My husband is a tattoo artist who often works from home, so tattooing is pretty normalized in our household. My kids have spent many hours cheerfully coloring surplus pages of tattoo designs, and they’ve observed the tattooing process more than most adults I know. My 7-year-old has even tried her hand at tattooing the skin of an orange. (She later peeled and ate it. Artists are their own worst critics.)
Because of this, my toddler is obsessed with temporary tattoos. His little arms are nearly always covered in an assortment of colorful snakes, swords, and butterflies, and he’s prone to demanding new designs be applied every morning. We usually use store-bought ones — my husband started buying them by the boxful from a local toy store — but I thought it would be fun to try making our own. With printable temporary tattoo paper, creating your own tattoos couldn’t be easier.
Materials:
Temporary tattoo paper
Scanner and printer
Tracing paper
Markers
Scissors, water, and a sponge or washcloth
Download-and-print tattoo designs (my designs are here and here!)

1. Create some tattoo designs.
To create your own tattoo designs, simply draw on ordinary paper and scan. Fill a page with lots of unique designs, or use a graphics software to create one design in repeat. I like to draw the same thing over and over so it’s sort of an irregular repeat. For more inspiration, search the web for vintage tattoo flash, free clip art, or just flip through picture books in your house.
Tip: Plan to squeeze as many individual designs as possible on a single page, so as not to waste any tattoo paper; you usually get only 2 or 3 sheets per pack, so you’ll want to make them count.
Looking for an instant option? I’ve illustrated some printables with designs to share: Print it out on ordinary inkjet paper and trace the parts you like with a black marker, then add color if desired and re-scan. Designs are here!
2. Read the instructions on your temporary tattoo paper before printing.
The best temporary tattoo paper will have an adhesive layer that you apply afterward. Set your printer to the “t-shirt transfer paper” setting, which will automatically reverse the image, then print a test sheet on normal paper. It should come out in a mirror image of your design.
Check to see if your design is getting cut off at the margins. If it is, go back and adjust your printer settings to “borderless” or “fit to page.” If everything looks good, load up the temporary tattoo paper according to the directions — if your printer has a manual feed option or rear tray, use that — and print one sheet at a time.
If your paper comes with an adhesive top layer, carefully peel off one corner, line it up with your printed sheet of tattoos, then apply slowly. Cut apart the individual tattoos as close to the edges of the image as you can.

3. Apply your tats.
To apply, peel off the top plastic layer (if any) and place the tattoo design down on the skin. With a damp sponge or cloth, wet the paper until it becomes translucent. Press, hold, and slowly count to ten. At this point, the paper should lift or slide away easily, leaving the image behind. All done!
So, now what?


