Introduction: Potted Plant Secret Compartment

By I make stuff!

I've got a weird obsession with secret compartments. I love trying to think of new ways to hide things in plain site and re-purposing random objects. This instructable was born from a trip to IKEA to pick up a desk lamp. One of the clocks they had for sale opened up to reveal shelving behind it. Of course, this got me thinking about secret compartments. I got distracted by their large selection of fake plants, and decided to buy one and see what I could do with it (I forgot the lamp, though).

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Protected Contest!

Step 1: What You Need:

- Small fake plant

- Plant pot

- Empty plastic container (the kind yogurt comes in; you want a container that can only be pushed about 1 to 1 1/2 inches into the pot before stopping.)

- Craft knife

- Hot glue gun

- Dirt

Step 2: Taking Apart the Plant

- Disassemble the fake plant. Most IKEA plants have a rubber disk of fairly unconvincing fake dirt that you will need to pry out of the way to get at the connections.

- My plant was connected to the bottom of the pot by some metal wires, so I had to use wire cutters to remove it.

- Trim the wires protruding from the bottom of the plant to about and inch long.

Step 3: Cutting the Container

- Make sure the plastic container can only be pushed about 1 to 1 1/2 inches into the pot. You might have to try multiple containers to get one that fits.

- Cut the bottom 1/2 inch of the container off and save it.

- Make sure the bottom of the container still rests in the pot about 1 to 1 1/2 inches below the top.

Step 4: Assembling the Plant

- Cut a cross in the center of the container bottom. Do it gently, because I cracked the plastic by forcing the blade in.

- Push the wires protruding from the bottom of the fake plant through the cross (or in my case, asterisk).

- Hot glue the plant in place; use a lot of glue, enough to completely cover the bottom of the plant and the cuts.

Step 5: Finishing Up

- Put the "plant" in the pot to make sure it sits well.

- Remove the plant and fill the plastic container with dirt.

- Put whatever you want to hide in the bottom of the plant pot.

- Place the plant in the pot over top of it.

Spread the dirt around to obscure the plastic completely.