For a fun autumn party invite your guests, young or old, to get creative at a scarecrow-making party. This is one event where there should be no doubt that casual dress is in order. Decorations should be casual, as well as the food. Follow the easy, do-ahead menu for this party so that you can supervise and participate in all of the scarecrow fun yourself.
This can be a friendly activity where only the kindliest scarecrows are made and young children will laugh with amusement. Or make it an adult-only, twisted event and challenge your guests to create ghastly, ghoulish scarecrows in the creepiest spirit of the Halloween season. The choice is yours. I know which one I would choose...
Setting the Stage
- Decorate inside and out with pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, and dried leaves.
- Spread a tarp outside your home for easy clean-up of any unused hay.
- Place miniature scarecrows on your buffet table.
- Use burlap to cover your table.
- Gather each guest's utensils in a napkin and tie with a length of twine.
Preparing to Make the Scarecrows
- You supply the bales of hay for all the scarecrows.
- You supply the twine and large safety pins for holding them together.
- Ask your guests to bring old jeans, an old shirt and a pair of pantyhose for each scarecrow.
- You or your guests supply hats for the scarecrows. These can be straw hats, baseball caps, lumberjack caps or any other hat of choice.
How to Make a Scarecrow
- Fill the girdle portion of pantyhose with hay to make the head. Tie at top with twine and tie the legs together to make the neck.
- Stuff the shirt and pants with hay. Tie off ends of sleeves and pants legs with twine.
- Place head on top of shirt and pull the legs of pantyhose down inside the front and back of shirt around the hay, tying together at the bottom of the hay.
- Tuck the shirt inside of the pants and attach at waistband using large safety pins.
- Decorate with hat, markers and other accessories as desired.
The Menu
Hot Ginger Apple Cider - A spirit-warming recipe from our Home Cooking guide.
Ribollita - An interesting vegetable soup from About's Italian Cuisine guide.
Rainy Day Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches - About's Southern Cuisine Guide solves the problem of how to make this popular sandwich even after you've closed-up the barbecue for season.
Pear Salad with Warm Shallot Dressing - This seasonal salad is a combination of exciting contrasts such as warm and cool and tangy and sweet.
Chocolate Dipped Caramel Apples - A luscious, make-ahead recipe to tempt all ages.
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