I wouldn’t call myself a commitment-phobe, but there are a few things I have trouble committing to:
- opinions (Unless it has something to do with my as-yet-in-progress personal moral code, I probably don’t have an opinion at all.)
- items of clothing (I still have a blouse in the closet with the tag on it because I can’t decide if I look like a giant peach in it or not.)
- paint colors (Our walls– with the exception of one small room that was Easter bunny green– are all the same colors as they were when we moved in.)
- tattoos (I’m not sure I like anything enough to have it permanently marked on my body.)
I have no solution for any of these except the tattoo one. Because Pinterest taught me how to make temporary tattoos.

Image from WikiHow
All you need: parchment paper, a gel pen, and a wet cloth.
Well, and I guess you also sort of need an idea for a tattoo. Now, I know what you’re all going to say. Whenever I have to draw something, I usually default to penis pictures, but I really had no idea how permanent this thing was actually going to be, and I have to make appearances in public this week, so I wimped out. I’m truly sorry.
Instead, I went with the thing that I have been drawing on myself since like middle school.
Yup. If I ever did get a tattoo, it would be a purple fucking daisy chain, because I am just that badass. And where, you might ask, would I get this tattoo? Perhaps as a “tramp stamp” or a “skank flank” or even a “tit tat?” No, darling readers, for that cannot be drawn on in class surreptitiously when you are in the 8th grade and supposed to be learning social studies but the stupid girl who sits behind you keeps kicking your seat and throwing things at you and you would really rather just crawl under the desk and DIE than ever come to class again, but you can’t, so you distract yourself by drawing fake tattoos on your hand.
Oh.
Ahem.
I was a dark tween.
Anyway.
I could not take a picture of the actual washcloth part because both hands were full, but you get the idea.
TADA!
Er… Well, that’s sort of the idea, in a blurry, smudgy way.
I decided to try a simpler design on flatter skin, just to see it that would improve things…
Creepy, but technically improved.
In the name of science, I decided to do a quick test on the “permanence” of the tattoo, so I rubbed out Mr. Smiley… Um… That sounds wrong, but… whatever.
Alas, Mr. Smiley was not to be.
But could I erase the fucked up purple not-badass-at-all daisy chain?
Nope. That one was fairly permanent.
So, lucky me, I’m stuck with a temporary-ish stupid-looking tattoo on my hand, which is only marginally better than having one on my face. I guess I can be thankful for that.
43 Comments
Well….it wasn’t a total loss so maybe since you took the time I will try one!
I think NOT going with a purple penis picture along the length of your thumb was the correct decision. Just sayin’…
I guess if you’re gonna use the term “rubbed out” it’s best that it wasn’t a penis.
you’re wrong. it would have been incredibly hilarious if it had been a penis.
I’ve often toyed with the idea of a tattoo. Something simple like an on/off switch at the nape of my neck covered by my hair. I think that is hilarious. Like you I can’t make up my mind with something so permanent. I also can’t get the imagined picture of me as a 70 year old with saggy wrinkly skin and a blurry, distorted, droopy butterfly on my droopy, wrinkly breast. I can’t wait to see some of these hipsters with tattoo sleeves when they are old. Yuck. Just google old people with tattoos. Although once you do its not something you can unsee.
How often to old people look that great anyway? Just sayin. If you have droopy, saggy, wrinkly skin then it’s hardly going to look any better without tattoos. haha.
Amen to that. I have two tattoos, and they may be distorted and ugly when I’m 60, but if I’m a gorgeous flower of my youth still then will power to me and science.
Not that I was ever a gorgeous flower, but more like a rambling weed. However, for the sake of comparison imagine a gorgeous flower with tattoos.
Not that you know, I was ever a gorgeous flower. More like a rambling weed, but for the sake of comparison imagine a gorgeous flower. With tattoos.
Oh, bugger.
I like what Pinterest did there by over-complicating this task. Sharpies do the same thing, but are less likely to be inadvertently “rubbed out.” Just ask a drunk college kid who just drew a penis on the face of their drunkenly passed-out friend.
My kids will love this. No penises. They’re 5.
