Artworks: DIY Tattoo Card

We wanted to think of something really different to tell our daddy how much we love him this Father's Day. Mom suggested hitting one of our Summer Bucket List activities as the same time: DIY Tattoos. Sort of a tongue-in-cheek way of letting dad know how happy we are to be "stuck with him." Mom asked us all of our favorite things about dad and then turned most of those things into a "tattoo" design. Using inkjet printer tattoo paper, she then printed out the images, cut them out, and taped them into a little booklet card. She wrote in a few lines of leading text and BAM, DIY Tattoo Card for Father's Day (yes, the text is backwards on the card, but reading backwards is one of daddy's special gifts). We can't wait to see our ink on daddy!

It's actually a pretty simple project, but it doesn't have to be limited to Father's Day -- you could make tattoos for any occasion or for none at all!

Here's how we did it -- you'll need:

• printable tattoo paper (mom used the Silhouette brand, which you don't need a fancy Silhouette machine to use, btw); 
• black card stock; 
• a metallic pen;
• tattoo images (you can design your own or find them around the internet -- just make sure to "mirror" the image before you print!);
• a stapler; 
• a scraper or credit card (to flatten out air bubbles in the tattoo paper); and
• washi tape.

1. Fold and Staple Card -- figure out how many pieces of cardstock you need to make your card -- we had 9 tattoos, so we needed 3 pieces of cardstock. Fold each piece of cardstock in half and then fit them one inside of the other to make a book. Staple the edges together.


2. Design Images or Find Pre-made Online -- if you can download a font, you can very easily make your own tattoos. There are plenty that have designs and/or are lettered in a tattoo font. You can click here to find some free ones for download.

3. Print Images + Adhere Sticky Paper -- make sure you mirror whatever image you're printing so it goes on the correct way once applied. The Silhouette paper requires you to print the image first, then adhere the "sticky" layer to it. Starting in one corner, peel off the sticky paper backing and smooth it over the images. Use a scraper or credit card to smooth out any air bubbles. It's not the easiest thing to do and mom ended up with some creases -- hopefully they come out OK!

4. Cut Out Tattoos, Tape In Card + Add Text -- mom used ours to tell a story to daddy of all the things we love about him most. You can obviously do whatever you want and change it accordingly for your occasion.

Here's what our whole book says:

"Dad, we're so glad to be stuck with you .... Because: You are Faster than a Cheetah. Always down to Let it Go. Always stick around for lots of Huggy Kissy. Are a Master Wave Jumper. Always TCB. Forever ready for a game of Tackle. The Absolute Best Sea Monster. We Love You Forever, Vegas, Kane, Cami (+ mommy)."

(some are obviously inside jokes with daddy, but trust us, he's going to LOVE it just as much as we love him!)

Mom also embroidered a little "DAD" heart tattoo on a photo of us and framed it -- just to stick with the theme.