The average burglar, will spend 8-12 minutes rooting through your personal items looking
for anything of value. So for this project, I’m going to show you how to turn an old
jar of salad dressing, into an inconspicuous secret safe. That’s completely hidden in plain sight.
Start this project with a jar of miracle whip, and a can of ivory colored spray paint. While
you’re at it you might want to pick up a cheap tin of cat food as well, and you’ll
see what that’s for in just a minute.
Now all we’re really after here is the plastic jar, and the lid. But rather than dumping
all the salad dressing in the garbage, just scoop it into another container so you can
still use it later if you want.
Scrub the inside of the jar clean with soap and water, and make sure it’s dried thoroughly,
because that’s the only way our spray paint is going to stick.
I’m using an ivory colored spray paint that’s made for painting plastics, and you can see
this is the kind that has the paint and primer in one.
Shake the paint for about a minute, then carefully spritz the inside of the jar and give it a
very light coating. You might want to wrap the container with something like a paper
lunch bag, and tape it around the neck, to make sure the outside of the jar doesn’t
get covered in paint.
It’s a good idea to spray very thin coatings one at a time, so the paint doesn’t run.
Take your time and do it right, and the end result will be a lot more convincing.
Now if you’re like me and you don’t have the patience to wait 20 minutes between coatings,
try using a hairdryer to blow a little warm air around for about 30 seconds at a time.
This speeds up the curing process dramatically. But be careful, because if it gets too hot,
it can warp your container.
After only 5 minutes, I sprayed and dried 5 different coatings. And you can already
see just how genuine, our decoy jar is starting to look. In fact, if we set two jars side
by side, you can barely tell which one’s real, and which one isn’t.
Now to help protect the fresh paint from getting scratched up, I picked up a sheet of sticky
back foam from the craft store for $0.89.
I cut out a circle the same size as the bottom, and a rectangle that matches the sides. And
after pressing them into place, you can see it protects the paint, and helps cushion whatever we place inside.
Now you could stop here, and simply load up your jar with whatever stash you’re trying
to hide, and tuck it away somewhere in the fridge. It’s as easy as that, because the
last place anyone will look for something valuable, is in a jar of salad dressing.
But if you want to take it one step further, we can go to the next level, by adding a false bottom.
Grab a cheap tin of cat food and bust it open. This one was only $0.69 at a local grocery
store, and it’s definately worth the money, for the added layer of protection.
Use the cat food any way you want, but save the can, and make sure you clean it, until it shines.
Now watch how perfectly, this can fits into the top of the jar. It’s like it was meant
to be, and the lip at the top even prevents the can from falling through as well.
I tried wrapping 3 layers of electrical tape around the can near the top. And you can see
this simple modification, makes it so the can locks firmly into place, and won’t fall out.
Just test the lid to make sure it screws back on, and your deceptive miracle safe is just about done.
Now if you find you’re having a hard time screwing the cap on, it’s probably because
your tin of cat food curves up slightly at the top, and won’t push all the way down.
You can address that challenge by grinding the top of the jar down around 1/4”. This
will compensate for the extra space, and get the screw threads, close enough for the lid
to get a good bite on the jar.
To finish up, simply fill the can with some of the Miracle Whip you took out of the jar
earlier. And when you push the can back into place, take a good look at your creation.
If you get the impression your jar is completely full of salad dressing, then you’re finished.
Go ahead and load up your jar with whatever it is you want hidden, then cover it up with
the creamy dressing, to conceal your treasure inside. You’ve just made yourself a miracle
safe, that could be used for treasure hunting, geo-caching or anything else you’d want to use it for.
Now for ultimate security, try blending your jar in with all your other condiments, and
if you can, hide it way at the back so it’s even harder to get to, and stays out of sight
and out of mind. Chances are, no one’s ever going to open it anyway, even if they’re living in the house with you.
By the way, if you’re still paranoid that someone’s going to figure out your little secret, try going one step further
by pouring a little plaster of paris into the bottom of the jar. This will make the jar feel heavy
and full, so the weight won’t give it away if they pick it up.
Well now you know how to transform a simple jar of salad dressing, into a covert miracle
safe. That puts the odds in your favor, by modestly keeping your valuables hidden, in plain sight.
Well that’s it for now. If you like this project perhaps you’ll like some of my others.
Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com