bugaboo, mini, mr & me: Top secret.

I try to make each of the kids at least one handmade gift for Christmas and their birthdays every year. Last year, this was bug's handmade gift - and since he's pretty fond of dressing up, I thought he'd be particularly excited about this "kit" I threw together.

If you've got a kid - boy or girl - who loves dress up, disguises, and playing characters, this is the fun gift kit for you!

Here's what you need to make a top secret spy kit:

I'll show you what I used to put my kit together, and hopefully you'll be able to find similar items, or this'll spark some inspiration of your own.

The sunglasses are just two of my old pairs I don't use now. But you can obviously find some at the dollar store as well.

The briefcase:

This briefcase began as an art kit - the kind you can buy at Hobby Lobby that has paints, colored pencils, pencils, eraser, etc. I took the art supplies out to make something else, and had this quite small, wooden briefcase. If you want to put more spy items inside, you'll need to find something bigger.

Just use a sharpie to write top secret on the front. Then, of course, make sure the secret agent's name is written near the handle, for easy identification of course.

The stocking cap:

Your cap should probably be black, since it's for sneaking around in the dark, mostly. (Or for disguising hair.) If you've got a black cap that fits your kid's head well then just throw it in there. I didn't. So, I made my own!

It's super easy. All you need is a black t-shirt and this tutorial for upcycled hats that I made a while ago.

The magnifying glass:

This is a cheapo magnifying glass from Walmart. I can't remember where I found it... but I think it was by the books since it's really for people with bad eyesight to do crosswords and stuff.

A magnifying glass is essential for clue searching.

As is a pirate beard.

The facial hair:

The felt beard and mustaches are really easy to make. All you need is felt in different colors, elastic thread and a sewing machine. You can find my tutorial for debonair dress ups here. They slip over the ears like so:

and are the perfect disguise for little spies.

And of course, make sure you add a small notebook and pen to take notes.

And that's how my spy kit started out. Over a short time, we also added:

Spy glasses (which we got at World Market and you can find here. They allow you to see behind you. Very spy-ish.), my very old, broken camera (that he really wishes worked, but it doesn't.) and a cell phone for important spy-related communication: