The 4th of July is coming up in the United States and my kids love dressing up in their red white and blue for the holiday. They are both currently obsessed with temporary tattoos so I decided to try making my own DIY temporary tattoos.
{Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post}This post is for the June “Patriotic” Silhouette challenge but you do not need a Silhouette machine to make temporary tattoos. You do need the Silhouette Printable Temporary Tattoo Paper. The package comes with supplies to create two 8.5 x 11 inch sheets of temporary tattoos.
Supplies:
- Silhouette Printable Temporary Tattoo Paper
- Inkjet Printer
- Silhouette machine or scissors
You can download my free set of patriotic temporary tattoos in Silhouette Studio format here or PDF here. These files are only for your PERSONAL USE. Please note that that since I made these temporary tattoos for my kids, they are sized smaller for kids.
Below are instructions for how to create your own temporary tattoos with a Silhouette machine and without a Silhouette Machine.
Non-Silhouette Instructions:
1. Use the image creating software of your choice to create the graphics for your temporary tattoos on an 8.5 x 11 inch document (or use the free file above). Tip: Printers do not print “white” so any white portions of your graphics will be clear.
2. Flip the images horizontally so they are mirrored from how the final temporary tattoo will look.
3. Print the document out onto the glossy side of the white temporary tattoo paper.
4. Skip down to Apply Adhesive And Tattoo.
Silhouette Instructions:
1. Create an 8.5×11 sized document, go to Page window and select Letter Size under Use Printer Setting.
2. Turn on registration marks by going to the Registration Marks window and select Show Reg Marks at the top of the window.
The registration marks are key for the Print and Cut feature that will be used later.
3. Create the graphics for the tattoos. I created my images in Photoshop and imported them into the Silhouette Studio document. Be careful not to place any designs in the registration mark areas.
4. Next, you have to flip your images horizontally so that they are the mirrored images of the final images that you want. Just select image(s) you want to flip, right click and select Flip Horizontally. You can select one image to flip or all your images at the same time to flip.
6. Load the inkjet printer so it will print on the glossy side of the white temporary tattoo paper. Go to File->Print in the menu to send the file to the printer.
7. Skip down to Apply Adhesive And Tattoo.
Apply Adhesive And Tattoo
1. Remove the small green strip on one end of the adhesive sheet. Line up the exposed adhesive with the corner of the printed temporary tattoo paper and smooth it down.
2. Carefully pull back the green backing a little bit at a time and smooth the adhesive sheet as you go. I used my bone folder from my Martha Stewart Crafts Scoring Board to smooth out the sheet. Make sure there are no air bubbles.
3. If not using the Silhouette, use scissors to cut out the temporary tattoos with a thin border around each image. If using Silhouette, Go to File->Cut Settings in the Silhouette Studio menu. Then select Temporary Tattoo Paper in the Silhouette Cut Settings Window. Next, Select File->Send to Silhouette in the menu. Select Click here to skip printing. Follow the directions to load the cutting mat and then press Continue. Select Detect automatically for the registration marks. Once the machine detects the registration marks, select Cut. Tip: The tattoo paper is expensive so before I use the cut feature on it, I printed the design out on regular paper first. Then I used the cut feature to make sure my machine was correctly calibrated. If the designs are not cut like they are in the document, calibrate your machine. You can find out how here.
4. The temporary tattoos application is the same as for any temporary tattoo. Peel the clear adhesive off the tattoo and place it with the image face down on the skin. Place a damp washcloth on the tattoo for 20 seconds. Peel off the white backing and that’s it!
I just love my fun kids!
More Silhouette Patriotic Projects
My Silhouette Challenge friends and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so check out the projects below for more inspiration! The collage is clickable so click on any project you want to see and you will be taken there.
1. Our Rosey Life // 2. My Mom Made That // 3. The Kim Six Fix // 4. Create & Babble // 5. The Frill of Life // 6. My Paper Craze // 7. Kate’s Paper Creations // 8. Simply Kelly Designs // 9. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 10. Mama Sonshine // 11. Lil Mrs. Tori // 12. Tried & True // 13. It Happens in a Blink // 14. McCall Manor // 15. The Thinking Closet // 16. unOriginal Mom // 17. Sowdering About // 18. Weekend Craft // 19. The Outlandish Momma // 20. Adventures in All Things Food // 21. Practically Functional // 22. Silhouette School // 23. Please Excuse My Craftermath… // 24. Ginger Snap Craft // 25. Pineapples And Pinecones // 26. Black and White Obsession // 27. TitiCrafty // 28. Architecture of a Mom //
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. If you make a purchase through one of those links, I receive a small commission at no cost to you.
