Face Painting 101 or How I Got Started As A Children's Entertainer

It all started with a yard sale. See, we had just moved into our new place in Springfield, MO not long before, and my mother was getting rid of some of our excess stuff when some kids came by with their parents and started touching everything in sight.

Now this usually wouldn't be a problem, but mom had out quite a few breakables, and she was starting to get really nervous.

The delicate balance between protecting the fragile sale items and offending the customers came to mind, and as she searched for a solution in her mind, her gaze came to rest on me. I was doing what most kids my age were wont to do and staying out of the way, hoping not to get called to duty carrying something. I forget now what exactly I was doing when she uttered the phrase that would change my life forever, but I do recall what she said when she called me over to her; "Please do something to keep those kids out of the breakables.". I quickly jogged my brain for things that little kids liked to do... physical play and games were out of the question, card and board games would take so long, I was at a loss.

Then came the ephinany! I had paints and brushes in my craft stuff, and all kids liked face painting... So I set to work painting a few simple designs around the edges of a write-on wipe-off board I had, and wrote "Free Face Painting" on it in the center. Immediately they came, and they rotated through the line over and over again, getting decorated on every bit of exposed skin from face to hands, even knees, and each one had to be dragged from the line by their parents as they left.

This continued throughout the day, and many parents insisted on giving me a tip as thanks for "entertaining babysitting" while they shopped. That's when I discovered that this could be profitable. I'd had a blast all day long, and despite my sunburn and soreness, I knew I had found something that would stay with me forever. Time went on and I painted at fairs, carnivals, schools, churches, radio station events, birthday parties, and more. For several years, I spent a month twice a year for three straight years, calling every church, school, and radio station in town offering my services, and my business grew. My equipment became more complex, and my designs more elaborate, but I was still just the "Pace Fainting Lady". I was interviewed in the local paper, and at just 19, was featured on the front cover of the local business magazine.

The rest, as they say, is history.