I’m showing you how to make a dummy for Halloween decor, but really, this guy is my Mr. Dreamboat, which you’ll see below. I’ll give you a brief porch tour at the end to tie it all together. I created what I’ve always dreamed of, but never done. The unlikely object below was my inspiration and you’ll learn how further down.
I really had fun with this Fall porch!
Confession
OK-TRUTH: I usually don’t decorate at all…OK, maaybe a pumpkin sitting on the steps…that’s it.
But THIS year, I got into the spirit, and finally created what I call my Mr. Dreamboat. So call him a stuffed dummy…stuffed man…pumpkin-headed man…whatever, but he’s a dreamboat to me! He’s NOT a scarecrow either. I’ve always wanted one of these, but figured he was too hard to make. Looking back, it was really easy.
Yes, I admire those stuffed figures that have character…not scary ones, and not rigid scarecrows.
My Dream~
Myย Mr. Dreamboat would be admired by passersby because he would sit on a bale of hay in the front yard close to the road, and he would smile and wave. He might even have a pumpkin head, but for sure he’s wearing jeans, flannel shirt, and hat. And everyone would exclaim and say “isn’t that person clever to have created that?” Well, it’s just a dream.
Reality Says…
- He can’tย sit on a bale of hay (Mr. Dreamboat on a bale of hay would require a whole lotta support!)
- The bale of hay can’t be in the yard. It can’t be close to passers-by or close to the road because…bales of hay on grass kills grass
- And he can’t be waving…see reason #1
I realized I had to modify my dream just a bit.ย
So How to Create This Dummy, er…Dreamboat?
First we have to have clothes, stuffing, and some way of giving him form.
How to Get the Guy to Pose
Giving him form means he needs a backbone, which I did with coathangers wired together.
As it turned out, I straightened the long brown wire you see bent in the photo. I straightened it to go down one leg. I originally planned for him to cross his legs, but the wire wasn’t long enough. I used 1 coathanger for the torso, and one for the head.
What I Learned:
The brown coathangers are much harder to work with than the thinner white ones. Even with the help of a vice and pliers, it was almost impossible to work the brown one. That’s why I gave up lengthening the wire in his leg so I could cross them.
Here I planned to give him 2 strong arms, but the difficulty of working with the brown wire changed my mind. So I settled for one.
Here we are fitting the dummy (Dreamboat) with his shirt~the hubby kindly contributed his well-worn work clothes.
Here begins the fun part…forming the guy, the dummy, the Dreamboat…
Begin stuffing from the bottom. Safety pin the lower legs shut after he’s stuffed enough.
What to Use for Stuffing
- Fiberfill
- Newspaper
- Shredded paper
- plastic bags
What I Used~
This summer we took stuffing out of rock-hard rigid patio pillows and chair seats. I planned to sell it all in an upcoming yard sale, but I had enough to do my whole man! Plus I used a bit of tulle I got from a friend who does weddings.
Now bring in the shirt, button it up, and start stuffing. Don’t forget the shoulders and arms. Stuff the shirttail into the pants, and safety pin the back of the shirt to the pants’ waist.
See how the “backbone” is stuck down into the pants? Having that bit of support was helpful. Do the same with the arm wire, guiding it down into the sleeve. Poke the stuffing all around it.
Once he’s stuffed, gather up your guy tenderly and take him where he’s going to land. In my case, it was to a metal loveseat on our front porch. Mr. Dreamboat made it without mishap. I forgot to take pictures, but my guy sat headless on the porch for a few days until I decided how to do his head. And EVERY TIME I went to the porch, I got a start just seeing his legs sitting there…never mind that he was headless!
Creating the Head~
There are several options:
- he could have a real pumpkin head…nah too heavy
- you could go all creative with paper mache…nah too messy, and I’m too lazy.
- you could do a cardboard one and draw a face…nah too elementary
- you could do a wooden one and draw a face….nah I don’t do the power tool thing
But a fabric pumpkin head would be just the thing. We’ve been seeing how to do fabric pumpkins all over blogland.
What size to make it was the next huge question. A little trial and error, and I ended with a 23″ diameter circle of fabric.
The Basic Directions:
It’s the same process as making a fabric yo-yo.
- Begin with a circle of fabric
- Start a long basting stitch around the perimeter of the circle (about 1/4″ from the edge)
- I left the thread on the spool the entire time I was sewing.
