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How to Make Cool Spy Gear at Home

A spy's toolkit is never complete without the best gadgets he or she can get, and information is life. If a spy can find something out, get it to his team and then act on that intelligence, he's doing well. If he can do it without anyone knowing, he's a master of his craft. Master the spy game yourself with a few household items.

Things You'll Need

Lemon or lemon juice
Knife
Two shallow porcelain or glass dishes
Toothpick
Pen and paper
Candle and matches
Tongs
Butter knife
Starch Powder
Make-up brush
Packing tape
Index card
Magnifying glass
Thick, old book that will not be used again
Utility knife
Ruler
Marker

Instructions

Invisible Ink
- 1
  Squeeze the juice out of the lemon into your shallow dish. You may need to cut the lemon first.
- 2
  Dip the tip of the toothpick in the lemon juice. Write your message on the sheet of paper. The juice will dry invisibly.
- 3
  Write some false leads or other information on the page to throw any would-be readers off track.
- 4
  Clean the dishes out.
- 5
  Pass your page to your associates and tell them how to reveal the information: They should hold the sheet of paper over a lit candle, high enough to warm the lemon juice but not too close to burn it. Your message will appear.
Fingerprint Powder
- 6
  Hold a dish over a lit candle so it gathers soot. Use the tongs to keep your fingers away from the open flame.
- 7
  Scrape the soot off the plate with a butter knife, deposit the soot on the other dish.
- 8
  Repeat step 2 several times, until you have a sizable pile of soot.
- 9
  Pour an equal amount of starch powder onto the dish and mix the two well. Bring the dish and a make-up brush to the area you're going to dust for prints.
- 10
  Dip the brush in your fingerprinting powder and dust the area liberally with powder. Look carefully for prints.
- 11
  Cut a strip of packing tape, taking care not to put your own prints on it. place the tape on the fingerprint, very carefully so you don't disturb the print. Gently tap the area so the tape picks up your print dust, and stick the tape to your index card, centering the print on the card.
Book Vault
- 12
  Verify that the book will never be used or read again.
- 13
  Open the book about 10 to 20 pages in.
- 14
  Measure and mark between 3/4 and 1 inch in from all sides of the page. Draw a rectangle to mark where you will cut.
- 15
  Cut the pages along the rectangular guide. Press firmly with the knife to cut several pages at a time, but be careful with the knife. Repeat until you have cut through all the pages except about 10 to 20 at the back of the book.
- 16
  Store your secrets in the book. You can keep fingerprints you've lifted, or messages written in invisible ink in the storage space inside the book.
- 17
  Keep the book on a bookshelf with similar-looking books.

Educational Toys