Experimental Temporary Pace Tattoo

Screen capture from Taz Running with pace chart specific
to the A2A Half Marathon that I'm running on Sunday. The
pace chart is what the tattoo looks like.

Pace bands from Marathon Guide,
just cut out, cover with tape
and tape it on your wrist.

Since I have two more half marathons this weekend I was looking for some pace bands or cards to use just to see if I'm staying where I should be as far as pace goes. I would usually just print up the pace bands from MarathonGuide.com but came across these temporary pace tattoos in the past. Another site I found for temporary pace tattoos was TazRunning.com where you have the option of ordering a tattoo at a set pace or at a pace that takes into account elevation changes and such (limited to specific races). They also offer you the ability to print out the chart yourself and use it an whatever manner tickles your fancy. I decided that I would try to print one out and make a temporary tattoo. 

 

 Pace Tat

In order to do this I would need some temporary tattoo transfer paper that could be run through my inkjet printer but after doing a search for instructions on how to make a temporary tattoo I stumbled across this site which did not require any specialized paper other than the backing of a sheet of labels. So, I gathered everything I needed: label backing paper, astringent/alcohol to clean the skin, moist paper towel, non-toxic glue stick, scissors and tape (medical or athletic recommended).

My finished product.

Step 1. Find the pace chart that you want to use and save it as an image. Print it out on regular paper first and ensure that it will fit on the area of skin where you want to place it. If it doesn't, resize the image and repeat. Be sure to save the image again when it's the right size.

Step 2. Get ready to print the image. Insert the backer sheet into your printer so that the printing will happen on the glossy side (the side where the labels were).

Step 3. Change the settings on your image (you may have to save it to your Paint program) so that it prints in reverse. Some printers have a "Mirror" setting that can be used instead of Paint.

Step 4. Print the chart. Remember that printers won't print white, so wherever there is white on the image it will be you skin only. Be sure not to touch the chart itself or print anything before you remove the sheet from your printer because the image will smudge!

Step 5. Again...be careful with the image. It is very delicate. Cut out the chart leaving minimal edges. Do not touch the image itself.

Step 6. Clean the area of skin where you want to place the tattoo with the astringent or alcohol. Allow to dry completely.

Step 7. Use the glue stick and apply it in a light layer to the whole area where the tattoo will go. Be sure to have good coverage as this is what will take up the ink from the image.

Step 8. This step is not necessarily needed but would be a wise move. Use the tape to secure the tattoo in place for 10 minutes. During this time be careful not to move the tattoo around.

Step 9. Use the moist towel and simply dab it on top of the tattoo to moisten it. Another option is just to lay the folded towel over the top of the tattoo until the 10 minutes is over. The latter is my preference.

Step 10. When the 10 minutes is over, carefully remove the paper and allow the area to dry completely. When it is dry you will be able to touch the tattoo which will have a slightly tacky feeling. There...you're done!

After a nights
restless sleep.

Now, I wouldn't recommend rubbing the tattoo over aggressively. While it did tolerate light to moderate rubbing I didn't try a full blown scratching or rubbing. I applied this in the early evening and by the time I went to sleep around 11pm it was still fully intact without much special care taken to protect it. When I woke up I found that the tattoo had smeared because I had slept with my arm resting on my chest which resulted in the tattoo partially transferring to my chest. When I got into the shower the tattoo almost immediately washed off with only the water running over it...so this method is probably not something you'd want to try if you sweat profusely. It's currently two days later and I still have a light ghost image on my forearm.

One thing I did have a problem with was finding a backing sheet for labels that wasn't perforated. It seems that almost all labels have perforations that go through the backing sheet as well as the labels themselves. I did find a whole sheet label that only had two perforated lines on the backing sheet, so I used that and just taped the perforations together into one piece.

Ghost image
after shower.

I'm going to try to find some tattoo transfer paper for my inkjet printer, but I've not had any luck yet. I may end up ordering online as I'm just crazy enough to try every method before deciding whether to buy the professionally made tattoos or not!

