Hello everyone and welcome to my instructable!
Within this instructable I will be teaching you the basic skills to design and create your own Henna tattoo. Henna tattoos usually last for two weeks and can be applied as a paste. Before following this instructable you should consider talking to a dermatologist as the Henna paste contains a special component, which can cause skin irritations. To find out whether you are allergic to this component by placing a small drop of the paste on your hand and wait for any reactions.
Once you have completed this test you can now read through the instructable and learn how to create your own henna tattoo.

Step 1: Preparation

Before I will go into further Detail about designing and creating the Henna tattoo there will be a little bit of preparation needed. First of all you will need to find a large and illuminated table where you can work on. You will then need to make sure you prepare some newspaper or other kind of protection for the table, as henna is very aggressive and will permanently stain the material. Next you should gather the following materials on the table.

Materials List:

− White paper (for the design)
− Henna powder/prepared Henna-paste (Picture 2)
− Water
− Paper tissues
− Black Fine-liner
− Henna Stick/ Brush
− Newspaper (to protect the table)
− Pipette/ dropper
− Cellophane

Step 2: Preparing the Henna Paste

In case you bought finished henna paste you will not need to read through this section. If you have bought henna powder there is one small step you will need to complete before using it. Take about a teaspoon full of henna paste and place it in a small bowl (The bowl might stain). Next take a glass of water and a dropper. Soak up water with the pipette and drop it onto the powder. After about 5 drops you should stir the mixture and check the consistence of the paste. If the paste is too creamy add more water and then let stir it. Let the paste rest under cellophane for about 5 minutes. Now the paste is ready for the skin.

This is just an expmple of a different henna tattoo being created:

Step 3: Designing the Tattoo

Before you randomly put henna paste onto your skin you will need a design on paper which gives you an outline of the tattoo. There are a fiew basic patterns, which can be combined to form one final tattoo. I will show the most important features and then later combine them in a larger pattern. Ofcourse the features can be veried and repeated as desired and form diffeent kinds of tattoos.

Flower (Picture 2): The first basic feature is a kind of flower, which is made up of different layers. Draw a colored out dot surrounded by a circle. Then place small half circles on the outline of the circle. Outline this shape. Now draw the petals of the flower onto the previously drawn line. The petals are rounded squares with a small indent on the outer line. Place a small “V” in each petal.

Farn Leaf (Picture 3): The next feature is a kind of fern leaf. To do so, draw a curved line leading away from the flower into the direction of the thump. Add tear shaped mirroring leaves, which get bigger in the middle.

Pattern (Picture 4&5): This is a basic filling pattern, which can be used to cover larger surfaces. The large pattern is made up of very simple features. Place a tiny dot close to the line and surround it by two outlines. Repeat this feature until the surface is filled up.

Twirl (Picture 6&7): This is a very simple feature as you will just have to draw a line ending in a spiral. The end of the spiral ends in a tear-shaped drop. Once the large twirl is done you should add a smaller spiral at the bottom of the large twirl. This is an exact minimized, mirrowed copy of the large twirl.

Corner Flower (Picture 8): This is a second form of flower in henna style and is placed in corners. Its base consists of a solid block inside the corner, bulging out in a half circle. This bulging part is outlined with a line covered in half-circles. Now the petals are added, which are round instead of square and an additional line is added to the "V".

Outlines (Picture 9): This is a very important aspect of henna tattoos as the outlining brings unison into the tattoo. Every feature is outlined with atleast a single line and mostly half circles are added to the first outline. After the whole tattoo is finished it is important to check whether all of the features are actually connected at atleast one point.

Step 4: Creating the Tattoo

As it will be easyer and clearer to follow my steps on paper I have used a pen and hand-outline to demonstrate the creation of the tattoo. (Picture 1&2) To make it easyer I have explained each step in detail and there are also pictures on which you can see what to do next. Good Luck and have fun!

Once you have everything prepared everything choose a point in the middle of your hand. Now place the first flower from the "Design step" on this place. Flower: The first basic feature is a kind of flower, which is made up of different layers. Draw a colored out dot surrounded by a circle.(Picture 3) Then place small half circles on the outline of the circle. Outline this shape.(Picture 4) Now draw the petals of the flower onto the previously drawn line. The petals are rounded squares with a small indent on the outer line. Place a small “V” in each petal. Now outline the whole flower and place small half-circles along the outline.(Picture 5)

Once you have finished the flower, outline the whole feature again. (Picture 6)

Now you have the center of the pattern and will be placing more features around it. The next feature is a kind of fern leaf. Fern Leaf: To do so, draw a curved line leading away from the flower into the direction of the thump. The leaf will be pointing towards the thump and can also go onto the finger. Add tear shaped mirroring leaves, which get bigger in the middle.(Picture 7) Outline this fern leaf and add half circles to the outline. (Picture 8)

Now you will create a second leaf-like feature. Pattern-Leaf: Start off by creating a outline for the pattern.(Picture 9) Now fill in the dot-line-line pattern. Pattern: this is a basic filling pattern, which can be used to cover larger surfaces. The large pattern is made up of very simple features. Place a tiny dot close to the line and surround it by two outlines. Repeat this feature until the surface is filled up. (Picture 10) Once the whole shape is covered add an "half-circle" outline to the shape.

Next you will need to add a twirl leading away from the flower into the direction of the little finger. Twirl: This is a very simple feature as you will just have to draw a line ending in a spiral. The end of the spiral ends in a tear-shaped drop. Once the large twirl is done you should add a smaller spiral at the bottom of the large twirl. This is an exact minimized, mirrowed copy of the large twirl.(Picture 11) Outline the spirals using the half circles.(Picture 12)

As you may realise you have created a kind of gap between the twirl and the patterned shape which can be filled up with a "corner flower". This is a second form of flower in henna style and is placed in corners. Its base consists of a solid block inside the corner, bulging out in a half circle.(Picture 13) This bulging part is outlined with a line covered in half-circles. Now the petals are added, which are round instead of square and an additional line is added to the "V". (Picture 14) Again outline this shape and you have completed the henna tattoo. (Picture 15)

Step 5: Finishing Off

Now you have drawn the tattoo on your hand using the henna paste you will need to let it dry for about half an hour. To make sure the color has really gone into the skin you can extend the drying time to an hour.
When this time has passed by it will be easy to peel off the dried paste from the skin and if neccesarry you may need to rinse off any leftovers using water.
Congatulations you have now successfully created your first henna tattoo!!