Make and Share Craft Tutorials
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11 months ago
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Go wash your hands! Nothing says “amateur criminal” like a messy crime scene.
This handmade cleansing bar is named after John Dillinger, the Depression-era bank robber who successfully escaped from the Crown Point, Indiana, county jail using a bar of soap he’d carved into the shape of a gun. While this craft can’t make you a master criminal, it can promise you a clean getaway.
The refreshing scents of eucalyptus and mint help you fight Public Enemy No.1: bad body odor. With gorgeous pearl handle details and silky lather, this soap will look mighty sharp sitting in the guest lavatory.
Supplies for this craft are easily found online at soapmaking and baking supply sites.
From Criminal Crafts: Outlaw Projects for Scoundrels, Cheats, and Armchair Detectives by Miss Demeanor a.k.a. Shawn Gascoyne-Bowman
Crafts
Extract from
Criminal Crafts by Shawn Bowman
Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing
Criminals attract an audience. People admire the sneakiness and creativity of the profession while cursing the dastardly outcomes. So why not have all of the tricks without the trade? Criminal Crafts brings together illicit behavior and artistic expression with dark humor in this do-it-yourself project book. Author Shawn Bowman focuses on original crafts and recipes themed in noir, murder, retro espionage, pulp fiction, mafia, and voodoo. Crafters and mischief lovers alike will love this book of 30 projects revolving around notorious criminals and their activities. From John Dillinger's soap gun to Bonnie Parker's gunshot poetry journal, readers will find themselves both amused and intrigued with the devious creativity. Not to mention how impressed party guests will be when the...
© 2013 Shawn Bowman / Andrews McMeel Publishing · Reproduced with permission.Instructions
You Will Need
- Soap Base
- Soap Base
- 2 (8-cup) metal Mixing Bowls (not plastic, for Pete’s sake)
- Cooking Pot(s) that is slightly smaller than your metal mixing bowls
- Pot Holders
- 1 ounce soap Fragrance Oil (I like mint and eucalyptus; see Sources)
- Metal Whisk
- Gravy Spoon
- Plastic gun Mold
- 1 ounce black Soap Coloring
- Project Cost
- Cheap
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1
Dice the soap bases into large chunks and place each color in a separate metal mixing bowl.
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2
Fill the small pot halfway with water, place it on the stove, and bring the water to a low boil.
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3
Put the metal bowl with the white soap base over the boiling water. We’re creating a double boiler here, where the heat is evenly distributed across the surface area of the mixing bowl and can be removed quickly if things get too hot. Have a pot holder ready——your bowl will heat up fast!
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4
Add 3 to 5 drops of fragrance to the melting soap base and stir with a metal whisk.
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5
Spoon or ladle the melted white soap into the handles of the gun molds. Let cool for several minutes. Use a small paring knife to trim away any soap that has spilled out of the handle area and return the scraps to the mixing bowl. Use a pot holder to remove the bowl from the pot and set it aside. If necessary, add more water to the pot and bring it back to a low boil.
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6
To the clear soap base chunks, add 5 to 10 drops of black colorant and 3 to 5 drops of fragrance. Place the bowl over the boiling water and let melt, gently stirring until you have a consistent color of soap.
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7
Spoon or ladle the melted soap into the remaining spaces of the gun molds until each is filled.
Any excess black soap can be trimmed and thrown back into the bowl after the gun has cooled. -
8
Let the soap cool for 30 minutes or more, then flip the molds upside down and pop the soaps out. Avoid the temptation to cool the soaps in the refrigerator or freezer, as this may cause them to “sweat” and get a fuzzy water-condensation coating. You may run into sweat issues, too, if you live somewhere humid. You could try a low/no-sweat brand of melt-and-pour soap base, or place the soaps in front of a fan after they have been removed from the mold.
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9
Remelt the soap bases and repeat the process.
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10
Now get out there and do something dirty. You’ve earned it, and for once you won’t need a bagman to clean up afterward.
Note: The supplies for this recipe make about a dozen 3-ounce soap guns. Your results may vary depending on what type of gun you are making and the size of your mold. The most common molds I’ve seen have either one or two pistols in them, so you’ll be making two or three guns at a time and repeating the process after each set is cooled and popped out.
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