So all girls then?
I think I see a bird in that last picture, lol.
nail polish remover gets everything off 😉
Nail polish remover does nothing for me…
Rimshot.
If you’ve spent that long trying to decide of you look like a giant peach in it, you look like a giant peach in it. Now go return that peach shirt and make sure to show the workers your nice daisy chain tattoo. More than the Internet deserves to know. Africa should know also. That is all.
*if
So um . . Why not just draw directly on the skin? this process is like sorting your laundry before you wash it. Unnecessary. I’m serious when I say that we’ve never sorted our laundry in my house and we’ve never had any problems. Maybe it’s because we buy cheap clothes that don’t matter.
Let us see the peach blouse…we’ll decide…we can be trusted…
Rubbing one out… I laughed. A lot.
Me too!
So no badass hearts with the badass flowers then? That was an opportunity missed. You could have repinned it as a valentine temporary tattoo. fabulous.
When I was 15,I got high and woke up the next day with an unfinished four leaf clover on my right shoulder. It left a scar, and was permanent. I eventually paid over $800 to have it taken off, but the scar was still there. This past year, I finally covered it up with a seriously bad ass tattoo of the greek goddess I was named after, as an art nouveau side profile in full armor. Trust me, temporary daisies is less complicated, in the long run….
the pen in the original pin does not look like a gel pen. Also, why not just draw directly on your skin? I’d be more impressed if it was a picture you pick off the internet and you could temporarily tattoo that. I’d get Shemar Moore.
I guess this is one of that kind of pins which are made for being found by the pintester. Some kind of …. trap!
Sigh, I guess this is one of those “super cheap mom saves money buying her child the occasional 25 cent temporary tattoo out of the grocery store machine by making 10,000 temporary tattoos with just one roll of parchment paper and one pen” kind of pins?
Isn’t a daisy chain the female version of a circle jerk?
nope…it’s a guy thing. its when a group….ya know what you can google it
I did. We’re both right. Although, it can go both ways.
Its more of a eating each other out circle.
Source: I majored in Lesbian in undergrad.
I appreciate the purple daisy. Why? Because when I was 18 I thought a purple daisy was badass enough to permanently mark on my back…my mom still thinks it just looks like a funny shaped mole , I agree.
This looks like a project for when I’m drinking alone and terribly bored with my own company. Thanks for the idea.
The fist in the first half of the last picture (where it’s divided off to show your version) looks like he or she is gripping for dear life. It’s just a fake tat, dude.
I thought of you when I saw this image on pinterest
Well…I didn’t make up the term. It’s not a new term either. You can be sad all you want, but the reality is that lots of terms have a duplicate meaning.
I didn’t think you had made it up. I’d heard it used that way before I ever saw the real deal flower chain in action. I totally get why it works for the other thing. I just thought people might want to see how beautiful an actual daisy chain is because they are not so common anymore, and I only happened to see one because the college kept up this out of date tradition.
OK. I apologize for my snarkiness.
I love your blog. I love your readers and their comments even more. Write a book please. I will buy five copies.
[…] I want to thank you all for your advice on how to get rid of my “temporary” tattoo. […]
After looking at the original post, I don’t think they did it the way they said they did. What they drew on the parchement paper and what ended up on their arm do not look the same at all.
When I saw the original pin for this I knew it was fake right away. If you look at the horribly drawn spikey pattern the person drew then at the magically clean, crisp clear image you can definitely tell that it’s not the same image. Plus if you look closely you can see that shiny texture and boarder that a rub on tattoo has. I’m so glad you busted this crap fake pin, it was really getting on my nerves! Lol
[…] 3. DIY Temporary Tattoo […]
I hate to say this, but transfer tats just look fake fake fake. If you want something that looks totally realistic using a different technique, I recommend another example of a temporary tattoo technique using stencils and an airbrush on Youtube called Temporary Classic Style Tattoo Sleeve Application. It’s from an amazing designer and body artist
named Gwen Davis. Check it out – it’s really cool! http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvC5OXjkEo2hhdO82s5vo4GuLqkimAT7b