We present a method which allows a straightforward wet-chemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNP), hydrophobic coating assembling into monolayer and their utilization as substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). In order to fabricate the SERS active substrates, AgNP were synthesized in water by chemical reduction of Ag+, coated with a hydrophobic shell (dodecanethiol), transferred to a non-polar solvent and finally assembled through precipitation into a SERS active self-assembled monolayer (SAM). Simple approaches for concentration and purification of the coated AgNP are shown. The synthesized particles and SAMs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), optical imaging and spectroscopic measurements. This manuscript can be used as a do-it-yourself (DIY) tutorial which allows making SAMs from coated AgNP (<15 nm) in every laboratory within less than 1 h and their utilization as potential low cost SERS substrates (movie 1 – 4).