Creating An Adorable Scarecrow With Plastic Containers

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like throwing out plastic containers.  I’d much rather re-purpose them into something new.  That impetus is how my Fall Scarecrow With Repurposed Plastic Containers was born!

I’m not sure why I dislike throwing out plastic containers.  Maybe it is because I was raised on a farm where we re-used everything until it fell apart.  Maybe I just don’t like the idea of these things ending up in the landfill.

Whatever the reason I keep these items, I try to find a way to reuse them.  

I’ve included affiliate links below for the materials needed for the project.  I may make a commission if you purchase an item through a link, but it won’t cost you any more.  Read my entire disclosure at https://beverlypayne.com/about/disclaimer/

Materials for Fall Scarecrow With Repurposed Plastic Containers

• Various plastic containers (e.g., laundry detergent pod containers, cat treat containers)
• Spray paint – white, cream, or light tan
• Acrylic paint – parchment (optional) and black
• Small paintbrush
• Makeup sponges
• SVGs/patterns from my Maker Library
• Cardstock or stencil vinyl
• Painter’s tape
• Craft felt (or fabric scraps), two contrasting colors
• Hot Glue gun and glue sticks
• Raffia, straw-colored
• (Optional) Cricut Maker with mats or another cutting machine
• (Optional) small pebbles or sand (if displayed outdoors)

Watch how I made these adorably cute scarecrows by repurposing plastic containers in the video below:

My Process For Crafting A Fall Scarecrow With Plastic Containers

This project has quite a few steps, BUT the scarecrows are fairly easy to make.  Let’s get started!

Step 1.  Prep the plastic containers

First, wash your plastic containers and remove the labels.  The easiest way I have found to remove the labels is to fill the container with the hottest tap water you have and let it sit for 15-30 minutes.

During the 15-30 minutes soak time, I take care of another task like loading the dishwasher and tidying up the kitchen.

I have a plastic scraper that I use to remove the stuck bits when cleaning my pots.  That scraper works great for removing the labels once the hot water has softened the adhesive.

NOTE:  Your container’s label may not be paper which means you can just paint over it!

After you’ve removed the label and the container is dry, take another look at it.  You might see that there are some spots where the adhesive remains.  

To remove the last bits of adhesive, use rubbing alcohol with a cleaning cloth or paper towel.

For this project, I used a Tide pods container and two Party Mix cat treat containers.

Step 2.  Paint the containers

To paint the containers for the fall scarecrow project, you can use a one-step or two-step paint process.  

The one-step process is to spray paint the container with an off-white, cream, parchment, or tan color.  Make sure to coat it well.

The two-step process is to spray paint a light coat of white on the container.  Then use a slightly darker acrylic paint, like the parchment, dabbing it all over the container.  

I used the two-step method because I only had white spray paint (and not much of it).  I really liked the look that the acrylic parchment color gave to the project.  It ‘aged’ the scarecrow a bit which is how scarecrows usually look in the field!

Now you may be wondering why I didn’t just use the parchment from the start and skip the spray painting.  Well, acrylic paint does not apply well to plastic like a Tide container or a Party Mix cat treat container!  It is really streaky and not the look I wanted.  

Step 3.  Cut out the patterns for the fall scarecrow with plastic containers

The third step involves readying your scarecrow face and flower patterns to use as stencils.  You can download the cutting files and PDF from my Maker Library (it’s free!).  

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If you are using a cutting machine like my Cricut Maker, download the SVGs or DXF files.  Then upload them to your cutting software such as Cricut’s Design Space.  

Once you have the images in Design Space, you can resize the faces (measure the plastic container first!) or change the colors of the flowers.  Follow the onscreen prompts to cut the images from cardstock or stencil vinyl.  

Don’t have a cutting machine?  No problem!  Just download the PDF and cut the patterns with scissors.  Easy peasy!

So what if you don’t want to paint the face of the scarecrow on your plastic container?  You can use vinyl instead!  This is a great project for using up those small scraps of vinyl that you are hanging on to.  

