SCARECROW IN A JAR

AGE LEVEL:
Late Juniors/Early Cadettes (Hot glue gun!)
CONTRIBUTOR:
AWELMORE COUNCIL: Cumberland Valley GS Council
MATERIALS:

1 Baseball,
1 small fishbowl (ball is the top),
2 hole wooden look button,
2 googly eyes,
1 straw hat to fit on baseball,
raffia or straw moss for hair,
18" fall colored straw button,
sunflower or other fall colored flower,
black "Sharpie",
Hot glue gun

PROCEDURE: Fold up brim on hat and hot glue to crown. Hot glue flower on flat part of fold. Set hat aside. On the side of the ball with no writing you should look for a wide area that you can use as the face. The stitching widens out and it is the mouth. Hot glue the button (nose) about 1/4" above the stitiching. Hot glue eyes above and close to the button nose. Run a heavy bead of hot glue around the top of the "head" where the writing is and glue raffia or moss to head for hair. Excess raffia can be trimmed later after hat is added. Run another heavy bead of hot glue inside hat and shove it down on top of "hair". Take a "Sharpie" and draw eyebrows and just a few freckles on the cheeks. Take jar and tie ribbon around the "neck" of the jar and make a bow. Fill with fall colored candy--they are adorable.

CAUTIONS: Hot glue is the biggest problem. Even the low temp guns can cause painful burns (I know from experience). This was an idea I got from a "Pack-o- Fun" magazine but I added the jar and I think it gave the craft a purpose other than just gathering dust. My daughter keeps hers out even when it's not autumn and just loves it. The biggest other problem my girls had was in trying to put the nose and eyes too high up which placed them up into the hat area. You must put the nose almost right on top of the stitiching and the eyes really close to but not touching the nose. The stitching on the baseball really makes the scarecrow. The biggest problem with the materials is finding baseballs in the fall of the year at a price we could afford. But the effort is worth the trouble when you see how really neat this project is. I have given many as gifts. You can also take a gold paint pen and write a message on the side of the jar with the date such as: Camporee '98.

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