Hip Hop Scarecrow

Here she is, our hip hop scarecrow dancer!  It was amazing how quickly this came together considering I wasn't sure how to make this structure until the materials were out. 

I used the tubes that bolts of fabric come on as the base structure.  Upholstery and fabric stores have these by the dozen and will usually save them for you if you ask.  There are two types, ones that are formed in a corkscrew pattern (like paper towel rolls) and ones that are a compressed tube.  You want to use the compressed kind so that it does not unravel or split when you drill into it.  You are also able to cut the compressed style to length with a chop saw. 

For any self standing scarecrow you start by attaching a single tube to a scrap piece of plywood with "L" brackets.  There is a lot you can do with a simple "T" shape (spine and shoulders) but we were trying to tie in to the Hip Hop theme for my daughter's school dance, so we went with something a little more fun.  After the basic structure was figured out, I used tubes wired with coat hangers for the rest.  The clothes had to be hung as we built the structure because of the form, that made for an interesting time trying to attach everything together.  For filling, we used plastic bags, they provide a good fill without being to heavy for the stand. 

After our second consecutive win, I thought it might be nice to hold a scarecrow building workshop next year.  My daughter is dead set against the idea.  She said it would be helping everyone cheat if we gave them our secret!  The mind of a second grader!  There is really so much you can come up with once you get over the hurdle of making your scarecrow stand rather than sitting in a chair or leaning on a wall.  Maybe she will come around to the idea by next year!