Fall is the perfect time for outdoor crafting, and building a DIY scarecrow is an exciting way to add character to your garden. Whether you’re a DIY enthusiast or just looking for a fun weekend project with family, this activity is simple, affordable, and unique to your outdoor space. You can use old clothes and household items, and a DIY scarecrow can also help keep unwanted critters away from your garden. Let’s walk through how you can make your very own scarecrow step by step. A rustic DIY scarecrow standing tall in a garden, wearing old flannel clothes, a straw hat, and stuffed with straw. The scarecrow has a cheerful smile made of buttons and fabric patches. Surrounded by vibrant autumn leaves and pumpkins, soft sunlight filters through the trees, warm autumn colors Why Create a DIY Scarecrow? Building a DIY scarecrow isn’t just a fun project—it’s practical, too. For centuries, farmers and homeowners utilized scarecrows to protect crops by scaring off birds and other pests. Now, you can do the same as well! Additionally, creating your own scarecrow allows you to express your creativity as you can easily customize it with accessories that reflect your personality. Whether you prefer a traditional scarecrow or something with a modern twist, your finished product will literally and figuratively stand out in your garden. For more ideas on creating imaginative scarecrows, check out the Old Farmer's Almanac's guide to creative scarecrow designs. Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your DIY Scarecrow Creating a DIY scarecrow is a simple, fun way to add some personality to your garden. Whether you're looking for a practical way to keep pests away or just want to complete a creative weekend project, building your own scarecrow is the perfect solution. Even better you won’t need to buy expensive materials. Your DIY scarecrow will only require things  you already have at home.  You'll be able to craft a unique garden decoration in no time. Ready to start? Here's a quick guide on how to build your own scarecrow! Step 1: Gather Your Materials Before you begin building your DIY scarecrow, gathering all the materials you’ll need is important. Fortunately, you can find most of these items are in  your home. Here's what you'll need: Old Clothes: A flannel shirt and old jeans are ideal for that classic scarecrow look. Stuffing Material: Use straw, old newspapers, fabric scraps, or even plastic bags. Supporting Frame: Wooden stakes or poles to help support your scarecrow. Accessories: Hats, scarves, gloves—anything that adds personal flair. Twine or String: To securely fasten everything together. Once you have these items ready, you can start crafting your scarecrow. Step 2: Build the Body Now that you have your materials, it’s time to start building the scarecrow’s body. Begin by constructing the frame. First, use wooden stakes or poles to build a cross-shaped structure supporting the scarecrow’s body. Then, secure a shorter pole horizontally for the arms. Afterward, slide the shirt over the frame to create the torso. Next, stuff the pants with your chosen filling material to shape the lower half of your scarecrow. Be sure to tie the bottoms of the pants to keep the stuffing secure. You’ll have the basic body structure in place by following these steps. Step 3: Add Stuffing for Shape It’s time to bring your scarecrow to life by adding stuffing. Carefully fill the shirt and pants with straw, fabric scraps, or any other materials you’ve chosen. Make sure not to overstuff, as you want your scarecrow to look relaxed. Once stuffed, tie off the sleeves and pant legs to prevent the filling from escaping. Afterward, attach the legs securely to the frame to keep your scarecrow stable even in windy weather. With the stuffing in place, your scarecrow is starting to take shape! Step 4: Create the Head and Face Now comes the fun part—crafting the scarecrow’s head and face! You can use a pillowcase or burlap sack as the head. Then, add features like buttons for eyes or use markers and fabric scraps to create the rest of the face. After completing the head, securely attach it to the body frame. Step 5: Accessorize Your Scarecrow Another enjoyable part of making a DIY scarecrow is adding accessories and giving it a personality. Adorn it with gloves, boots, scarves, or even sunglasses. If you're feeling extra creative, consider dressing your scarecrow according to a seasonal theme, like a Halloween costume or a holiday outfit. Let your imagination truly shine by transforming your scarecrow into something unique. Step 6: Place Your Scarecrow in the Garden Finally, it’s time to display your scarecrow proudly in your garden. Select a visible spot where your scarecrow can stand tall. Then, firmly securely the base of the frame into the ground to anchor it. For extra stability, consider tying the scarecrow to a nearby post or fence to keep it standing through windy conditions. If you’re looking for tips on garden structures that can support your scarecrow, explore this guide on garden frames from Gardener’s Supply Company here. Bring Your Garden to Life with a DIY Scarecrow Building a DIY scarecrow is more than just a seasonal project—it’s a way to add your own creative touch to your garden. Whether you opt for a traditional scarecrow or a quirky twist, this project is flexible enough to suit any style. In addition to keeping pests away, your scarecrow will reflect your personality and bring charm to your outdoor space. We’d Love to See Your DIY Scarecrow Creations! Have you created your own DIY scarecrow? We’d love to see it! Share your scarecrow photos with us, and let’s celebrate your creativity. Send us your pictures, and we’ll feature some of the best creations!

