Get Crafty: Make a Raven Nest Candy Dish

When I think about Halloween and everything that comes with it, I can’t help but think of the raven. Mysterious, dark and known as a trickster, the raven has developed quite the reputation. He most famously came to life in the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. With the raven, his twiggy nest and nature as my guide, I thought it would be fun to create a raven-inspired candy dish. Not too scary but clever enough, this dish is sure to make people think twice before stealing the raven’s treasure! The entire project was less than $20, including the candy, and took about an hour and a half to complete. Here is how you can make your own.

Supplies: 

• Newspaper 
  
• A glue gun and glue sticks 
  
• Assorted sticks collected from your yard or the woods
• A circular woven basket 
  
• Raffia strands cut into 8-inch sections 
  
• 1 bag of fake spider webbing 
  
• 7 black plastic spider rings 
  
• 1 decorative raven 
  
• A few feathers

Directions:

Lay out some newspaper over your workspace. Break a few of your collected sticks into smaller pieces ranging in size from 1 inch to 6 inches in length. Beginning at the bottom of the woven basket, hot glue the sticks to the basket. Circle the basket’s perimeter and continue to build the nest one level at a time. Fit the twigs together like a puzzle.

As you go, gather five strands or so of raffia together like a bouquet. Insert the bouquet into the nest, adhering them with a bit of hot glue in the center of the strands. I did this three times on my nest at varying levels.

Continue to build your nest. Just prior to reaching the top, find one longer stick and place it near the top of your nest for the raven to perch on. Glue this stick so you have about a four inch roost for your raven. Next, cover the basket’s top rim with sticks to make it look like a real bird’s nest.

Glue or wire your raven onto his roost. Next, top your nest with a few randomly glued feathers. For the final touches, apply some spider webbing (you'll find a little goes a long way). Pull the webbing as thin as possible and push it onto the nest’s twigs. Finally, clip the ring portion off the spider rings and hot glue them randomly onto your nest.

Try placing your nest on a cake stand for a more dramatic presentation.