33 Cute Small Tattoo Ideas That You’re Going to Want to Steal

Are you thinking of getting your first tattoo? Cute small tattoo ideas are a good place to start because they are, generally, not a huge commitment when it comes to cost as well as the amount of pain you will endure. Small tattoos prove the perfect dainty detail for your body. Many ideas are all about creating the maximum amount of cuteness and we hope you are here for it!

Cute mall tattoo ideas come in all shapes and colors and there’s little out there that a seasoned tattoo artist can’t miniaturize. Whether you are attracted to small tattoos because they are easily hidden or simply just want a little detail, you have come to the right place! We have rounded up dozens of cute small tattoo ideas for you to look over to get a better sense of what options are available to you. We are here to tell you that the sky’s the limit! Scroll through the images below to find the best cute small tattoo ideas for you!

Baby Butterflies

How about theIt’s a very small tattoo that makes a big impact because of the delicate line work. Take a closer look and you will see tiny hearts floating around the creatures. So cute!

Wing Details

Tattoos with lines this fine are typically done by hand not by using a tattoo gun. The method is called stick and poke or hand poke. Isn’t it just glorious?

Cute Little Birds

Simplicity is bliss, and these three birds are singing the right tune. It’s such a cute small tattoo that manages to catch the eye while still being tiny.

Feeling Fruity

Fruit, everybody loves fruit! This pretty peach almost matches the skin tone it’s tattooed on. Fruit is one of the best cute small tattoo ideas as little fruits always read as sweet and adorable.

Spice Is Also Nice

This hot little tattoo is giving us pepper envy. We love this little red chili tattoo. It’s so lively and fun. As you have now seen, food items are excellent cute small tattoo ideas.

It’s Time for Some Adventure

This minimalist airplane tattoo accompanied by its flight path is really fun. For adventurous travelers and individuals with wanderlust, this would be an ideal option.

An Ode to the Night Sky

Of all the celestial bodies, the moon is the most personal to us. Because she lights our night skies and helps us keep our calendars, moon tattoos are very common small tattoos.

Live Your Beach Life

Wow! This little palm tree makes us want a vacation! For lovers of sun and sand, a palm tree tattoo couldn’t be any cuter.

Start a Little Fire

We’re not saying we know this for sure, but we’d bet the person with this tattoo was a boy scout. For people who love camping and spending time in the great outdoors, small tattoos will work for you too!

Cheers!

Wine us down! We love this teeny little glass and the small hearts just above it. Turn your passions into cute small tattoo ideas and you will walk away with a design that never gets old.

Show Your Pet Some Love

A mini portrait of a dog makes for such a sweet and sentimental small tattoo. We love the shading work on this little pup.

Mind the Maple

This beautiful maple leaf tattoo has the most vivid, warm color. Do you think the person that got this beauty likes poutine and maple syrup? For cute small tattoo ideas, pick a leaf from your favorite tree to get tattooed.

Cool and Calming

This black and white small tattoo of a koi fish is so impressive. We love how detailed and fine the fins of the fish appear.

RELATED: 33 Gorgeous Small Rose Tattoo Ideas

Dynamic Dino

The brachiosaurus stood 5 stories tall during the Late Jurrasic period. This small tattoo dinosaur is, let us check our math, 1 million times smaller.

Take Flight

Paper planes always ignite the imagination and inspire play. They make for cute small tattoo ideas that celebrate your inner child.

We’re Ready for This Jelly

Calling all jellyfish lovers! Take a look at this pastel design with its haunting tentacles. All sea creatures are great cute small tattoo ideas but this jellyfish might be one of the best on this list.

It’s a Bun, Hun

Shocker! Really cute animals make for really cute small tattoo ideas. Take a dose of cute in the form of this sweet-looking bunny rabbit. Take a look at those little whiskers. Magical!

Buddha

These impeccable hands manage to delight in simple black and grey. This is so delicate. The hands are meant to represent Buddha and if you are a spiritual person, consider cute small tattoo ideas that nod to your faith.

Going Nuts

We, here at MU, love a food tattoo so naturally, we were attracted to this amazing little coconut. The little fibers give this design some vérité with a touch of whimsy.

Get a Slice

You saw the word “jelly” earlier in reference to the jellyfish, and you might have wanted to see actual jelly. Small tattoos never disappoint and we knew we could count on finding the sweet stuff in tattoo form!

