Hello there :)

This instructable is about decorating a shower gel box.

These are great to decorate your bathroom. Or as a custom made gift !

I came with this idea for the birthday of a friend of mine. She is a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr and I made her an Iron Man shower gel. But you can imagine anything and all possibilities are allowed :)

Here we go !

Step 1: Chose Your Model

There are a lot of different shower gel boxes out there. With a great diversity of shapes and colours.

You will need to find the one which is the closest thing to what you want to draw.

Step 2: Stuff You Need

Masking Tape : usually used while walls are painted. To protect those parts that should not be put in color. It is usefull here for its properties to leave little trace of glue.

A sharp tool like a cutter or a scalpel.

Waterproof paint for plastic. All colors you will need. Not necessary in spray, anything will fit. These can be found in stationery.

Solvent (I used acetone). To clear in case you make erasures. And toilet paper / cotton swab to apply it.

Clearcoat (optional). If you want to protect your work from time and scratches.

Step 3: Draft

Now the work begin !

The easiest would be to choose a simplified drawing rather than duplicating something too complex. I recommand to search with the word "chibi" or "minecraft" or "papercraft" for easy patterns.

Example here : "Chibi Iron man". So cute :D

First of all, remove the label and clean your shower gel with dish soap. This way, it will remove grease from it.

It was the prep work that helps the paint to better apply.

Once done, wrap your box in masking tape. Like a mummy. It will serve as a stencil once cut. Tip: avoid having layers, it will complicate cutting.

Draw your template directly on the tape. Take your time. No need to worry if you make erasures. It is just a draft here. When you are satisfied, underline the curves you wish to keep. At this point you should have a good overview of your work !

Step 4: Drawing

Once you are satisfied, use your sharp tool to cut along the lines.

Tip : to begin with, I recommend to cut only around the area to paint. This way you will avoid puting color anywhere else.

These surfaces can then be unsticked. Before applying the paint, make sure the borders are corectly glued (press with your finger). You would not like the paint seeps underneath :(

Once applied, wait enough for paint to dry (3-4 hours).

Tip : You can check that the color is uniform by putting your box behind a light. You will detect the defects by transparency and fix it.

To draw fine dashes, just cut along the remaining lines and unstick the leftover tape. Scratches will replace your draft (don't go through the thickness...). These are now guidelines to draw the remaining lines.

Step 5: Finishing

Last step ! Everything has dried and your project is nearly finished :)

Maybe you planned to work with several layers of different paint. Maybe your painting is not perfect and you have missed some defects while checking by transparency. Maybe you forget some areas (like me) ;)

In these cases, you will need to frame / repair the new area with many little pieces of tape. As like a new small stencil.

To clear erasures, softly try to scrape it with a blade. Stop immediately if it leaves scratches and try instead with your solvent.

Optional : apply an overall layer of clearcoat to better protect your work from time and scratches. As I didn't want to risk damaging what I had done, I skip this last step.