We love the twinkling lights, frosty mornings, hot chocolates piled high with cream and marshmallows. The joy of writing Christmas cards and making your own with family and pet portraits. Christmas is a special time of year, filled with traditions and loved ones.
It seems that you all love it too – from festive food to Father Christmas, we chat to tattoo artists and collectors about their Christmas tattoos and the stories behind them...
Tattoo artist Missi Blue @tattoosbymissiblue
“My life is so hectic and busy all the time, Christmas is the time of year that I’m forced to slow down and take a break. I spend time with people I never get to see, and I just truly enjoy the entire process of gift giving. Shopping, wrapping and seeing the smile on their faces when they open their present. I love creating that Christmas magic for everyone.”
“I think a lot of my Christmas tattoos are inspired by vintage Christmas because it reminds me of decorations my parents and grandparents had when I was a kid. I just love the style of the ’50s in general too, so a lot of my designs are inspired by that time period.”
Tattoo collector Riley @oddfingers
“I’ve always had such an infinity for Christmas from a young age, I’ve recently started collecting vintage Christmas items from the ’30s through to the ’80s and I wanted to immortalise the nostalgia into a leg piece. My tree tattoo is a nod to an aluminium tree, the colours are supposed to represent how the tree is illuminated by a colour wheel.”
“We’re planning to add more vintage items such as Putz Houses, Mercury bead garlands, and vintage ornaments. I haven’t seen the design yet but I have given Angie full reign to do whatever she wants”
Tattoo artist Angie Meuth @angiemeuth
“Riley is my Christmas client, and we’re always giggling when we do their tattoos, they’re just so fun…’
‘I love Christmas too. One of my fave memories from when we were kids, is me and my brothers waking up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve hoping to catch Santa in his sleigh in the night sky. As an adult, it’s more missing what my mom used to do to make it special – like Christmas breakfast and not having to tell her a Christmas list because she always knew the perfect gift. My mom passed away on 22nd December 2021, so Christmas is much harder these days without her.”
Tattoo artist Verity Turner @tattoosbyverityturner
“My client came in asking for a full calf vintage style Father Christmas and wanted him to look joyful and not creepy. We went through a few designs trying to find one, but was hard as quite a few of them look a bit creepy. I really enjoyed doing the tattoo. My client was so funny and so positive, it was a really lovely day and her enthusiasm for it made it even better.”
Tattoo collector Jo, AKA The Berkshire Bungalow
“There isn’t really a story attached to my Christmas kewpie. I just asked Tracy for a Christmas kewpie and this is what she came up with. It was when she was at King’s Cross in London in 2014 and we listened to the Phil Spector Christmas album.”
Tattoo artist Claire Jackson @clairejacksonartwork
“A very good friend of mine got this tattoo. She wears a different Christmas jumper every day in December and has a Christmas tree in every room of her house. I don’t get to see her much as I’d like but I love her and her enthusiasm for Christmas.”
Tattoo artist Melvin Arizmendi (@melvin_arizmendi)
“Thank you @pumpkinbabe13_ for getting this amazing Santa Claus tattoo. This was the best day ever 🎅🏼💕Done @the_hideaway_tattoo 🎁”
Tattoo artist Alena McDonald (@alenamcdarling)
“This is a candy cane for Camila from my flash. I love doing holiday tattoos.”
Tattoo collector Beth Ashley (@bethashleywriter)
“My Gremlins tattoo is by Fran Bailey at Sweet Pea, a cute little LGBTQ+ inclusive tattoo studio in Telford. I got it this year because Gremlins is one of my favourite films of all time and my ultimate comfort watch, so I wanted to have a little tribute to Gizmo. I messaged Fran about wanting a Gizmo tattoo and because they specialise in cartoon tattoos, they took it so seriously and went and rewatched the film to get the sketch as accurate as possible with all Gizmo’s little details!”
Tattoo artist Matt Pearl (@mattpearl)
“My birthday is December 22nd, so all my eggs are in one basket being so close to Christmas. I always get so excited this time of year. Family, friends, blow molds, lights, old gaudy decorations – I love it all! As far as tattoos go, when a customer starts off by saying, “I think you’ll like this!” or, “I know it’ll be fun/weird,” I know it’ll be right in my wheel house. If a customer doesn’t know what to get, there’s plenty of hand painted holiday sheets all over the shop too. At this point, I’ve done 100+ Christmas tattoos, so you’ll be in good hands!”
Love tattoos? Love hearing the stories behind them? Why not read our latest blogs – Ink and Horror: a conversation with horror tattoo collectors and Eat, drink and be merry: our fave food tattoos.