- Begin gathering the circle closed by pulling the ends of the thread
- When you have it closed, start stuffing with fiberfill, while poufing into a head shape
- When shaped to your satisfaction, you can tie the 2 ends of thread together to hold it closed.
I used yellow fabric for the head…again, whatever you want to use.
Take it out to Mr. Dummy Man (Dreamboat) and give him his head. Here’s where I really wasn’t sure why I made a wire circle for his head. But it was helpful for anchoring it. I bent it together and stuffed it into the head. I didn’t want to hot glue it because hubby still wanted to use the clothes.
I formed the eyes and mouth with black construction paper and glued them on with regular Elmer’s glue.
The lower pants legs went into a pair of old shoes.
I posed his right arm a bit, and had enough wire left over to cock up his hand to wave.
I stuffed tulle into dirty old gardening gloves of mine and pinned to his shirt cuffs.
Other Construction Details~
- The Straw Hat~we found it covered with dust in the basement and almost tossed it, but I remembered Mr. Dreamboat had no hat. I simply pinned it in several spots with straight pins.
- The Red Bandana~Stuffed into his shirt pocket for a bit of color.
- The Witches’ Broom~a recent thrift store find completes the non-scary scenario
- The Clay Jack O’ Lantern between his legs to remind everyone it’s Halloween after all~I found that at a thrift store earlier in the year. It holds a battery-operated candle found at an estate sale.
- The “John” on his shirt~I found that in a bunch of sewing supplies at an estate sale
So instead of being scary, Mr. Dreamboat looks just like Farmer John taking a break from his labors.ย
Now what about the colander? I saw it one day and said to myself, hmm, this would make a good hat for a dummy. I must have been thinking of The Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, dontcha think??? So began the Dummy man, er, my Mr. Dreamboat.
And here he is with the rest of my Fall Decor!
I did a bit of rearranging….
With the exception of the pumpkin in the photo below, every single thing came from yard or estate sales!
And amidst it all…hydrangeas are still blooming!
Fall come!
Sharing with these link parties~
Florence
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Kathleen Hicks says
Very good description of assembly-always wanted to do one. Now I have a notion of what to do.
Florence says
Thank you Kathleen! Appreciate you stopping by.
Sharon@BlueWillowHouse says
Love your dummy! So cute and creative. I would love to make one if I had a covered porch.
Florence says
Thanks Sharon! Sorry you don’t have a covered porch so you could have the fun of making one of these!
Sharon@BlueWillowHouse says
Thank you for sharing your directions for making a dummy for Halloween at Snickerdoodle.
Florence says
Thanks Sharon!
Penny says
Just love the pottery faced jugs — where oh where did you ever find those? Super cute and love Mr. Dreamboat! Always fancied doing one of these myself.
Florence says
I found those jugs at a yard sale a few years ago, and they’re my most treasured possession on the porch! I use them with everything. Thanks for the sweet comments on Mr. Dreamboat! It seems lots of people have wanted to do one…me included! I’m glad I finally did.
Cecilia says
Aww, he’s a cutie! Thanks for sharing your fun tutorial at Vintage Charm! Pinned!
Florence says
Thanks Cecilia! Appreciate the pin too!
Dealman says
I really like the halloween decor of these, thanks for sharing.
Florence says
Thank you Dealman! Appreciate you coming by to comment!
Linda at Mixed Kreations says
Mr. Dreamboat turned out really nice. Love his pumpkin head. We don’t decorate for Halloween, we have to be in bed to early so we don’t even hand out candy. But he would be super cute if we did, and he could stay up on through Thanksgiving. Using the coat hangers is a great idea. Thanks for sharing! Now that you’ve worked out the assembly of Mr. Dreamboat you’ve made it easy for us that might want to make one too. ๐
Florence says
Thanks Linda! You’ve inspired me to leave him up longer. Glad you liked him! Hope you do make one sometime.
Amber Ferguson says
I love your scarecrow! He reminds me of many Halloweens past! You are welcome to come over and link up this post or any other Halloween decor or craft posts at the Hauntingly Beautiful Decor Halloween link party. Hope to see you there!
https://followtheyellowbrickhome.com/hauntingly-beautiful-decor-halloween-link-party-friday-features/
Florence says
Thank you Amber! I hopped over today & added mine.
Wanda says
You have my admiration for tackling that! He’s great! And your whole porch looks good. But I’ll just admire yours. I don’t have the energy. My porch will remain unadorned this year.
Florence says
Thank you Wanda! We know what you’re going through. I wouldn’t be doing anything either if it was me.
Kim says
He is adorable, Florence! Great job.
Florence says
Thanks Kim!
Debrashoppeno5 says
What a fantastic l project. You put a lot of thought and work in it. He sure is a Mr Dreamboat.
Florence says
Thanks Debra! We are enjoying him!
Wendi@H2OBungalow says
Mr Dreamboat is adorable! He’d fit right in with the Leaf Peeper people make in VT when the fall foliage turns. Love your details and sense of humor in assembling him. Best of all…he can’t talk back! OL
Florence says
Hahaha, you’re right! He can’t talk back and just keeps smiling! Thanks for the sweet comment Wendi!
Michelle Leslie says
Oh Florence, your scarecrow must be one of the best Halloweeny things I’ve seen. He looks so friendly. Like someone you can chat to about all kinds of stuff. You did an amazing job with him.
Florence says
Thank you Michelle! He is right friendly, now that you mention it!
Bliss says
Well hi there John! You’re no dummy if you are sitting on Florences porch, and shes no dummy either because she doesn’t have to cook for ya!
Florence says
Hahahahahahaha! You’re right about that! He doesn’t have to be cooked for! I love that one! Thanks for stopping by with the sweet and funny remarks!
Stacey says
Florence, we made one of these when our kids were little. You have me thinking it’s time again. ๐
Pinning and sharing.
Florence says
Of course it is! (Time to make one). I had never made one, and I had a blast doing it.
Mary says
Ev with all your rules about not doing power tools, no doing this or that Farmer John still came out great. I love your creativity and that you worked with what you had..I wold love to walk by and see him sitting there.
Florence says
Hahahaha, well you do what you can with what your talents are, right? You should see him sitting right there on the porch. I look for him every day when I come home if I happen to be out & about. Thanks for the kind comment Mary.
Donna Wilkes says
I made a fall guy one year – that was the end of my wanting a fall guy. Yours is a cutie, but will you still love him tomorrow? Love the clay face pumpkins!
Florence says
Thanks Donna! Love the clay jugs too! I’ll still love him tomorrow (that sounds like a song).
Amy says
Haha! Mr. Dreamboat – I love it. You said that this was an easy project, but it certainly looks like a lot of work. You did a great job though. I bet he’ll be fun on Halloween night when the kids are trick-or-treating. ๐
Florence says
Oh it is easy Amy, and I do hope the trick or treaters will see him! Or at least the Mommas and the Papas anyway.
Amy says
I’m not sure how they could miss him! He’ll be a fantastic greeter on Halloween. ๐
Florence says
Thanks Amy! Haha, that’s true!
Marie says
Mr. Dreamboat John looks like a friendly laid back kinda guy and I think the kids in your neighborhood are going to like him very much! He took me down memory lane for a moment to one Halloween when my son was around 14 or 15 and dressed up very similar to your Mr. Dreamboat. Then he flopped himself in a chair on the front porch and looked just like a pretend scarecrow until after the kids got their candy and he moved. Oh my goodness, the screams from those poor children!
Florence says
Oh Marie, how fun! I bet that was hilarious! I can just see it all happening. You can really have fun with one of these, it’s true.
Carol, The Red Painted Cottage says
Florence,
Our kids always made a stuffed dummy for Halloween and I never had a hand in it. I’ll have to look around at some old photos and see if we ever took photos of them. I’m not sure what the head was made of, but it always had a mask on it, like Jason or some other scary thing. Our daughter was super creative and still is. She loves Halloween!
Florence says
Oh Carol, I would love to see some of your old photos! I thought about putting a mask on this guy, and I might do it yet…just for Halloween night. Thanks for dropping by!
nikki frank-hamilton says
He looks fantastic! I’ve seen these before and wondered how to put it all together, using the wire hangers was brilliant. I know that this would give me a bit of a shock too, even knowing that I made it. LOL He’s not scary at all, but it would take me a bit to get used to someone sitting on my porch.
The entire porch looks great, those ghosts are so adorable!
Florence says
Thank you Nikki! Glad you like the porch & Mr. Dreamboat of course!
Mia says
Wow, Florence! John looks amazing! I am in love!!! Ha ha! Thank you for sharing these great instructions. Kisses!
Florence says
Thanks Mia! Glad you liked “John”! Heehee.
Christina Makri says
How cute is Mr Dreamboat! If I was near your neighborhood I would like to sit by him and start a conversation! This is a great “How to” Florence ๐
Florence says
Thank you Christina! Appreciate you dropping in to comment!