Now, just to let you know. The ink never really dries on the backing paper. It's now 3 days later or so and I accidentally touched some other charts I had printed at the same time and the ink smeared all over the place. So, needless to say, I won't be using this technique this weekend. I'll probably just be using the trusty pace band unless I can find the special tattoo paper and find that tattoos made with that last a while.

Just call me...Crafty

No sew tutu for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, Jan 2012

I finally got around to making the no sew tutu that I'm going to wear while running (or walking if I'm still not cleared to run) the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland in January.

I loosely followed the instructions on this blog making changes where I felt that I needed to. I had never worked with tulle before and let me tell you, it took me a while to figure out how to handle the stuff! Once I did figure it out though things went much smoother. Here are the steps that I actually did to make my tutu:

Supplies - 
5 yards of shiny purple tulle (88¢/yd)
2 yards each of shiny lime green, shiny red & shiny orange tulle (88¢/yd)
1 roll of 2" purple ribbon ($1.98)
Tape measure, ruler or yard stick
Scissors
Note: This was way too much tulle for what I wanted. I used all the purple, all the lime green and only 1 yard each of red and orange. I'm taking out some of the strips because I don't want it as full as it is, but if you want a fluffy tutu by all means use it all!

Steps -
1. Fold each piece of tulle in half so that selvage is as even as possible.

2. Cut into smaller sections if needed. (I cut mine down to easily handled 1 yard sections.)

3. Cut to desired length or simply trim selvage so that it's even. I wanted my length at about 15" so I cut my tulle at 16" from the fold which allows for 1" in the waistband.

4. Fold the tulle in half along the length (selvage to fold) and repeat until it gets to a width of 3-4".

5. Using your measuring device and scissors cut the folded tulle into strips at a width of 3-4" wide. Save the two end strips as standbys since they tend to be a little uneven.

6. Measure the length of ribbon needed to tie around your waist. I suggest leaving an extra 6" on each end which you can trim as needed when you're done making the tutu.

7. On one end of the ribbon at approximately where you want to tie the tutu on your waist (leaving a tail) tie a knot. You'll use this as a "stopper" of sorts for the first tulle strip.

8. Tie the ribbon snugly around the back of a chair so that the tulle will hang loosely after tying it on.

9. If you will be using more than one color, determine the layout of how you will spread out the colors and put the strips on in that order. Alternatively, you can do what I did...which was to put the dominant color on first, then determine where the other colors will fall within that. For mine, I put the purple on first, then determined that I'd use all the green and place it before every third purple strip. From there I decided that I'd put a red strip between every other set of purple strips and orange in all the other strips.

10. To apply the strips hold the fold in front of the ribbon waistband. Reach behind the ribbon and pick up the ends of the tulle and pull it through through the loop created by the fold of the tulle. Pull to desired tightness...I'd recommend leaving it just loose enough that you can slide the strip to adjust if needed. Slide to the knot in the ribbon.

11. Keep applying the strips as above until you either run out of strips or feel that the tutu is as full as you want it.

12. Try the tutu on and make sure that there will not be a gap of tulle when you tie it on. If there is a gap, you'll either need to add more tulle or spread out the tulle on the ribbon. The fewer tulle strips and the further spread out the strips are, the less fluffy the tutu will be.

13. At the point that you want to tie the ribbon closed tie a knot in the ribbon after the last strip of tulle.

14. Finish off the ribbon however you want (cut off the end in whatever design you prefer).

Now, I'm not quite happy with how the waistband looks because I don't every piece of ribbon covered up with tulle since I don't want it extremely full. So, here's a tutorial out there as to how to wrap the waistband (based on a child's tutu) using 7/8" ribbon to make it look cleaner so that's what I'll eventually do...that'll also help to maintain an even spacing between each piece of tulle.

All in all when I look at what I actually used of the supplies, this tutu cost less than $12 to make and less than 2 hours to put together (including the time it took for me to figure out how to work with the tulle). Not bad for someone who does not have a crafty bone in her body!! lol!

I am now all set "costume"-wise for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Now, I just need to be able to run and train again!! :D