DIY Reversible Wooden Scarecrow/Snowman

Do you ever walk in to a store to buy a particular item and end up getting distracted by something else?  I do!  It happens all too often.  In fact, recently I went to my local Menards store to pick up some supplies for a few concrete projects and walked through the wood department.  There sat a pile of cheap wood and I suddenly lost sight of my mission.  At the bargain basement price of 1.69, I now had a new project in mind.  I had been seeing some really neat ideas on Etsy and Pinterest for wooden scarecrow faces-but most didn't have instructions to make them and some were links to buy them-which irritates the heck out of me.  So I grabbed a couple of pieces and headed to the checkout with an idea in my mind-I was going to make one and it will be easy and cheap!

Just like some of my other projects I didn't have to go out and spend a bunch of money and I didn't have to use any power tools.  It is easy and most of the time making it was spent waiting for the paint to dry.   Here are a couple pictures of the end project:  

DIY Reversible Fall/Winter Decoration-Scarecrow side

DIY Reversible Fall/Winter Decoration-Snowman side

 So here is the wood I used for this project (the 2 small pieces were scrap wood that I had laying around):

Wood pieces used for snowman/scarecrow project

Here is a list of what I used:
1.  A 2x12 piece of wood
2.  2 scrap pieces of 1 1/2 x 18 in
3.  some small nails
4.  A hammer and a staple gun (optional to attach flowers)
5.  some glue-I used Elmer's Glue All
6.  Spray paint-I used black, white, khaki and brown (you can use whatever colors that you want-it is your "art")
7.  a couple of fake flowers-I used 1 poinsettia and 1 sunflower for decoration
8.  paint and small brushes to make the faces
9.  2 small screw eyes
10. some twine

So here are the steps to create your reversible scarecrow/snowman:

1.  Lay your large piece of wood on a piece of cardboard (or plastic) on the ground and line up the smaller wood across the board so that it looks somewhat like a hat brim.  Try to have the same amount of overhang on each side.  I went about a third of the way down and tilted it like this:

 2.  When you have it in a position you like then draw a line-this will guide you when you attach it.

 3.  Now take the glue and run some along the small board-if there is an "ugly" side glue that side:

 Do not go to the edge-only glue where there will be contact with the large piece of wood:

Spread glue evenly

Spread glue evenly

 4.  Place the strip of wood in position (the line you drew earlier) and hammer a nail in place at each end:

Nail down the strips for the hat

 Make sure to hammer the nail down all the way:

 5.  Attach the other strip of wood in the same way-but be sure to line them up with each other so that they are exactly even:

Make sure both sides are even with each other

 6.  Once you have attached the hat brim it is time to paint.  I used spray paint which I already had on hand-but you can use whatever paint you prefer. Tape off the sections if you need to.  I am messy so I always do:-))

Spray paint I used

Paint one section at a time and let dry.  I applied 3 coats of paint.

Snowman side painted

Scarecrow side painted

 7.  When it is painted and the paint is dry you can add the flowers.  I had bought some fake flowers from The Dollar Tree:

Cheap fake flowers for decoration of the hats

 Pull a flower off of the stem and snip the end off so it is flush:

Trim off  plastic tip from fake flower

 place the flower on the hat-I used a pointsettia for the snowman:

Add fake flower

 Staple or nail it down-try to hide the nail or staple:

Staple fake flower down

 Here I used a sunflower for the scarecrow:

 

 8.  Now is the time to draw on/paint a face-I am a terrible artist so this was the worst part for me.   I am so terrible with using a paintbrush that I ended up using Sharpie markers because I was making a mess with the paints.  Here is the scarecrow face side:

Add a face to the scarecrow side

 Here is the snowman side:

Add a face to the snowman side

 9.  Add the screw eyes to the top:

Screw eyes to hang the wooden decoration

 twist them in good:

Add eye screws

eye screws

 10.  Run the twine through the screw eyes and knot it.  I doubled up my twine to give it strength:

Twine

Run twine through eye screws

11.  Ready to hang:

Wooden reversible scarecrow/snowman hanging decoration

Wooden reversible hanging scarecrow/snowman decoration

See-I told you it was easy!  No special tools or paint needed and you don't need any special artistic skills.  You also don't need to go out and spend 20-30 dollars on a piece of fall decor especially when you can make it yourself.  You can make any adjustments you need to make this work for you.  It is only a guide and/or inspiration to create your own unique piece.  So, give this project a try and make it your own!  I hope you enjoy this post and watch for my next post for another fall/winter project that will also be easy and kinda cool:-))

Until next time-Happy Gardening!

Rhonda