Lurking around your home and

waiting for the perfect opportunity

to relieve you of your valuables.

That's why today we've put together

an excellent list of home security life hacks

to protect you and your family.

Let's get sneaky.

In the event that a criminal manages to bypass

your security, you can still make it

hard on 'em by concealing your expensive items.

One excellent method is to create a fake

and boring bookshelf display.

To do this we'll take three old binders

and turn them into the perfect hiding spot.

You'll start by cutting off one side of a binder,

while leaving a small tab hanging off for later.

A cutting board or scissors should do the job just fine.

Then cut both sides off

of the second binder, again leaving tabs.

This is going to serve as our centerpiece,

which will bind the others together.

Once you have everything done,

take some glue and reinforce the plastic

and cardboard so that nothing is going

to slip out of place.

And then line the binder tabs up

together so that they're flush.

Now glue them together, holding each tab in place

as you go to form a strong bond.

Once all the binders are connected

and secured place them on your bookshelf

and you can hide small but expensive items

within the treasure cave you just built.

This makes for an inconspicuous hiding place

that most thieves will past right by

without a second thought.

Speaking of your nice equipment,

another common mistake that can be made

is placing empty boxes of your items

near or around the trash bins.

This is sort of like advertising

what awesome things you have stored inside your house.

So spend a little extra time breaking

down the boxes and hiding them away in a bag or a bin.

It's a combination of all the small things

that really make a difference.

Did you know that 40 percent of people using

your bathroom will snoop in your medicine cabinet?

If you don't have a lock on yours,

here's a fun way to insight shame

upon any snooping house guest.

Get yourself one of those musical

or singing greeting cards.

We grabbed the most annoying one we could find

to make sure it leaves a mark.

This will make for a great trigger

to let you know when your medicine cabinet

is being snooped.

Carefully open the card and reveal its inner workings.

What you'll find inside is a small speaker,

a circuit board and a tab which initiates the sound.

As you can see the tab prevents the circuit

from completing, and when pulled,

allows the sound to burst out.

Snip the tab at the end connected to the card

and put it aside.

Now peel the board and speaker from the paper as well.

Make sure to do this slowly so you don't

disconnect any wires or snap the board.

Now head over to your medicine cabinet

and place some adhesive on the inside

to hold the board and speaker in place,

while making sure the trigger is facing out.

Once you have that secured and in place,

push the tab back into the trigger,

and put some tape on the end.

You're going to close the cabinet a bit,

and attach the tab to the door

while still keeping it lined up with the circuit board.

Close the door and your cabinet is armed.

And now any sneaky person looking through

your personal belongings will be met

with surprise and most likely shame.

When leaving your house at night,

it's always good to leave a light or two on,

so it looks like someone's home.

However, that might not always be enough.

But how do you fend off burglars

aside from leaving your 8-year-old son

home alone while you and the rest

of the family take a trip to Paris?

Simple, cardboard cutouts.

Grab an old box and flatten it out on the floor.

Have someone lay down on top of it

and trace around their torso and head

with a pen or marker.

Now it doesn't need to be perfect,

it just needs to resemble a human shape.

Once you have it traced,

go ahead and cut it out with some scissors

and place it in your windowsill.

Flip on a light in the room and

have a fun evening out,

knowing that your cardboard sentry

is hard at work keeping the burglars at bay.

Thieves are less likely to enter a home

when they believe an animal could expose

them or even injure them.

A simple and effective layer of

extra home security can be obtained

with a simple sign letting

potential intruders know what might be in store.

You can find pre-made graphics online

to print out on your own or

simply grab a cheap plastic version at any hardware store.

Next time you're outside doing housework,

make sure not to leave any items out

that give thieves easy access to your home,

like this ladder.

But you also want to secure your entry points.

Some window locks can be pried open

from the outside with ease.

While a broken window is always

a possibility, it's less likely

because it'll attract attention.

A simple security tactic is to measure

out your window frame and create

a perfectly sized rod to

hold the window in place whether it's locked or not.

Get a piece of wood and cut it to size.

You can also try using adjustable curtain rods.

Just place the stopper in the window,

for an extra level of protection

besides a simple lock.

If a thief wants in your home,

you certainly don't want to make it easy on them.

So secure those easy access windows

and block them out.

Another obvious but quick tip

is to have motion lighting around entryways

to your house.

These will save you good money in the long run

since you won't have to keep them turned on all the time.

And not to mention the surprise factor

that comes with the immediate flash

of light which serves as a great theft deterrent.

Now these are all great ways to secure your home,

but if you want to take it to the next level,

check out our sponsor SmartThings.

The Samsung SmartThings home monitor kit

comes with two multipurpose sensors

for your doors or windows,

a handy motion sensor so

you can detect movement in your house,

and even an outlet that lets you control

lights or anything else you plug into it.

They all connect wirelessly through the SmartThings

hub which is also included.

You can also add a camera like the SmartCam HD Pro

and set it to record when certain

things happen like motion or door opening.

So now if someone is on your front porch,

a simple notification will let you know,

and even send a video clip through the SmartHome monitor.

It's quite useful if you're expecting

a package or just want a record

of who comes by your house when you're away.

The SmartHome monitor can also

let you know when an intrusion

has been detected and take action.

Is someone breaking into the basement?

Well you can just check the alert status

and see what's going on down there.

I set it to record and turn on

the lights after a few seconds,

to scare away any potential intruder

and make it look like I'm home.

Yeah, get out of here.

When you buy a kit at

SmartThings.com/HouseholdHacker

or click the link, they're giving away a free

water leak sensor while supplies last.

So check it out and get your security into gear.

Thanks for watching.

If you enjoyed this video,

be sure to subscribe and

share it with your friends and family.

Securing your home is a

great way to sleep better

and get some peace of mind.

See you next time.