Hi girls, if you follow my blog you probably know how much I love my garden. Not just the pretty flowers that brighten my day but also the productive side of it. I have a few fruit trees, apple, plum, cherry, lemon, orange and mandarin to name a few. I also have a grape vine and a veggie patch. So you'd think I'd get a lot of produce..... but not so. Nothing from the fruit trees this year, nor the grapes and now my veggie patch is under attack.
my beautiful beans that had reached the top of my arch just a few days ago (above) now looks like this (below)
From whom...? THE BIRDS!!!!!!!!!! Those cute darling little things that sing so sweetly yet are so absolutely ruthless when it comes to the garden. They devour everything in sight.
I know a lot of people use nets to cover their trees etc and I sometimes do too but most times I don't get round to it or they still manage to pick through the net. So yesterday I'd had ENOUGH and decided to make a scarecrow. Not just any scarecrow mounted on sticks, but one that looked like a person, namely me.
She had to be life size, bendable, so I could not only stand her up but sit her down and move her arms. I wanted to be able to put her in different positions in the garden as I wouldn't put it passed those birds to figure out she wasn't real. So here is how I created her... and hopefully between the two of us we can keep those pesky birds away.
Here is what I used..
All of these things I already had.. the filling is actually the filling out of pillows that I had extra. When I used to make my cushions I would use a pillow and cut it down to size if I couldn't get the size I wanted from the shops.
I worked my way from bottom to top. First I filled the pants then tied the bottom of the legs with string.
Had to try them out, yep looking good! The legs are just tucked into the old garden boots..
next I tucked in the T shirt and hot glued it to the waistband of the jeans.. and of course I couldn't wait to see what it looked like with a belt.
next I hot glued the back of the neck of the t shirt to the flannel shirt.. I wanted the flannel shirt to be loose fitting..
then I kept filling the sleeves of the shirt and tied the bottom of the sleeves with a string as well.. I didn't end up using that scarf.. at this stage she was looking a bit scary with no head. Making the boobs proved a bit difficult.... trying to get them the same size .. ha ha!
so next the head.. I cut out some calico and made the shape using a plate to get some roundness and also for the neck.. turned it inside out and drew on the face.. unfortunately I am no artist.
I had some old garden gloves which I filled, fingers included, and attached them with hot glue at the rims.
I wanted to give her hair so I ended up purchasing a wig along with some white gloves as I really did not like the green ones. total for that was $8.50.
Actually her wig is pretty much how I am wearing my hair now! All messy with a fringe. If her lips weren't so voluptuous ( 'cause mine sure aren't) she could pass as me..
I think the white gloves are much more colour coordinated now..
Here she is sitting on the veranda..
finally.. out in the garden...she is attached to a pole from the belt (which is covered by the shirt) and a red string to keep her head up.
I know I have a red bandanna somewhere.. as I haven't used it in years, once I find it, I'll put that on her instead of the string.
she is already guarding my beans! good on ya..
So there she is doing her thing. Lisa says she looks scary as she looks real. Um yeah, that's what I wanted!
I want to name her and I am thinking either Thelma or Louise (cause I love that movie) or Matilda... or maybe if you can think of a name I'd love to hear it!
take care, Maryann
