Growing up my parents always hid a spare key to the house underneath the back porch, wrapped in plastic wrap. If I would get home from school before one of them was home, or if I forgot my house key I would have to dig around in the back to try to find the key. Not exactly fun.

Over the years there have been many different products that allow you to hide a key outside discretely. Ranging from decorative rocks to small garden statues there are a lot of options. The unfortunate thing about these items is that the design is so well known that any potential thieves know exactly what to look for.

Then I found this simple, inexpensive way to hide a key outside.

What you will need:

  • small medicine bottle
  • rock
  • super glue
  • house key

As I said before, this is a VERY inexpensive way to hide a key. I chose to use an over the counter medicine bottle from Target. I have also seen prescription bottles used, but I am not comfortable with my personal information being out in public.

For this project I used Omni-Stick super glue. I would normally use E6000 glue, but I was all out and the Omni-Stick works just as well. I used a small river rock and applied the super glue to the rock and stuck it to the top of the medicine bottle.

Be sure to use enough glue to adhere the rock to the cap but not so much that it is spilling off the side.

After you have adhered the rock to the cap, let it cure for at least 24 hours. The glue will be tacky enough that the rock will stay on the cap, but not completely dried and can still stick to other things.

After you have waited 24 hours and the glue is completely cured, go ahead and put one of your keys in the bottle and replace the lid.

This is what the landscaping looked like before.

I then took the bottle out to the landscaping and dug a small hole. Right now, we are in the process of redoing our house, so we don’t have any landscaping, so please don’t mind my ugly yard! Plus, if you have shrubs (which I don’t right now) it will help conceal the key even more.

After digging the hole, I put the bottle in the hole and covered it to the bottom of the rock. Now the rock looks like it belongs in the landscaping. No obvious plastic rocks or statues, and no keys under the front mat. And this whole project only cost me the price of the glue!

Looking for something that provides a little bit more security? Check out this great review of the Master Lock 5401D Key Safe. This key safe is perfect when you need to give a key to a cleaning lady, pet sitter, or neighbor.

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One Comment

  1. What a neat idea!! We’ve had our older two kids forget their keys when we’re not home before; this would totally resolve this. Thanks for sharing!

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