DIY Temporary Watercolor Tattoo

I still haven't graduated from Microsoft Paint yet - bear with me.

I’ve always had a thing for tattoos.  Not like, “man, he’s so hot ‘cuz of his tats,” more like, “I would totally get a tattoo in a heartbeat if I could decide on something I want stuck to my body for the rest of my life.”

When I was a little kid I wanted a dolphin, or something like that.  When I hit teenage years I wanted a tribal gecko (yeah…tribal) climbing up my ankle.  When I grew up a little bit more I wanted something to show off my nerd knowledge.  And now I’ve decided I want a diamond on my left ring finger.  So it’s probably a good idea I haven’t gotten tattooed yet since I keep changing my mind and style.

Happily, my lack of commitment hasn’t stopped me from drawing all over myself all the time; I’ve had so many tribal geckoes they could probably populate a small Pacific island.

So last night The Man and I were talking and the subject of tattoos came up and we started looking at all the different tattoos we wanted (he wants a wedding band – just a band).  And then and there I pulled out a needle and some ink and started poking myself.

Just kidding.

I pulled out a Sharpie and drew myself a cat, because I have progressed from a dolphin and gecko kind of girl to a cat lady.  Turns out there’s this method for long-term Sharpie tattoos:

                -Draw something on your body; let the Sharpie dry a bit.

                -Cover the drawing in baby powder and softly rub it in.

                -Gently brush off the majority of the baby powder.

                -Spray the area with hairspray; let it dry.

If you do this, apparently your tattoo is supposed to stay for about a month.  Mine was getting a bit spotty after a night, so I’m not sure how these people keep them on that long.  Maybe they never shower and they sleep with it wrapped up.

When I woke up this morning I decided I wasn’t ink’d enough, so I re-applied the cat tattoo and got to work on a diamond for my finger – this time with a ballpoint pen because we don’t have any fine-point Sharpies.  Drew it, let it dry a bit, and painted over it with clear nail polish.  Bam.

The Man: "I think you need to re-do your diamond.  It looks like a child drew it."

And theeeen I decided my cat could be even more exciting.  I originally got the idea for the cat’s shape from a watercolor tattoo (those things are awesome) so I decided I’d watercolor this kitty up.  Ready for my tutorial after that super-long and unnecessary introduction?

Temporary Watercolor Tattoo Tutorial!

First off, draw your black outline and go through the whole baby powder/hairspray ordeal.

Grab some colored markers – you want the kind that will run when wet – and decide what colors you want and how you want them arranged on your tattoo.  I drew a couple mock-ups on a piece of paper.

Get your tattoo area wet (wet paper towel works great – makes your skin wet but not dripping).

Color in your tattoo and let it air-dry for a little bit.

Throw some baby powder on that thing, and GENTLY rub it around.

Take a paper towel and GENTLY clear off most of the baby powder.

Spray the tattoo with hairspray; let it dry.

You now have a semi-cool looking (definitely not professional-grade) potentially-long-lasting watercolor tattoo.  I’ve been trying to smudge mine and it’s holding up super well so far.

If you’re thinking about getting a watercolor tattoo (or just any tattoo), maybe try out a temporary version for a while and see if you like it.  It’s better than being stuck with a piece of cake flying through a portal in your armpit for the rest of your life.