Cleverly disguised as a rock.

 Oh my goodness.

Where has this idea been my whole life?

Obimaster displays our first 'fake rock' find
from this last weekend

From the first time I saw LCAB's tutorial video on making 'fake rocks' for letterboxes (find it in the sidebar >>), I have had this itch to give it a go. But, I hadn't even found one in the wild, so really wasn't sure if they would even work. I had so many questions ... but they have all been answered now, especially after finding one on a recent boxing foray. In a word: they work like a charm!

But, even before we found this little jewel, we gave making them a go. Messy, it is! But, I've got it down now. First, we did it together, but the last round I tackled myself, and made a bunch!

so, this is what we decided on when
what LCAB recommended wasn't readily available

in process the first go-round;
we used playground sand as the base
to mold the concrete

here is a finished one of the first batch ... as you can see,
I  gave it a spray of texturized brown,
which around here matches the mud on a trail

this is a microbox 'rock' - my absolute favorite! In our neck of the woods,
grey, sandy rocks work best for most places, so I sprinkled playground sand
on the wet concrete, kind of like aggregate

here is that microbox -
it actually slides out so the finder can access the contents;
I added Gorilla (duct) tape to the outside of the film canister
to give it a little thickness so they wouldn't just slip out
when you picked up the 'rock'

hidden microbox in-situ - it's a beautiful thing!

Basically, you mix the concrete to desired consistency (definitely not too wet!), then mold it around the box (we used the cheapie boxes from Dollar Tree), making sure the concrete is not obstructing the lid (LCAB does a great job describing this part). I also sprinkled sand over the wet, molded concrete to give it more texture. Then, the hardest part: you have to wait until it sets up good and hard. Around here, in the cooler temps, that is 24-48 hours. After they are dry, I spray the bottom with a dark spray paint to cover the bright colored plastic. Yes, this will get scraped off over time, but we will see how long that lasts (it can't be any worse than camo-tape turning bright blue from exposure, right?)

The microbox (film canister) rocks were a little more tricky: I took a handful of concrete, shaped it into a ball, then with my thumbs made a hole in the center. Then, with a film canister covered in 1 (mil.) plastic sheeting, I pushed it into the hole-space and molded the concrete around it. When it seemed right, and after a sprinkling of sand, it was left to set. The 'dryer' the concrete mix, the easier it was to mold into the rock shape I wanted. Too wet and it would droop - not good (but made me laugh!). Too dry and you can't do anything but add more water. I eventually got the hang of it. With the concrete product we chose, I had to move kinda fast.

So, instead of camo-tape, use concrete to cover those boxes. I have found them amazingly easy to hide, especially in urban areas with landscape rocks, around trees, and under logs. If the grey, sand-color stood out, I just found some mud to rub on the top and it disappeared like a charm. And if they were intended for planting on a trail, I sprayed them with textured spray paint - it comes in a few different appropriate shades.

But, the real test is yet to come - when finders try to find them. I do think that it is important to tell finders what they are looking for - no matter a box, a pouch, or a rock. My thought is that the quicker they can find it, the quicker they can do their thing and get it re-hidden before attracting unwanted attention. On the trail is easier, of course, but in most urban or suburban locations, timing is everything when ducking muggles.

Out on a beautiful trail in Everett