Monday, September 16, 2013

How To Celebrate a Birthday (and make a Scarecrow)

Best Buddies...
Birthdays are fun and especially so when you're celebrating with a friend.  Each year, Tara and I, plan something extra ordinary to do to make memories on our special day.  Gifts are forgotten over the years, but time spent together, well, the memories from those days lasts much longer.  Our past birthdays have found us biking, hiking, making pasta, strolling through the Arboretum and eating at great restaurants.  Every celebration includes some good food- that's a given.  This year Tara wanted to make scarecrows for our gardens.  It's something we've talked about doing for a while.  We just needed a time to make it happen and today was the day!  Last week, I went thrifting to find overalls and hats.  Our bishop donated the colorful shirts for us to use. (He's the best!)  Tara picked up a few supplies at Walmart and we scrounged around our houses for old gloves and pantyhose.   
Tara's husband Larry (the handiest of handymen!), made these awesome frames which we used as the skeleton to build upon.  The hips turned out to be a little too wide for our overalls,  
so Tara headed into the workshop and came out with this.  I have to admit I was a little nervous as she said, "This is the first time I've ever used a power tool!"  Oh, great.  I didn't want a trip to the emergency room to be a part of this celebration. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about.  She worked that thing like a pro.
We used plastic bags for stuffing and even though we had a lot of bags, it wasn't enough.  We had to stop and go raid the recycling bin at Walmart in order to finish them.  We found out it takes A LOT  of bags to stuff two scarecrows.
We used twine to tie off the bottom of the legs and arms and then stuffed the bags into the clothing.
We cut the legs off a pair of pantyhose and tied the top together to make the head.
Setting this onto the frame, we stuffed it with plastic bags, tying the neck off at the bottom.  Next, we covered the pantyhose head with a piece of burlap. 
A quick search online, gave us plenty of ideas for facial features.
With the hot glue gun, we gave them a face and a personality.  This was the fun part. 
I felt like I was doing surgery on my little man.
We finished them off with hats, gloves and boots, stuffing straw at all the connecting parts and in their pockets.
They turned out so stinking cute, we could hardly stand it!
Howie and Sylvester
Yep!  Best buddies.  They're ready for the garden.  And me and Tara, well we were ready for lunch.  We had the biggest, most delicious subs you've ever seen and Sweet Frog for dessert.  Yum! 
Happy, Happy Birthday Tara!

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