Hornets Nest Hiding Spot

Everyone has locked themsleves out of their house once or twice. That's why they made those plastic rocks that you can hide your keys in. Of course, now the problem is that burglers, hooligains and your meddlesome neighbor can be on the lookout for said plastic-looking rocks and have instant access through your front door.

I bring you an ultimate solution! Instead of a fake rock that sits there hoping its disguised cleverly enough, why not make something more threatening? Something unapproachable?

A hornets nest is the perfect disguise. It can sit right outside your door, perfectly hidden in plain sight and only the very brave or very foolish would dare mess with it. I personally would not approach a hornets nest, even if I suspected it was fake. That's just not a risk I'm willing to take with my life. Unlike people looking for fake rocks, even if people know to look for fake nests they could very well find themselves accidentally poking a real one!

I'll show you how to make your own nest quickly and cheaply. It'll only cost around $5 total!

Disclaimer: The downside of the nest is if anyone decides to be a good samaritan and eradicate the nest for you.

Step 1: Building the Shape

I used great stuff to build up the shape of the nest. Its a great tool to sculpt organic shapes, its really light, and easily carveable.

I built up a pile of foam into a corner of a cardboard box. This allows it to take on the shape of the corner that will fit perfectly in any house nook. I tried to shape it as best I could with layers.

Sit back, let it cure (around 18hours). Then simply tear away the cardboard box to leave you with a nest-looking wedge.

Now we need a pocket to hide your keys/treasures. I used an ordinary spoon to carve out a hole large enough to fit my spare keys. I also carved out a smaller hole on the opposite side to make it look like the nest opening.

Great! We are already halfway done!

Step 2: Getting That Authentic Look

Wasps and hornets build their nests with papery pulp, so can we!

I used some newspaper, pulped it up and made my own paper. There are lots of instructions online and throughout instructables on the best way to do this process. I choose to do it the hardest way possible as I lacked a lot of proper tools so I won't recommend my techniqueover a simple google search.

The basic process is tear up paper, put it in a blender full of water, and puree. Start with low settings on the blender first or you'll quickly smell the burning of a stressed and angry blender motor!

Pour the pulp onto a screen (I used a mesh hamper) and sponge out all the water while pressing it flat.

Let it dry a bit but not too much since we still need to shape it around our form. I used a large sheet of my handmade paper to cover the front side of it. After I had a solid foundation I tore strips of paper and layered them from the bottom up. I left the sides and the top where I'll secure it to the wall bare since it won't be seen anyway and it helped cu down on weight. Let dry about 48hours.

Step 3: Outdoor Installation!

I sprayed it down with matte clear spray paint to help protect it against the elements.

After experimenting with multiple ways to secure it to brick and cement (Including failed attempts at super glue+velcro and command strips) I found outdoor mounting tape. That stuff wourks great! Admittedly it holds 10lbs so its not really easy to get back down again but at least you'll know its secure! Hopefully you don't get locked out that often...

Slap on some mounting tape strips, remember to hide your valuables, and scope out your location. Remove the tape backing, wedge it up there, and admire the terrifying prop you added to your home decor.

Enjoy!

Comments

[baudeagle]

Super duper geocache idea!

[grannyjones]

I would like to make a wind chime using about 50 old keys. The real one may or may not be in the chime.

[ReginaW21]

Good idea. I have all kinds of wind chimes

[Pdj79]

I'm going to modify this into a devious geocache container. Never thought about making a fake wasp/hornets nest. Very clever.

[ElectroFrank]

Geocache ! Wonderful idea !

Hang on a minute .... what if real hornets build a nest nearby and people start reaching into it for the cache .... ?

[JoeS30]

Live hornets will not build a nest next to another. You see fake ones for sale all over to detour they from taking up home here, or where ever you put the fake one :)

[ElectroFrank]

Hi Joe, that makes sense when it comes to real nests.

But is there any evidence to prove that a queen hornet is actually fooled by the sight of a fake nest ? What if they are only discouraged from building by the smell of a real one ? Or by the presence of other hornets ?

[JoeS30]

Great point, I don't have any scientific proof. I'm not sure if any "real" proof is out there. I am just going by the fact that these replicas are available and sold for that purpose. I know I have one hanging on my back shed. I think it unfortunately worked, as I didn't get a return of wasps to my shed, but instead they relocated to the front of the house by the front door, ironically not far from where the one in this instructable is shown. haha.

[Pdj79]

Well it would be at my house so I'd be on the lookout for that. This would be too evil to put somewhere I couldn't actively monitor.

[GoofyShan]

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking when I saw this tutorial!

[alyon2]

And you two are full of evil intentions

[TeresaM7]

I like this idea better than any other I've seen. Great job!

[ILykMakin]

Cool!

What I thought you did gave me an idea: I've got a pretty big, old, nest outside in a box.

I'm gonna try spray it with dullcoat, clear, and adhere it to a plastic container and hang that.

[ithica2012]

use the fake nest to hide a camera that streams to the cloud.

[ithica2012]

use the fake nest to hide a camera that streams to the cloud.

[louvers]

A Big German Shepard!

[Johenix]

Delightful person. I would be severely tempted to introduce him to a bear trap and/or a 12 gage (12 bore if you are English) shotgun booby trap.

The lock you need is a Finnish made "ABO" lock that had a "D" shaped keyhole. (I may have spelled that wrong.)

It is available in padlocks and is often seen on vending machines.

[Yard Sale Dale]

ABLOY

[HandiGirl]

Thankyou PowellMade re: my Canadian problem.
I always feel that parents need to clarify what is theirs and what belongs to others. My daughter has learnt that other people's stuff belongs to those people......she must take, damage, steal, scratch, and touch the stuff: yard, toys, clothes, etc of others. We live in a small community and everything is in arm's reach.
I will consider your suggestion, I will look for those locks as mentioned.
I found that advertising his "selfishness" in my window worked quite well....I told my neighbours that drive or walk by.....we had a thief in the neighbourhood...esp when he came into my house and stole my departed husband's wedding ring. I never got any legal flak about this....but, I took my sign down when they came to take photos of my sign.
Thankyou for your kindness re: my "problem" G'day!

[mmd900]

I would be so scared to touch it