Set up a temporary tattoo parlor at a children’s party.
Use loops of washi tape to attach tattoos to a piece of cardboard and write “TATTOOS” in large script across the top. Prop up the sign on a table set with water and sponges, and let kids pull their chosen design right off the wall. (Minimize the mess by using a squeeze-top water bottle.)
If small children are involved, keep arguments at bay by providing (at least) one sponge per kid; you can achieve this by cutting normal-size sponges into halves or quarters.
Give out temporary tattoos as wedding favors.
Create sweet, wedding-themed tattoo designs featuring the wedding date or the couple’s initials or names. Pile the tattoos in a decorative bowl, fill a second bowl with water, and use something lovely like a vintage handkerchief to wet the tattoo paper. This will result in a million photos of everyone’s adorable tattooed wrists.
…Tattoo everything.
Remember, these temporary tattoos stick to materials other than skin. We tried applying them to plastic cups, random toys, glass, wood, and bananas (great for lunchbox notes). Pretty much any material will work, as long as it can get wet and you don’t expect it to last forever. There are more permanent options out there if you want to stick decals to things (try searching “waterslide decal paper”), but this is a quick way to get similar results.
45 comments
Sue from SuesAkornShop said 4 years ago
I always wondered how these were done. Great info! Congrats on the feature.
Francine from HomespunHeartofMine said 4 years ago
What a great tutorial!!! I'm sure this info will provide many children & adults tons & tons of personalized fun!!! Thanks Anda....appreciate the great pics and detailed instructions!!! :D
Niki from JandEdoodles said 4 years ago
AW, I love this! My daughter saves all of the extra tattoos that come in valentine boxes to keep her arms coated for months afterwards. She will love being able to design her own! Thank you!
Megan from MegansMenagerie said 4 years ago
How fun! I love you can put them on random objects!
Dig Deep Vintage from digdeepvintage said 4 years ago
adorable-love your designs!
Darya Kabishava from DashikiStudio said 4 years ago
Cool! Now I know how it works)) Thank you for sharing!
Katie Anne from MiddleCoast said 4 years ago
I just shared this at work. Such fun!!! :D
Kalisa L. from MuchandQuick said 4 years ago
You can put liquid band aid over a tattoo to make it last longer!
Teerasak Borkam from TribalAndHarem said 4 years ago
I love this!
MaryEllen Sick from SincerelyMaryEllen said 4 years ago
Oh I love this! Tattoo on a banana-genius!
Cassidy L. from DotsAndString said 4 years ago
This is so much fun! Can't wait to give it try. :)
Christina from TheWildPlum said 4 years ago
Such an a-peeling idea!
aressa from OriginalBridalHanger said 4 years ago
Pretty neat idea...My grandkids would love this!
Georgia from JewelMeShop said 4 years ago
Fun idea! Thank you!
Katrina Dzerkale from Dominna said 4 years ago
...This is so happening on my next girls get-together !
June from isewcute said 4 years ago
How super fun! Thank you for sharing this.
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 4 years ago
This is awesome! Thank you very much for sharing this post, Anda!
Yarn shop from PetiteWool said 4 years ago
Super fun for children! Thank you!
Terry Heimbach from TerryHeimbach said 4 years ago
cool! I've always wondered how.
JOANNA from BUSTANI said 4 years ago
Great idea! Congratulations on the feature!
Madeleine Keller from ThoseGoodVibrations said 4 years ago
this is such a cool idea! I definitely want to do this soon, thanks for sharing!
Sharon from YearsAfter said 4 years ago
That's adorable for kids! Thanks for the instructions. I'm going to try it on my all grown up self!
katy from KisforCalligraphy said 4 years ago
You're the best, Anda!
One Stop Steampunk Shoppe from OneStopSteamShoppe said 4 years ago
Cool! Great tutorial! :)
Heather Hibbs from TreadleTreasures said 4 years ago
THANKS! I work with the teen group at our church and I'm thinking we could have a LOT of fun with your ideas. Maybe we'll have a tattoo and beer party - with root and birch beer of course. :-D
NaturalGlam from NaturalGlam said 4 years ago
Love this??
Kristina from PrimitiveDecors said 4 years ago
Cool idea! Thank you!)
Saadia from SleepingCalico said 4 years ago
This is such a fun idea! I can't wait to try it out with my little cousins. And great tip about setting up a temporary tattoo parlor at a kiddie birthday party.
Kara Willis from KVicious said 4 years ago
awesome i'l have to get me some temporary tattoo paper, I hadn't realized it was a thing. :P
Sujata from TreasuredMemoryLane said 4 years ago
Cool! Now that I know how to do it will try soon. Thanks for sharing.
Krista from adornedsilver said 4 years ago
Wow, this is so cool! My kids will love making these!
Andrii from OakKitchenBoards said 4 years ago
Cool :)
April White from thefeltedfaun said 4 years ago
I'm not sure I really understand these "DIY or Buy" blogs that Etsy has been doing. To me, I see this particular blog as "here is a cheap way to make a bunch of your own tattoos instead of supporting a shop who makes them to sell". If you scroll down, you can see some shop listings of temporary tattoos from $4- $10. I just think DIY posts discourages Etsy users of buying from small shop owners from their own website. Any thoughts on this?
Hibbe Bags from hibbe said 4 years ago
Nice
Arianna Featherstone from HerbNLiving said 4 years ago
wow this is so cool!!!!! I want to make these everyday. Great creative blog post
Ben Haskins from BenAndFury said 4 years ago
Love the Moon Phase.
Tanya Vlahov from GroupPhoto said 4 years ago
These are the cutest things I have ever seen.
Teerasak Borkam from TribalAndHarem said 4 years ago
Great idea! Thank you!
Renee from RandMhandmade said 4 years ago
Such a fun idea! Great for children and adults!
FuchsiaMoon from TheFuchsiaMoon said 4 years ago
Such fun for children and those of us that haven't outgrown childhood! I love it! Thanks!
Hannah Jane from brightloud said 4 years ago
So much fun!!!!
Laura from makeBOLD said 4 years ago
Well, perfect news! Thank you!
little Lia from LittleLiaGraphic said 4 years ago
wow, thank you for sharing! Definitely will try this at home :D
Pure Invites from PureInvites said 4 years ago
........................How cool are these..................... Love it!.............
sijie chong from DolphinTrack said 4 years ago
so cool and funny.like it!