My Plan Was To Build My Outdoor Wooden Critters Out of Plywood
Scarecrow and Friends made out of Fence Boards
All last year I promised my wife that I would make her a Gingerbread couple out of plywood for our front yard. But one day we were strolling through a craft store and we ran across a snowman that was made out of fence boards. I was inspired and I went home to make this project.
I realized it was just getting into fall so fall means Scarecrows so I constructed the scarecrow display first. I went to the home center and looked at fence boards, the four inch wide boards were thin and very poor quality. I chose to do this project using 5 inch wide fence boards.
I first ripped all the boards down to 4 inches wide (this seemed to be a more pleasing dimension). I didn't have a pattern for this project, instead I brought out an old pair of jeans and a shirt to use to figure out proportions. I next started to fasten the boards together using the 1/2 inch strips I ripped off the fence boards. I used 1 1/4 inch deck screws through the wood strips to join the boards together.
I realized it was just getting into fall so fall means Scarecrows so I constructed the scarecrow display first. I went to the home center and looked at fence boards, the four inch wide boards were thin and very poor quality. I chose to do this project using 5 inch wide fence boards.
I first ripped all the boards down to 4 inches wide (this seemed to be a more pleasing dimension). I didn't have a pattern for this project, instead I brought out an old pair of jeans and a shirt to use to figure out proportions. I next started to fasten the boards together using the 1/2 inch strips I ripped off the fence boards. I used 1 1/4 inch deck screws through the wood strips to join the boards together.
Detail of Crow and Pumpkin
I decided that these wooden critters look better without any gap between the fence boards. After the boards were all joined we free handed a scarecrow. The next step was to cut out Mr Scarecrow with a jigsaw. As I cut out the scarecrow I kept an eye on the backside of the project so I could take out any screws that were in the path of my cut.
We next painted our scarecrow and added some pumpkins and a crow.
The scarecrow is mounted to a 2x4 sunk into the ground. The pumpkins, crow and all the pieces in the Gingerbread Family group (on the bottom of the page) are mounted on rebar. I used more pieces of the 1 inch strip to create the mounting brackets. Be sure to check with your utility company before doing any digging or pounding rebar into the ground.
We next painted our scarecrow and added some pumpkins and a crow.
The scarecrow is mounted to a 2x4 sunk into the ground. The pumpkins, crow and all the pieces in the Gingerbread Family group (on the bottom of the page) are mounted on rebar. I used more pieces of the 1 inch strip to create the mounting brackets. Be sure to check with your utility company before doing any digging or pounding rebar into the ground.
