Make your own Fourth of July temporary tattoos! My free watercolor designs are pretty, patriotic, and ready to use!
Guys. I’m kind of obsessed with temporary tattoos lately. Like I can’t stop making them.
First, I made some for Bunco night, and then I made some crafty tatts for a blogging conference last month. And now, I’m making some for the Fourth of July!
Here’s the thing, guys. It turns out that temporary tattoos are actually super easy to make. All you need is a sweet design and some special paper. Annnnnnd, good news! I’ve got the sweet designs all ready for you, so you are already halfway there. You’re welcome. 😉
These pretty floral watercolor designs make perfect patriotic tattoos. Whip some up for your Fourth of July celebration and help everyone rep the red, white, and blue in style. Ready to make some ?
Fourth of July temporary tattoos Supplies:
- My Watercolor Fourth of July Tattoos Download (Free for Personal Use Only)
- Temporary Tattoo Paper (I have used and like the Silhouette brand)
- Color Printer (Ink Jet and Laser both work)
- Scissors or Cutting Machine
- Scraper Tool or old credit card
The temporary tattoo paper comes with two types of paper: a white piece of paper with one glossy side and an adhesive sheet with a green backing. Start by downloading my image and printing it out on the glossy side of the white paper. Whatever image you print out for your tattoo needs to be flipped to a mirror image for the final tattoo to work correctly. My tattoo designs are already flipped for you, so you don’t have to worry about it with these, but it’s good to know for future reference.
Next, peel off the strip of green backing from the adhesive sheet. Then press that edge of the adhesive down on one edge of the glossy side of the white paper.
Peel off the green backing with one hand while you smooth the adhesive down onto the print out with the other. When all the backing has been removed and the adhesive as been applied to the paper, use a scraper or old credit card to make sure the adhesive has been firmly applied to the entire sheet.
Now you are all ready to cut out your tattoos! You can use a Silhouette to cut the tattoos if you like, but good ol’ scissors work just fine too.
To apply the tattoos, first peel off the clear plastic top sheet. Then place the tattoo image side down on the skin.
Cover the tattoo with a wet cloth or sponge and press it against the skin for about 30 seconds. When the paper is thoroughly wet, gently peel the paper backing off, and Voila! Tattoo!
I designed a few different tattoos that are all available for download. They all have a watercolor look and red, white, and blue color scheme. The “land that I love” tattoo comes in red and blue and two sizes.
I also painted a floral “sweet land of liberty” design that comes in two sizes.
A smaller floral “freedom” tattoo is also included in two sizes.
There are also a few watercolor stars in red and blue. Plenty of patriotic pretties to choose from. Yay!
The Fourth of July temporary tattoos file is for personal use only. Please do not sell or redistribute the file. If you want to share the file, please share the link to this post. Thank you! 🙂
If you make your own Fourth of July temporary tattoos, I would LOVE to see them! Please tag me on instagram or post to my facebook page.
UPDATE! I just added some of these Fourth of July designs to my Society6 shop! I would love if you came by and checked it out.
LOVE these, alexis! They are perfect…girl..you are SO talented. xoxo
That is the best compliment ever coming from you! I’m such a fan of your work! Thank you!
These tattoos looks super awesome Alexis. I use temporary tattoo paper all the time but never thought to create the designs with watercolors. Consider my mind blown. You do great work!
Thank you, Kelly!! You are so sweet!
Love these, girl! They’re so fun!
Thank you, Gwen! 🙂
These are SOOOOO fun!! We will for sure be using them for the 4th. 🙂
Yay! I hope you like them!
I love these tattoos! What a fantastic and fun idea! Thanks!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Persia,
We are having a memorial for my Mom who passed recently, and at every family reunion, we would apply temporary tatoo’s (store bought). I have a photo of a toy helmet that my Mom used to wear with the grandkids and I’d love to somehow make that into a tatoo for everyone….she would be smiling down on us! Is there a way to transfer a photograph onto the transfer paper?? Thanks for any help you can give me!
Denise
Hi Denise! I am sorry to hear about your loss. I think the helmet tattoos are a sweet way to remember her. As for your question, yes, you could definitely do that! You would need to scan the photo into your computer, reverse the image, and then print it out on the paper. If you have someone who has a little experience with photo editing that could help you, it will not be difficult at all. Good luck!
Hi Persia, have you ever tried to use this method to make metallic temp tattoos?
Hi Tayla! I have thought a lot about how to make a metallic temporary tattoo, and I haven’t come up with a method yet. I think you would need metallic ink, and I don’t have access to that. I thought about foiling the print and then adding the temporary tattoo adhesive, but since the image reverses, the metallic part would be facing your skin, so that doesn’t work. I will keep brainstorming, but so far I don’t have a solution. Let me know if you come up with one! Good luck!
Can these be printed on a laser printer? Or does it work best when printed with an injet printer? Thank you!
I have used both inkjet and laster printers with the tattoo paper and I’ve had good results with both. Enjoy!
Hi! These are so cool and I would love to make them but have never made them before. What temporary tattoo paper did you use for this? Thank you!
Hi! I used the Silhouette Brand Tattoo Paper, which you can buy right here: http://amzn.to/1VKvx74 Enjoy!