Moroccan Caravan Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, this part of our Moroccan adventure was a super fun one! We were going on an outing, one that required some coordinating with a friend and had Aiden, Eliana and I hitting the road when they should have been heading to bed. Preston was working, so sadly, he had to miss this field trip.

While doing some research about Morocco I learned that, since Morocco is an Arabic country, they practice the Art of Mehndi. Mehndi is the use of henna for temporary skin decoration, or tattoos. Typically henna tattoos are done for special occasions, such as weddings and other big celebrations. Since we were closing in on our end of the month celebration, I thought it would be a great idea to get our own henna tattoos. I am lucky enough to have a friend who is incredibly talented when it comes to the art of mehndi.

When we showed up at my friend’s house I had the kids in their jammies and my friend along with her sister gave us henna tattoos. The kids did a great job sitting still while they were getting theirs and even while they waited for the henna to dry.

Aiden's henna tattoo.

Eliana's henna tattoo (almost done). 

Eliana's henna tattoo, done.

My friend’s sister did a great job on mine. I was so impressed with how beautiful it looked and how effortless it seemed to be for them to create these designs.

Getting my hand decorated with henna.

The palm of my hand complete.

The top of my hand complete.

When we were done and I was getting ready to pack the kiddos up, my friend gave me the rest of the henna that she had mixed up, so that I could give Preston a henna tattoo also. I felt some serious pressure to maintain a certain standard after seeing how wonderful the rest of ours looked, I couldn't possibly do as well as they did, and I didn't want Preston to have go to work the next day with a henna hack job. 

I think my hands were shaking as I tried to channel my inner peace. I thought, "I will mediate and take deep breaths as though I were doing yoga and the designs will come naturally". Well, as it turns out, I am not a yoga master and the designs did not come naturally. After I had finished I was a little disappointed because it was nowhere near as good as the ones Aiden, Eliana and I had gotten, granted, it could have been far worse but it was lacking the beauty and flow that ours had. 

Preston's palm complete.

The top of Preston's hand complete.

We definitely had a lot of fun with this part of our Moroccan adventure. This was our last project before our celebration and we were really enjoying all things Morocco so far, now we just had to taste the food. Monday I will be sharing the details of our Moroccan Feast!
Until then, I'm curious, have you ever had a henna tattoo done for you? Have you ever done one yourself? If you have done it yourself, were you happy with the results, or did you feel like I did, that maybe you should stick to letting the professionals do it?