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!