!