In many regions, fall is nearly over. That is, most of what there was to fall, has fallen. Now comes the job of gathering together all those dead leaves. Kids love to rake leaves into a big pile for jumping into, moms and dads with gardens might put them in the composter, others bag them up for the day they pick up the yard waste and in some communities you can still burn leaves.

But if you want to keep the kids busy outdoors in the fresh fall air, another idea is to use the leaves to make a scarecrow. The materials needed for the main body are simple:

* An old pair of pants or overalls, jeans or strong material

* An old button-down shirt, plaid flannel is traditional but any cotton shirt will do

* Some elastic bands

* Safety Pins

* Old boots or shoes

Wind elastic bands around the ends of both pant legs and at the cuffs of the shirt sleeves. Have the kids fill the pants with leaves. When the pants are stuffed full, tuck the shirt tails into the pants and attach with safety pins. Use at least two or three front and back and one on each side to keep your man together. Then they can start stuffing the shirt through the neckhole.

The head can be done a few ways. Some use a pumpkin for a head, but it may lack support. Another way is to draw a face on a pillowcase and gather it around a medium size air-filled play ball. This year the kids and I stuffed a plastic shopping bag with leaves and tied it up. We used a stick for support, long enough to go down the shirt and into the bag to hold it straight up, a neck if you will. Then we used a halloween mask fitted over the bag for the head and face. Ours is a jack o’lantern mask but any mask will do. Imagine how scary having Frankenstein sitting on the porch will be for the trick or treaters.

After the main construction, you can get creative with the shoes and other accessories. Your scarecrow can even sit in a chair holding the bowl of Halloween candy. Or use sticks to pose him standing in the yard. Put stuffed gloves on the ends of the shirtsleeves to give him hands. Let the kids be creative in making the scariest scarecrow in the neighborhood.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.

I was going to make a few templates for carving pumpkins, painting on T-shirts and so on, when I thought: There are lots of sites out there with templates – why not show people how to make them? Carving pumpkins may be very crafty but surely doing everything from scratch has to be even better?

So that’s what I’m going to attempt. Understand, this isn’t for everyone; you’re going to need a good basic knowledge of computers and a good graphics application like PhotoShop or Paint Shop Pro (PSP). But you have the computer already or you wouldn’t be reading this – why not use it as the marvellous craft tool that it is?

Let’s begin by choosing a photograph. I selected a photo of Herman Munster as being suitably seasonal but you can use any full face picture, even one of yourself or a friend. Herman is particularly suitable, however, as his face is composed of very strong lines and shapes.

Open the photo file in your graphics package. I use PSP and trial versions of it can be downloaded from the net, so I’ll explain the steps from its point of view. They will be similar to Photoshop’s, however, and any differences will give you an excuse to learn how it does things (Help files are wonderful things if you use the Index). If the photograph is in color, go to Colors in the menu and select Grey Scale. This changes it to a black and white picture.

Now we need to simplify the outlines and this is easily done by choosing Colors again in the menu. Now select Adjust, followed by Brightness/Contrast. Make sure the Brightness is set to zero (so it will not change) and move the Contrast scale to its maximum, 100%. Click on OK and the picture will change to pure black and white with no shading.

We now have a photograph cut down to its essentials but it’s going to need more simplification before it can be used as a template. This is where the real skill and craft come in and I’m going to leave it for the next post, while you and I take a breather. If you really can’t wait, I should tell you that there are a number of ways to proceed from here so you could have a go at finding one of them. Remember, most good graphics programs have unlimited Undo these days, so you can always click back through changes if you make a mess.

This is an easy craft for kids to do with a little supervision and makes use of simple things and the natural products of crisp, fall days.

Have the kids go out into the yard and find the prettiest fall leaves they can. Give them each a paper bag or plastic shopping bag to collect them in. The hard part of this activity is stopping, since yet another beautifully colored leaf will always strike the eye. When they have gathered enough, it is time to begin.

For this project gather together the following:

* Roll of white freezer paper or kraft paper
* Roll of clear Con-Tact paper
* Scissors
* School glue or glue sticks

Measure the size of your placemats by cutting equal size sheets of Con-Tact paper and the kraft or freezer paper. Con-Tact paper backing is marked off in inches so this makes it easy to do without rulers. Cut the Con-Tact paper first and lay it on the kraft or freezer paper to measure equal size sheets.

Next, have the kids glue the leaves to the paper, arranging them with their own artistic eye. They can add other items to their masterpieces, such as construction paper cut-outs of pumpkins or pieces of ribbon. They need to leave space between the items so that there is contact between the adhesive side of the Con-Tact paper and the bottom sheet. To make the mats personalized, you can include a wallet size picture (such as a school portrait) or have the children write their names on the paper. Make sure they secure the edges of the leaves with glue to make it easier to apply the Con-Tact paper smoothly.

The last step is where they need Mom the most. Peel the backing paper off the pre-cut pieces of Con-Tact paper and press it over the top of the creation. Go slowly and smooth carefully as you go, working out air bubbles. If you want to, you can put another piece of the clear Con-Tact paper on the bottom to seal the mat and make it last. For a nice effect, trim the edges with pinking shears.

Kids get excited about Halloween and in addition to gleefully planning their costumed appearances on neighbor’s doorsteps, they are also mentally calculating how much candy they can carry.

For small children, a little plastic pumpkin with a carry handle is about right. Older children plan on a larger take-home so they will enjoy making their own trick-or-treat bags.

When we were kids, we took paper sacks from the grocery store or pillowcases to maximize our candy-gathering capabilities.

For an updated pillowcase bag, check out the local fabric store for some ghoulish holiday designs.

You don’t really need a pattern if you are even moderately talented at sewing. Just measure and cut from the fabric 2 rectangles 26 1/2″ x 40 1/2″ with one long side along the selvage. With the pieces inside out and the selvage edges together, sew a seam 1/4″ from the fabric edge on three sides leaving 2 1/4″ inches unsewn at the top of the long selvage side. Make a fold of 1/4″ turning down over the wrong side of fabric and press with an iron. Then fold down another 2″ of fabric and press. You can then stitch the top fold down. Turn the bag right side out. You can then thread a cotton rope cord through the top fold using a large safety pin attached to one edge. Tie the ends together. This project is easy enough for kids to create and they will have a unique drawstring Halloween trick-or-treat bag.

I found some great fabrics for Halloween at corinthian mills.