green owl crafts: October 2010

and the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

i remember the first time i read this poem {The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe} in school. it has forever been in my mind and i have a weird fascination with ravens/crows. i love to watch them when they land in the feeders and dominate the yard.

every year close to halloween time the dollar tree always has styrofoam crows. you have to get there early to buy them because they sell out fast. when i first see them appear i go to all three of our local stores and buy them.

this year i wanted to craft something different with them besides just hanging and sitting them in mr b's room.....so here is what i came up with.

this craft if very simple and cheap! the total project cost about $2. {materials used are underlined}

with the help of mr. b we started off by using some sandpaper and sanding an unfinished small wooden plaque from our local craft store (the hob). then i let mr b paint it black. we didnt paint the back side because i plan on hanging it onto the wall but if the back will be seen by others i suggest painting it or covering it with some scrapbook paper or a page from an old book{possible with the poem The Raven on it.....}

while i was letting that dry i cut one of the heads off of my dollar tree crows. obviously mr. b did not help me with the because i used a large serrated knife {commonly used for slicing a fresh loaf of bread}

once the plaque was dried i took some sandpaper and roughed up the paint a little to make it look more spooky/old.

then i glued the raven head to the plaque with tacky glue {ps::DO NOT USE HOT GLUE....for those of you who act before you think the hot glue will melt the styrofoam}

after i let that dry for a little while i took a blank page from the back of an old book and used my computer to print out the word "nevermore" {if you dont have an old book page you can use scrapbook paper or plain printer paper. i try to use recycled items but any of them will work} after i printed the page i tore the word out and glued it to the plaque using a glue stick. and now the raven is nevermore.....literally since i have beheaded him.

to hang from the wall you can use ribbon or wall hangers. i like to use the velcro adhesive wall hangers because there is no residue or nail when you get ready to take it down after halloween.

i hope you have fun if you decide to make this craft because i know mr. b had fun....and i had fun cleaning up the mess he made :) {ps::i almost had my little brother convinced that this was a real stuffed raven that i got at the taxidermy}

{quoth the raven, 'nevermore.'}