Feeling Lucky

Ladybugs have been considered good luck for a very long time. If one lands on you, you are guaranteed months or years of good fortune. That makes it one of the most ideal cute small tattoo ideas out there.

Zesty Citrus

We’re big fans of Dev Hynes who performs under the name Blood Orange. It’s actually the reason we were so attracted to this small citrus tattoo. Fruit is your friend, folks.

Let Fine Art Inspire You

Botticelli’s Venus meets Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in this imaginative tattoo design. If you’re a fan of a couple of artists, we encourage you to share that with a tattoo inspired by their work.

Positive Affirmations

Mental health tattoos are an extremely popular genre of tattoos. This gorgeous sunflower design is the perfect reminder to always love yourself.

Red Ink for the Win

Red ink is wise for cute small tattoo ideas! Check out this burning crimson heart. Did your own skip a beat?

Pick the Right Shape for Your Placement

Ankle tattoos are wildly popular as you can still show those babies off in a pair of flats, sneakers, or heels. This very simple snake design that wraps around the spherical ankle looks incredible.

Charming

A lucky charm or object that means something special to you are also great things for small tattoos. We find a shamrock here that looks extra fortunate.

Creativity Is Key

Wow! Have you ever seen a tattoo so small look so neat? We can see notches in the key as well as other design features despite it being no bigger than a needle.

Dark and Stormy

Wow! How moody and delightful is this small tattoo of a cloud? It looks so evocative and ethereal making it one of our favorite tattoos on this list.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 50 Amazingly Small Tattoos That Make a Big Impression

Beautiful Botanicals

How precious is this cute small tattoo with tiny flowers? We love the use of color and how balanced the overall design is. You can’t go wrong with a nature-inspired tattoo and we encourage you to think of them while you are mulling your cute small tattoo ideas.

There you go! What did you think of these cute small tattoo ideas? We hope you found some worth considering and that you are ready to contact a tattoo artist to help you realize your vision. If you’d like even more cute small tattoo ideas, keep reading! We also have a bunch of small tattoos of animals to share with you!

Check Out These Small Animal Tattoos for Ink Inspiration!

Micro Pup

Pup portraits are in high demand these days and we saw many of them among the small animal tattoos people are getting today. If you’ve got a furry friend, celebrate him/her forever with your very own pet portrait!

Beautiful Butterflies

Butterflies were another huge trend among small animal tattoos. Here, we find delicate and small ones done in crisp, black ink.

Fur Babies

Cat portraits and “cattoos” are another huge hit among small animal tattoos. We found a ton of little kitties decorating people’s bodies. Here are two small tattoos of cats with a lovely blue background for each.

Itty Bitty Bears

We find a koala and panda bear on these ankles! Who doesn’t love these super cute bears? To get the kawaii look think cartoon over photorealism.

Pretty Penguin

Just a black line and some delicate shading result in one of the most understated small animal tattoos on this list. Artists sometimes refer to designs like this as “single line” and you can discuss it with your tattoo artist in those terms and they will likely know exactly what you mean.

Mini Stork

If we had to place a bet, we would wager that this micro tattoo of a crane was applied using the stick and poke method to be able to pull off this much minute detail. Bravo!

Roar!

Here’s an Asian-inspired tiger design that finds one fierce little face in a small package. Convey big emotions in your small animal tattoos and you won’t regret it!

Two Fish

For a Pisces, we find two little fish done in black, grey, and white ink. Small animal tattoos can be for a love of nature but also they can symbolize other ideas and meanings.

Lovely Ladybug

For instance, ladybugs are a sign of good luck. Here’s an impressionistic one that is so stylish and unique. Get creative with your tattoo artist and your small animal tattoos will stand out for all the right reasons.

One Sophisticated Snake

You can add detail to your small animal tattoos by incorporating a pattern or floral scene like the one above that’s housed in the body of a snake. It results in an incredibly detailed and sophisticated look.

Zesty Zebra

Here’s one of the most original small animal tattoos on this list. We find a beautifully tattooed zebra but there are strange squares that seem to magnify the design beneath in some and others filled with black. How fun!

Dreamy Turtles

These turtle tattoos look like they’re floating on air. Equally dreamy and ghostly, these small animal tattoos really dazzle in soft grey that’s been expertly shaded.

Octo-Love

Does this creep you out? We are torn on how we feel about it so, naturally, we’ll let you be the judge. Two octopus tentacles forming a heart symbol is rather unnerving but it does look great!