Brain tanning is one of the oldest known methods of tanning hides or pelt. It’s said that every animal has a brain just the right size for a proper tanning, all animals except for the buffalo, or so I have heard. I have yet to tan a buffalo hide, I have helped skin and process one using a skinning knife but I never did the tanning. Tanning Hides The Old Fashioned Way There are several methods of tanning a hide but the brain tanning method is one of my favorites because it’s all natural. No chemicals are used and nothing is wasted when processing the animal. I believe in using all that you can from the animal for the simple fact that its life was taken to provide for you so do right by it. Ok so let’s get down to it. 1. Fleshing This can be one of the most important parts of the process. “Fleshing” or “Scraping” is the process of cleaning all of the excess meat, fat, and membranes from the hide/skin. If you don’t remove it all there’s a chance that the hide or pelt can mold, mildew, or start rotting. Aside the board and tacks to stretch and hang the hide, you’ll also need a fleshing knife or tool, sandpaper, and a pot for boiling the solution. Fleshing knives vary in shape, size, and there are specialized knives for various types of furs and hides. Once the hide is removed from the animal you’re going to want to stretch it out and tack it to a flat board or a log. For bigger hides such as the buffalo or an elk, it’s sometimes easier to stake it to the ground. Some people who tan hides on a regular basis actually build a wall large enough for big hides. Using your knife, push and scrape all of the excess meat, membranes, and fat off of the hide. You’ll know it’s clean when you begin seeing the pores. Sometimes while fleshing a little bit of the fur or hair will come through the skin, if this happens just move away from that section. If you keep scraping in that area you could rip the hide. Give it time and come back to it. The head, also known as, the mast is the hardest area to get clean. So FYI it’s going to take some time and patience! 2. Braining Now it’s time to make the tanning solution by using the brain and water. Remove the brain from the skull and toss it in a pot with some water. For small brains like that of a coon or squirrel, you’re only going to need about one and a half cups of water. The bigger the brains the more water you’ll need. Cook the brains in the boiling water for around 10 minutes or so and then mash the brains until the solution becomes an oily liquid. You’ll want to separate the solution in half and allow it to cool enough to be able to handle it but not cool. Before applying the solution take your sandpaper and buff the hide. You can also use a granite rock or sandstone if you don’t have any sandpaper. The buffing will help soften the hide a lot. Now, using your hands rub the solution into the hide and be sure to get every inch of it as evenly as possible. Allow the hide/pelt to dry overnight, anywhere from 8-16 hours depending on the weather conditions and the size of the hide. The thicker the hide the more brain solution and coatings it will require. Small pelts only need two or three coatings with the solution while a bigger pelt will require 3 – 5, or as many as it takes. Between every application of the solution, the hide must be left alone to dry overnight to avoid too much moisture leading to trouble. Another tip is, when you’ve moved on to the second solution application it’s good to cover the pelt with a warm damp towel after the oil is applied. This helps it from becoming too stiff. 3. Softening | Now that the dirty work is done it’s time to smooth and stretch the hide/pelt. You can use the back of a chair or a towel rod etc. Pull the pelt over the chair or rod with the fur side up, using both hands you want to stretch and rub the hide back and forth side-to-side all the way around. If your hide is too stiff and hard that’s an indication that it needs another coating, soak, and then stretch it that way until it’s dry. 4. Smoking Once your hide is completely dry, stretched, and smooth it’s time for the smoking. Hang the hide above the fire and use damp or rotting wood to cause the fire to smolder and smoke. It’s the smoke that’s important not so much a big flame. You have to keep a close eye on the fire and hide so it doesn’t get burnt. The smoke is an added protection to keep the oil sealed in, as well as, it keeps it from rotting. The whole process is about preserving the hide. If by chance you have a tipi you can smoke it the traditional Native American way, inside of the tipi which helps to smoke it and keeps it out of the elements. Watch this video by Survival HT on tanning fur hides: The tanning process can take a few days or up to a week. Because of this, it’s crucial to be sure you’ll have the time to tend to the hide or it might end up going to waste, which is horrible in all aspects. As I mentioned above there’s more than one way to tan a hide… this is one of the oldest and most natural ways of doing it, which is just my style. Do you have any experience with tanning hides, if so we’d love to hear about your method or any stories and skills you can add to the knowledge in the comments below! Here's A Homesteading Guide to Tanning Hides! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr!

In this special bumper Halloween episode, we ask can fear be fun, why do people believe in ghosts, and why does the paranormal have us in such a chokehold?

