Halloween Tattoo Art - Is That A Bat Or A Snake?
Written: Oct 12 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of designs to color, non-toxic markers.
Cons: Not too keen on having my kids covered with globs of ink and messy images.
The Bottom Line: If you need something to keep the little monsters busy, this might just do the trick. But be warned, the designs look much nicer on paper than on skin.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Halloween Tattoo Art Books |
A few years ago I received a very nice gift basket from my insane neighbor Jane [the reformed soccer mom]. She know what a fanatic I am about the Halloween season and took great pride in creating a very ‘bootiful’ [beautiful] basket that included candy, assorted bat items and a few very cool books. She said she couldn’t resist this one since I am also interested in tattoos – so she was basically killing two birds with one stone.
Not wanting to test this book out I handed it off to the brood to test drive. From what I can remember they were pretty thrilled with the fact that I was allowing them to cover themselves in tattoos albeit removable ones. Just because I have a few tattoos and work with people in the tattooing industry doesn’t mean that I endorse that for my children. When they are old enough if they wish to get a tattoo they’ll have to hear my lecture [and not the five minute one] about how tattoos are for life [and please, don’t tell me about tattoo removal – you are still left with a scar]. Even so, they grabbed the book, ripped open the plastic packet and started to color like there was no tomorrow.
Some of the images that are provided in the book are the usual run of the mill Halloween items – pumpkins, bats, gravestones, moons and ghosts. There are several large scenes of haunted houses, pumpkin patches and even a cartoon version of Dracula. The pictures are detailed but not so much so that it is hard to color in. If they were overly detailed you would lose a vast majority of it when you went to transfer the image to skin. When the boys ran out of designs that they liked – or more importantly – designs that they wanted to put on their skin – they took regular paper [laser paper if I remember correctly] and drew their own festive scenes on it. These didn’t work all that well but they had fun trying to write their names and Happy Halloween backwards.
The Markers
With this book you receive five non-toxic markers in the following colors: dark green, black, dark blue, red and orange. The three dark colors sort of mix together when you try to adhere it to your skin so you might want to use those colors sparingly. The red and orange are nice but there really isn’t much of a color difference between them once you press it to your skin and transfer the image [well, try to transfer the image that is]. The markers are a nice size and are easy for kids to use. If you have a lot of markers around you might want to take some masking tape and write the words “tattoo markers” or something similar on the tape – then apply the tape to the marker. This way you and your children will know exactly which markers are which.
Transferring The Images
If you have every applied temporary tattoos then you will already be familiar with this process. Simple take the image that you have colored in and press it – image side – against the part of the body you wish to apply it to. Take a damp – but not soaking wet – paper towel and rub over the backside of the picture. This could take up to about 15 seconds depending on the size of the picture and how wet your paper towel is. You can peel back the paper and see how much of it has transferred over but you run the risk of getting a blurred picture when you go to reaffix the paper. This works best if an adult applies the temporary tattoo since most kids won’t give the colors enough time to transfer over.
The Finished Product
Well, this is where I am torn. They boys were extremely proud of their temporary tattoos however I wanted to scream when I first saw them covered nearly head to toe in marker. Some of the images transferred well and others turned out looking like huge black and blue marks. Their own creations turned out nice but they used too much water on the paper towels and the images were a little distorted. Overall they had so much fun with coloring the pictures and then applying them to themselves and each other that they really didn’t care what the finished product looked like. It was something that they created and were extremely proud of.
Clean Up
This was the true test of how “easy to remove” the ink was from the skin. After about ten minutes of scrubbing about 95% of the marker was removed from the brood but there was some left over ink that was almost impossible to remove. The ink near their fingernails was there until they took a bath or shower and that came off completely. The marker that they got on their clothing came out completely but I did have to wash two shirts twice and use a prespotter on them the second time around. If you get the marker on clothing try washing it first without using any type of stain remover. If the stain is still there after you remove it from the washer [remember, don’t throw it in the dryer] then try a stain remover.
The Bottom Line
As far as the brood – they were thrilled to pieces with this book, the markers and the designs. They loved the fact that they could take something that they colored and turn it into a tattoo. Some parents might frown on this and think that they are giving their children the wrong impression about tattoos or that it just isn’t appropriate. In my honest opinion, I have to say this – they are kids. They aren’t going to hop on a bus and find a tattoo shop, pick a design off the wall and plunk down their allowance and get a tattoo.
I’d suggest this for kids ages seven through twelve but the publisher suggests an age range of eight through twelve. This would be great for boys or girls but I think the girls would do better with something a little more delicate like the Barbie Halloween Tattoo book or even the Scooby-Doo Tattoo You Halloween Book. If you are having a Halloween party these would be great to have on hand as an activity providing the parents of the children are aware that this will be taking place.
Stats
Name: Halloween Tattoo Art
Published By: Troll Communications
Author: Bonnie Zacherle
Pages: 65
Age Recommendation: 8 - 12
ISBN: 0-81673-2825
Price: $ Gift
[$4.99 suggested retail price]
Wishing you a safe and ghoulish Halloween!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2002 Freak369
Recommended:
Yes
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