Heart shaped candy box

Valentines Day is fast approaching. I thought it would be fun to make a candy box, one the recipient could keep and not have to throw away after the candy is gone.
It was an interesting challenge. Thankfully, a couple people on Facebook suggested I try bent lamination to create the curves. It seemed a bit daunting at first, because I always thought it would be very difficult. In fact, it was very easy and it opens up a whole bunch of possibilities for future projects.
The only trick it to plane your wood down as thin as possible to allow it to bend. Then glue up several pieces and let them dry around a form. Plus, scrounge up every clamp you can find.
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Make a toe pincher coffin candy dish for Halloween

For some reason Ive been meaning to make a Halloween candy dish for a long time and never got around to it until this year.
Coffin stylesI decided a coffin would probably make the most sense as a recognizable Halloween design. My first thought was an ornate, rectangular, Dracula-style casket. The biggest problem with that plan is that a trick-or-treat candy box needs to be seen in dark conditions. A vampire coffin could come across as just another box. The solution would be heavy ornamentation and a silky, padded lining.
Then I remembered the classic "toe-pincher" coffins you see town undertakers building in old westerns. That six-sided shape is uniquely identifiable as a coffin. You probably wont confuse it with a jewelry box!
Making it look rusticThe fun part about building this was making it look as though it had been build by one of those old west undertakers. Individual boards held together with narrower cross braces. To make mine look even more authentic, I used scraps of pallet wood containing splits, stains, and nail holes. Although I glued it all together, I added some rusty coffin nails.
If you would like to make your own, here is the cutting template I made for mine:

• WWMM Coffin Candy Dish templates (pdf) 
You could certainly experiment with the size. Mine is 13" long by 6" wide. It seems to hold plenty of candy.
You will also note that I didnt bother to figure out the angles needed to create the six sides. Since it is rustic looking, I wasnt concerned with cutting anything exactly. I just sort of estimated the bevels and made them work, gaps and all. If you want to turn this into a fine woodworking project, you would probably want to figure out the exact angles and cut them accordingly.
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Make a candy dispenser

If you are looking for a quick Halloween project to build this weekend, heres one you can make in an afternoon. Don Steffens posted his candy dispenser on my Facebook page last week and it became a hit with everyone.
Using the same simple dispenser mechanism, you can easily modify this into any character you want. Since the front it clear, I thought it would be fun to make a zombie head and fill it with red candy to represent brains!
If you would like to try this out, heres a template to print out.Happy Halloween!
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