A simple guitar string or even a pen, just a few small household items that are causing big problems in the tattoo world.

More and more tattoo artists like those at Lure Tattoo and Piercing are hearing of consumers taking the ink into their own hands.

"It definitely is a problem," says owner Scott Dennis. "The dangers of trying to do a tattoo without any experience or education is obviously different diseases and blood born pathogens and things like that."

Diseases such as hepatitis and HIV are two of the biggest concerns, along with skin infections.

Tattooing can be a dangerous business without the proper education.

Using household items can greatly increase your chances of getting a disease, but folks at Lure say the internet is becoming an even bigger problem.

"People, once they have a machine, they think that instantly they're a tattoo artists," says Dennis.

Buying a tattoo machine online or from a magazine may seem like an inexpensive and easy way to get some ink done, but Dennis days leave it to the professionals.

"Every employee here takes seminars on infection control, blood born pathogens, sterilization techniques, cross contamination. We even take anatomy."

So before you breakout the guitar for anything other than music, think safety first.