More Turtle

Of all of the small animal tattoos we surveyed for this list, we saw more butterflies and turtles than any others. These shelled creatures are capturing a lot of hearts and imaginations. A rainbow-colored shell really puts this tattoo over the top!

Cute Little Pig

Well, this is just tender. We find a very minimal pig tattooed in peach-colored ink with little black arches for eyes. It’s one of the small tattoos on this list that feels nostalgic and childlike.

RELATED: 25 Precious Pet Tattoos That Will Warm Your Frigid Heart

Watercolor Wow!

Watercolor small animal tattoos are big business! We saw a number of them as we researched animal tattoos for this list. Here’s an excellent example that’s a little bigger than the rest but you could pick and choose elements you like from it to make it smaller and all your own!

Yeehaw!

We did not know we needed to see a horse in cowboy boots. But, it’s one of our favorite small animal tattoos on this list. Whimsical, playful, and full of offbeat energy, this tattoo is certainly a winner!

Precious Bun

Wow! This portrait of a bunny rabbit is one of the most stunning on this list of small animal tattoos for the level of detail that’s been included. The fur is so textural that it looks like you could “pet” it.

Cartoon Tiger

On the other end of the spectrum, you can go with a more cartoonish look and have some real fun with color. How cute is this little tiger playing in some flowers? For your small animal tattoos, keep things simple to expedite the tattooing process.

Pretty in Pink

Here’s a handsome flamingo that has a really subtle ombre effect that gives a great overall effect. Birds are so aesthetically pleasing that you can almost never go wrong with them for tattoos!

A Cheese-Loving Rascal

Here’s a raccoon with some cheese, because, why not! Take a look at how clean and crisp the lines on this tattoo are. The whiskers are so small that it’s a wonder to marvel at.

Micro Giraffe

There are small animal tattoos and then there are micro ones. Micro tattoos really are hot today with many people choosing to go photorealistic with their tiny designs for even more novelty.

Curious Rabbit

Eeeep! How cute! This little rabbit tattoo looks like it was pulled from a children’s book illustration. Emotive and expressive, this is definitely a standout among the other small animal tattoos on this list.

Cute Chick

We expected to see more chickens than we did but we did stumble across this beautiful bird that’s tattooed in a neo-traditional style. There are no bells or whistles, just a straightforward design that really pops.

The Hopper

Here’s a neon-colored grasshopper for all of the weirdos out there! While we are not huge fans of bugs, this one caught our eye with all of its glorious detail and color. Go off the beaten path in your creative process to come up with original designs with your tattoo artist!

Take a Sip

Here’s a beautiful little hummingbird tattoo. The wings have been so delicately applied that they give the illusion of movement. It’s one of the small animal tattoos on this list that we can see a great many people opting for.

A Pet Portrait

Here’s another cat portrait for you to feast your eyes on. It’s been expertly tattooed here and definitely lands in the photorealistic bucket for us. Find yourself an artist with a robust portfolio and you could walk away with something as truly breathtaking as this ink.

Tiny Snail

Here’s a cute little snail on a branch. For your small animal tattoos, you can stick to the basics and still end up with a fantastic design that you will cherish for a lifetime.

A Horse, Of Course

Here’s a pretty portrait of a horse. Yes, even large beasts can be taken down in size for small animal tattoos. This evocative design really pops out at you thanks to the diamond-shaped frame.

The Other Tiger King

Here’s a stylish design that you could pare down to a size that suits your tastes. We love all of the ornamental elements of this tattoo including the unique crosses and the detailed crown. Roar!

Pair of Poodles

Here are more of those “single line” tattoos that we discussed before. These poodles are very simple but they look smart and clean.

Back to Black

We love the original style of this small snake tattoo that packs a bold punch with solid shapes that have been uniformly filled with color as opposed to a distinct shading technique. We think it truly pays off and looks unlike any of the small animal tattoos on this list.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 25 Darling Dog Tattoos That Will Give You Paws

Fancy a Cup?

What’s a bird without wings? In this surrealist design, we find a bird that has human arms and hands instead of them. It’s imaginative, mysterious, and dreamy. We said it before but we will say it once more: get weird! It’s fun.

There you go! Aren’t these small animal tattoos just terrific!? We hope you feel inspired by these designs and have a better idea about how you want to go for your next tattoo. Whether you are getting a design inspired by your pet or simply ink that celebrates wildlife, there is no wrong way to go about it! Just make sure the design expresses your point of view and mirrors your own personal style. Happy tattooing!