Fake Electrical Outlet

You may have seen a fake electrical outlet and not even known that you had. The first one I saw was a sticker on the wall of an airport. I saw someone walk up, get out their laptop, and tried to plug it in. They walked away to find a real electrical outlet. I inspected the sticker and saw that it was very real looking, even up close. I did a search on the internet and found that there are many different types of these fake outlet stickers being sold. They are marketed as practical jokes. There are even some stick on 3D versions that look like the real thing. I thought I would make a few magnetic versions to share with friends.

It doesn't cost much for the materials and is pretty easy to do. I will show you how I made mine and give you some ideas to make your own.

You will be working with hot glue, sharp tools, and flying pieces of plastic. Wear safety glasses and gloves. Be careful. An injury from this project would be an embarrassing conversation: "Hey how did you hurt your hand?" "Oh this....I was making a fake electrical outlet."

You should be able to get the materials at your local hardware store relatively inexpensively.

You need an electrical outlet. I got the cheapest one, because it is just going to be cosmetic.

You will need an outlet cover plate that comes with a screw to attach it to the outlet.

I got both of these in white, but if you knew the colors of the real outlets where you plan on using this prank, make yours match the real outlets.

You need some magnets. I used some thin stick on ribbon type magnets.

I thought that the self-adhesive backs on the magnets would not be enough so I also used some hot glue.

I used a Philips screwdriver to take the fasteners off the outlet. I had a slotted screwdriver ready as well, but ended up not needing it. I used a bench vise to smash the back of the outlet off the front. I used some diagonal cutters to chop off some of the unneeded plastic and to cut the magnet strips. I used a Dremel tool to grind everything down thin and smooth.

To prepare the outlet for separating the front piece, that you need, from the back pieces, that you do not need, take out all the screws and keep them with your collection of fasteners that can be used later.

I thought that I was going to try and pry the front off the outlet with a slotted screwdriver, but after inspecting the outlet, I knew it was going to be strong. I decided the best bet would be to smash the back of the outlet to get the front off undamaged. A hydraulic press would be best for this but I was able to smash it with a bench vise. Go slow to make sure you do not damage the front piece.

I was lucky in that there was not much sticking out the back side of the front piece. I was able to cut most of the excess off with the diagonal cutters and grind the rest off with the Dremel tool.

I think the three pictures of the plastic flying away from the diagonal cutters is a good illustration of why it is important to wear safety glasses.

Once you get the front outlet piece thin enough that it is flush with the back of the outlet cover plate, it is time to glue them together. I laid the two pieces, face down on a flat surface, and used hot glue to glue them together. Take care not to let the glue ooze through the cracks or your front will look fake.

If you find some magnets that are thin and small enough, you could just glue them on. I used some ribbon magnets that I cut and test fitted before gluing them on the back of the outlet cover using hot glue.

The ribbon magnets had self-adhesive backing on them, but I did not think it would be strong enough. I used the hot glue to glue the magnets on the back of the outlet cover plate. You want the finished product to fit flush with the surface you are going to put it on, so try and get the magnets flush with the back of the cover plate. I had to hold down the ends of the magnets, to keep them from curling up, while the hot glue set.

You need just the head of the outlet cover plate screw. I was able to cut the head off the screw using diagonal cutters. I made sure to cut the screw while gripping it in my gloved hand to keep the pieces from flying. I thought the three pictures of the plastic dust on and flying off my hand looked cool.

Use a small drop of hot glue to glue the screw head to the hole in the outlet cover plate. Clean off any excess glue and your fake outlet is ready to go.

Now you have a realistic looking fake electrical outlet you can stick on metal surfaces. Your car, refrigerator, stove, or toolbox. The materials are cheap enough that you could leave them somewhere knowing that you will probably never see them again, so that someone else can discover them. Have fun.

As usual I made a video.

Thank you for watching.

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