QC#72 – Miracle Safe

A jar of salad dressing is recruited and converted, to engage in covert operations.

Full project video: How To Make a Miracle Safe: http://bit.ly/SecretMiracleSafe

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Music by Jason Shaw (RP-Clattertrap)
http://www.audionautix.com

Project Inspired By: An item I saw for sale on eBay: http://bit.ly/IBMayoSafe

WARNING:

This video is only for entertainment purposes. If you rely on the information portrayed in this video, you assume the responsibility for the results. Have fun, but always think ahead, and remember that every project you try is at YOUR OWN RISK.

Project History & More Info:

Apparently, the average burglar spends around 8-12 minutes rooting through your personal items looking for anything of value. (According to the Chicago Crime Commission.) So I thought it would be fun to make a project turning an old jar of salad dressing, into an inconspicuous secret safe that’s completely hidden in plain sight.

While I was surfing around on eBay, I came across a “Household Diversion Safe” (http://bit.ly/IBMayoSafe) that looked like a Mayo jar, and wondered if I could make something similar as a simple project?

Rather than using Mayo though, I ended up using a Miracle Whip container, and experimented with different prototypes.

I first tried using White-Out to paint the inside the jar, and while it worked pretty well, it was expensive and didn’t look 100% convincing, because the salad dressing is a slightly off-white color.

I went to the hardware store and got an “almond” colored spray paint, and after I applied it to a new jar, I found it was a near perfect match!

You have to spray the paint on one thin layer at a time or else it will run. And it will probably take around 5-6 layers to get a good thick coating, so to save some time I tried using a hairdryer to blow each coating dry.

On medium heat, the paint dries in about 45 -60 seconds, so I was able to apply 5 coatings in under 5 minutes. One word of caution though! Be careful with the high settings on the hair dryer, and be careful with how long you blow it, because the plastic jar will soften and the bottom will begin to warp. That will defeat the whole purpose! 🙂

To get the “false bottom” effect, I went back to the grocery store with the jar, and played around with different containers to find one that might fit. Amazingly, I found that the cheapest cans of cat food were a perfect match, and the rim on the top prevents them from falling into the jar. The ones I got were only $0.69.

I put a little electrical tape around the cat food tin to help it lock into place in the jar, then refilled it with a bit of the original Miracle Whip, so it would look a little more convincing if it ever got opened accidentally. The cool thing about that is, you can even eat the Miracle Whip.

The jar is a bit top heavy, so by adding some weight, or lining the edges with something like plaster of paris, you could mimic the weight of a real jar of salad dressing. And if you tried painting the cat food jar white, or found another container made of clear plastic that would fit, it may be even more convincing.

For one final touch I tried lining the inside of my jar with sticky-back foam to help protect the paint from getting scratched on the inside, and to help cushion anything valuable placed inside the secret safe.

For best results, try placing your container near the back of the fridge, mixed in with all the other condiments. This way it will be out of sight and out of mind, making it extremely unlikely that anyone will ever suspect it, or be willing to make the effort to pull out and check.

There’s no end to where you could take this idea. Ketchup bottles, mustard containers, or any other condiments. Preferably the ones that people aren’t ever going to open, but won’t get thrown away either.