Laser Chef!

Hiding things is fun, so here's one way to disguise a laser pointer.

I used a goofy plastic toy monster (I'm sure he has a name and I have no idea what it is). He happened to be wearing a (conveniently large) chef's cap. If your monster doesn't come with a hat, you'll get to use your creativity to make one! Or a wig, perhaps?

I found an old laser pointer (I believe it was originally from the dollar store). The kind you use to tease your cat. Not the kind you use to start fires.

I also used a dremel rotary tool. I'm not sure what the various bits are called, so I posted a pic of every bit I used (although, I'm sure you could get this done with a single bit if you don't have them all).

Wearing safety glasses and a mask for safety purposes is recommended. But only if you value your lungs and your eyes.

Start by removing the hat. Use the dremel to drill a hole into the top of the chef's head. As I did this, I had to keep emptying the plastic shavings out of the cavity. I also put the laser pointer into the cavity (many times) to determine when the hole was big enough. I had to make sure the hole was deep enough so that the laser pointer was completely hidden when the chef's hat was on. The laser pointer was pretty big for this little chef, so further procedures were required to successfully make it fit...

I drilled the hole right down to the bottom of the Chef's torso, until I could see his legs. The laser fit into the hole, but it still was sticking out from the top too much for the hat to cover the whole thing. I started by using the dremel to cut off the little plastic bit on the end of the laser pointer. That would make it a bit shorter, and it would be able to shoved further down into the hole. But it still wasn't quite a perfect fit... so I decided to do some leg surgery. I'm not a doctor, but I think I did an excellent job. I popped out the legs from the bottom, and used the dremel to sand down the top of the legs (about 3mm). I popped the legs back in, and everything was a perfect fit. The laser was deep enough for the hat to fit properly, thus hiding the laser entirely. All done!

Don't look directly into the light. You'll wreck your eyesight. Don't point the laser into other people's eyes. That's not nice. Clean up after yourself, and go drink some water. And enjoy your new Laser Chef!

Of course, this method could also be used to hide a USB stick, a small container of Tylenol, chapstick, a sharp blade for cutting small cheeses, etc... so many possibilities!