Step 4.  Paint the face of the scarecrow on the plastic container

The surface of your container is probably not completely flat.  It might even have ridges on it.  

To help keep your cardstock stencil flat and to prevent it from accidentally moving while you work, tape it down with painter’s tape. Even with the painter’s tape, you will need to press the edges down as you paint.  

After you have taped down the face stencil, use your small paintbrush to outline the scarecrow’s brows, eyes, nose, and mouth with black acrylic paint.  This will help prevent the paint from bleeding and give you crisper edges.  

(Now don’t worry if you have a little bit of bleed.  I did, too, but it is really not noticeable in the final project).

The next step after outlining all the facial elements is to fill them in using a makeup sponge.  Dip the sponge in the black acrylic paint and ‘dab’ (not a brushstroke) the paint onto the stencil.  

After filling in all of the facial pieces, carefully remove the painter’s tape from the stencil and lift the stencil straight up.  Let the paint dry.  

TIP:  If you plan to display your scarecrow outdoors, you will want to add some weight to the container.  Use small pebbles, sand, or whatever is handy.  Add this now before you forget!  

Step 5.  Create the hat

While letting the paint dry, you can work on making a hat for your scarecrow.  

First, place the craft felt in portrait orientation.  Fold the upper right corner of the short side toward the left side (long), forming a triangle with a 2-inch brim strip remaining at the bottom.  Use a hot glue gun to glue the short side to the long side, forming a cone-shaped hat.  

To do this, run about a 2-inch strip of glue near the edge of the bottom side of the felt and press the top side down on the hot glue.  Add more hot glue to the bottom and press the top down.  

Working in small sections like this allows you to glue the hat before the hot glue has a chance to cool down.  

After gluing the hat seam, fold the brim strip up and tack it to the outside of the hat with a dot of hot glue.  

What if you don’t want to use glue?  If you don’t want to use glue, then you can sew the hat seam with a sewing machine or by hand.  I would tack the bring up by hand sewing.  

TIP: If you don’t have any craft felt, you can use fabric scraps to create the hat.

Step 6.  Create the flower for the scarecrow hat

Similar to the two ways to paint the containers, you can take two approaches to create the flower for the hat.  The first way is to place the stencil on the felt and trace around the inside of the flower.  The second way is to use the flower shape that was cut from the stencil and trace around the outside of it.

In the video above, I show both ways.

Once you’ve traced the flower and circle shapes onto two contrasting colors of felt, use scissors to cut them out.  Make sure to cut off all the marker color for a cleaner look.  

Next using hot glue, glue the circle to the center of the flower.  

Finally, decide where you want the flower to be on the hat – center or off-center.  I did it both ways on my scarecrows.

Step 7.  Add straw to the scarecrow 

Traditionally, you know, scarecrows were often stuffed with straw.  We will use raffia to create the straw look.  You won’t need a whole lot of it since most of the straw should be on the inside of the scarecrow.

So using your hot glue gun, add a few pieces of raffia around the top of the container.  It should look a little bit like hair when you are finished.

But you don’t need to add a lot of raffia – just enough to suggest straw escaping from the scarecrow.

Step 8.  Finish the fall scarecrow with repurposed plastic container project

The final step is to glue the hat onto the top of the container.  Go slowly.  Position the hat so that the flower is on the face side of the container.

I place a good line of glue on the face and back sides of the scarecrow and a little bit on the sides as well.  

Make sure the hat covers the lid or container opening well.

Enjoy Your Fall Scarecrow with Repurposed Plastic Container

What’s not to love about these adorable scarecrows?  The faces are cute, and you can feel good about yourself because you saved a plastic container from the landfill (at least temporarily).

Please let me know if you make this project.  I’d love to see your scarecrows!

If you like repurposing plastic containers, you might be interested in my Upcycle Decoupage Container For A Quick Fun Project.

If you like cardstock projects, read

• How To Make Beautiful Layered Flowers Even If You’ve Never Made Then Before
• How To Make An Easy Barn Door Fold Card

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