New York Times reporters Shane Goldmacher, Maggie Haberman, and Michael Gold were on the scene for the purported Trump hate-fest held at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The resulting story featured what political polling guru (and Kamala Harris supporter) Nate Silver in his newsletter called “the sort of headline” the paper’s “liberal critics” have “been pining for”: “A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism.” Donald J. Trump’s closing rally at Madison Square Garden on the second to last Sunday before the election was a release of rage at a political and legal system that impeached, indicted and convicted him, a vivid and at times racist display of the dark energy animating the MAGA movement. A comic kicked off the rally by dismissing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” then mocked Hispanics as failing to use birth control, Jews as cheap and Palestinians as rock-throwers, and called out a Black man in the audience with a reference to watermelon. Another speaker likened Vice President Kamala Harris to a prostitute with “pimp handlers.” A third called her “the Antichrist.” And the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked Ms. Harris -- the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father -- with a made-up ethnicity, saying she was vying to become “the first Samoan-Malaysian, low IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.” By the time the former president himself took the stage, an event billed as delivering the closing message of his campaign, with nine days left in a tossup race, had instead become a carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism. At least we got to see a Democrat “seizing” something in the New York Times for a change: Ms. Harris’s campaign seized on the spectacle, and some Republicans, including from Florida and Puerto Rico, denounced the comic’s comments about the island…. The Times issued more of its politically correct language about illegal immigrants: Mr. Trump’s vows of mass deportation and inveighing against undocumented immigrants had an audience in New York City, too, where thousands of migrants who crossed the southern border without authorization have been given sanctuary and some residents have complained about the use of city services to help them. Some of the reporters’ criticisms were ridiculous, the insults extraneous (is it so strange that a speaker at a Trump rally would flatter the host?). So many of the day’s warm-up speeches were spent portraying the former president as he wants to be seen. Several speakers talked about him surviving a July assassination attempt not in spiritual terms but in muscular ones, describing his toughness at “dodging” the bullet. Many also falsely claimed he “built” the skyline in a city in which he was always seen as a B-list developer with a small portfolio of buildings that he acquired long after they were constructed. Prominent Democrats, including Tim Walz and Hillary Clinton, started the nasty comparison of the Trump rally and a 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, yet the Democrats were portrayed as victims. David Rem, a childhood friend of Mr. Trump, called Ms. Harris “the devil.” Grant Cardone, a businessman, declared that the sitting vice president had “pimp handlers.” Sid Rosenberg denounced Hillary Clinton as a “sick son of a bitch” for linking the Trump rally and a pro-Nazi event at the arena of the same name decades ago. The media tends to be less sensitive when Republicans are not just joked about, but threatened "as a joke" at political events. A newsletter from the 1995 AFL-CIO union convention, which featured then-Vice President Al Gore as the main speaker, included this tasteless tidbit: "Drive home safely and remember: If you must drink and drive, try to do it when [Texas Republican Sen.] Phil Gramm is crossing the street." The New York Times ignored that truly hateful crack, as did the networks, and they certainly didn’t demand Gore distance himself.

Between Diablo 4, its expansion Vessel of Hatred, and the full arrival of Last Epoch, it’s been a good couple of years for the ARPG. Path of Exile 2, originally due for release on Friday November 15, is set to be the next big hit in the genre’s recent resurgence, but developer Grinding Gear now confirms that the early-access launch for PoE 2 has been delayed. Naturally, it can be a little frustrating when a big, highly anticipated game gets pushed back, but the creator of Path of Exile 2 has a very good reason for asking players to wait. The plan is to move all items and in-game purchases from PoE 1 to PoE 2. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Grinding Gear needs another few weeks. Continue reading The Path of Exile 2 launch date is delayed to make sure players don’t lose money MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Path of Exile 2 Witch class guide, Path of Exile 2 preview, Path of Exile 2 release date

Act fast and you can grab yourself an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 for one of the lowest prices we've seen in a long, long time thanks to a huge discount over at Walmart. With a saving of $80, you can get this PNY version of the Nvidia gaming GPU for just $499. Now, you might be sitting there thinking it's not long until the Black Friday sales arrive, so is now really a good time to be buying a new GPU, even if it is one of the best graphics cards around? However, Black Friday sales tend not to be all that large on graphics cards, so there's every chance you won't see one much cheaper than this for a while. Continue reading Grab this Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card for just $499, if you’re quick MORE FROM PCGAMESN: GeForce RTX 4070 Super review, DLSS explained, Best graphics cards

Elections for the state’s supreme court will play a role in keeping pro-abortion forces from overtaking the Buckeye State.  

Floridians should reject the effort to make the state a haven for abortion.

A proposed Biden-Harris regulation will force municipalities to choose between safety and solvency.  

Defund the police? Absolutely not. Abolish ICE? No way. DEI? Haven’t heard of it.