Ms

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliate sites.

Small face painting designs on kids can be a lot of fun and so easy to learn. Here’s my story on how I discovered my love of face painting, what designs I started with, and where I first got my inspiration. My hope is that you will be inspired to try this wonderful activity that you can share with your kids, and if you choose, take it a step further and turn this delightful hobby into a profitable face painting business.

Learn to Face Paint Even if You Have No Experience

I learned to face paint on my daughter many years ago without any prior experience painting faces. However, I do know a bit about decorative painting and have been doing that on and off for years. I don’t know if that gave me an edge on learning how to face paint, but I believe the learning curve was shortened because I have some artistic experience.

I’m not sure what made me consider face painting, except that one day, my daughter and I were walking through Michael’s craft store, and we saw a small face painting kit for kids. We thought it might be fun to try. The kit we bought was the Rainbow Face Painting Kit by Snazaroo.

When we got home and opened the kit, we realized there weren’t many designs included. I hopped on the internet and found some small designs that I could copy. To get more inspiration, I checked out some YouTube videos where I also learned some face painting techniques.

After I did all this, I tried my first face painting design of a butterfly on my daughter. I freehanded this one to the right (pretty basic), but you can find lots of butterfly stencils on Amazon if you would rather use a stencil. My daughter thought it was pretty cool so she ran across the street to tell her friend to come over so that she could have her face painted too. Let me just say, the girls had fun that day, and I kept very busy!

Face Painting on Cheeks: A Great Way to Start

I think the easiest way to get started face painting, is by painting small designs on cheeks. The designs can be simple, and painting on cheeks can be done quickly. Ice cream cones are one of the easiest designs I think I’ve come across. I painted this one on my daughter right before we went out for ice cream. You can find many different ice cream cone designs online if you just do a Google Image search for them.

Below are some other ideas of what you can paint on kids’ cheeks that are easy and fun:

Ladybug
Rose
Snake
Spaceship
Flowers
Butterfly
Fish
Spider
Rainbow
Airplane
Cupcake
Ice Cream Cone
Octopus
Flag
Kite
Heart
Cat
Santa
Turkey

Here are some other ideas on my Face Painting Pinterest Board.

Face Painting Small Designs: Where to Find Them

Whatever small design you want to paint, most likely it can be found somewhere on the internet. My favorite place to go is Amazon for their wide variety of amazing stencils such as:

SNOWFLAKE STENCILS

HEART STENCILS

CHINESE SYMBOL STENCILS

SPIDER STENCILS

ANIMAL STENCILS

ANIMAL TRACKS STENCILS

And More!

Inspiration Is Found in Many Places

In addition, you can get inspiration from children’s books, wrapping paper, gift cards, crafts, Pinterest and many other places. Don’t limit your imagination. I actually took an image from a garden decor book and painted that on my daughter’s friend’s forehead. It was a vine with little pink and purple flowers, and green leaves.

Small Face Painting Designs Are Not Just For the Face

You can do some really cool small designs on different parts of the body such as this snake I did on my son’s arm. It’s not a large design. I just wrapped it around his arm and gave it some detail to make it look mean and nasty.

Other places to face paint–er, I mean body paint on kids are the back of their hands, ankles & wrists (you could paint anklets or bracelets), neck, and legs.

Here’s a tutorial on how to paint this snake:

Start Your Face Painting Business

So now you have your paints, and you’ve practiced face painting all different kinds of small designs on your kids, the neighbor’s kids, strangers’ kids–you get the picture! As a result, you think you’re ready for taking your face painting to the next level: Starting your own face painting small home business.

Think of all the places that you can find face painters. These include:

Craft shows
Birthday parties
Corporate events
Fairs
Fund-raising events
School functions

How Much Money Can a Face Painter Make?

In my research, I discovered that face painters can make anywhere between $50 and $150 an hour depending upon their experience, and/or venue. Furthermore, you don’t have to be a great painter to be a face painter. If you can follow directions and learn the techniques in a reference guide, you can learn face painting. Just know that it will take practice and patience. As you get better, you will be able to paint bigger and more elaborate designs. There are also bigger face painting kits on the market to accommodate a face painting professional.

If a face painting business is something you’d like to try to earn some extra money in your spare time, Amazon offers some simple introductory books on how to start a face painting business. The following is a list of books to consider if this business venture interests you:

Since face painting is a lot of fun, enjoying it as a hobby can be just as satisfying as turning it into a lucrative home business!

For more creative ways to earn money at home tips, check out my Pinterest Board, Earn REAL Money From Home !

Want to learn how to set up a blog for your home business? Be sure to check out my post on how to make money with a WordPress blog. I created a step-by-step guide that will help you start a self-hosted blog on WordPress for as low as $3.95 a month AND get a free domain name through my link at Bluehost.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Please know that I only promote products and services that I use, have experience with, and/or have researched thoroughly and feel confident in recommending them to my readers.