Henna!

QUICK!

Michael Buble is serenading me in the background....

The 'environmental control units' (box and ceiling fans) are blowing on high...

I pop a few morsels of power food (M&M's) into my mouth,

and my rainbow sarong, (tied in a new creative way thanks to pinterest) is giving me that extra little creative boost.

Do you know what this means?!

It's time to get stuff done! It's time to blog!!

So here goes...

Guess what I did this past weekend?!

I got THREE TATTOOS!!

........

Henna tattoos that is. :)

Now, some of you may be asking 'what is henna?'

I'll save you the effort of googling it and give you a brief description.
Henna is a plant, who's leaves, when crushed and mixed with a mild acidic liquid (ie lemon juice, strong tea etc.) to create a paste like substance that will temporarily stain the skin.

Henna art, or henna tattooing, is a cultural practice in India and other Middle Eastern Countries. They do some extremely intricate, beautiful work! Do yourself a favor and google THAT!

For years I have wanted to try henna myself, and this weekend a friend and I made a Spa Day of it (clay masks, scrubs, nails, the works) as well as some henna art!

Here are some of our creations!

My little sister (pink) and Me showing off our footsies!
We made these designs from some designs we found
online. I made the one on my foot, and my
girlfriend did the one on my sister's!



Little Sis proudly showing off
her arm henna.

A close up of her arm, done by
yours truly!



Sadly, the design is already lightening and
wearing away, but you can still see
the vine and flower art my girlfriend gave me!

Even my mom got in on it! I gave her a bracelet design. This is what
the henna looks like as it is drying, before being scraped off
to reveal the brown stain beneath.

I made this design up from a combination
of other designs we found, I think it turned out gorgeous!

Sadly, my girlfriend and I forgot to take pictures TOGETHER before she went home, so I don't have any to post of the ones she had, which turned out great as well!

I was nervous when we first started, I'll admit, even though the dye isn't permanent. Depending on how well it it taken care of, how long it is left on and treated, it can last anywhere from 1-3 weeks.

But, I gotta tell you, once we got started (and we were doing this at 1 o'clock am!) it was hard to stop!

To see flowers, vines and swirls emerge from a mud like black mixture was so much fun! There was a moment as I was working on my friends tattoo, diligently attempting to recreate the image I was copying from an online template/design, that I thought, 'wow, how much fun is this?! I wonder if this is how a real tattoo artist feels like as he sees his work materialize in front of him?" :)

So there you have it. Henna tattoos, it was ubber fun! I think I am hooked! Gonna be getting me my own henna kit soon.

Give it a try!

~Me~