holiday challenge: deck the halls

The third holiday challenge day is 'Deck the Halls'.  It is pretty hard for me to say 'deck the halls' without also saying 'with bells of holly'.  I don't even know what the means.  What is a bell of holly?  Is it the holly term for a cluster of the holly berries?  So bells of holly were going to be my main theme of this paint job.

 When this time of year rolls around and the holiday parties start, there is always mistletoe.  I might avoid it at all costs.  It is sort of like an awkward adult version of spin the bottle in which spiked egg nog comes into play. 

I also wanted to do an accent glitter nail because it's the holidays and glitter is always a good thing.  So, glitter thumbs it is.

The mistletoe is really easy to do.  It might not look like mistletoe but I like to think of it more like cartoon mistletoe.

All you need is a tiny brush, dotting tool, toothpick (to pick up the rhinestones), and rhinestones.  Just brush around with a very tiny amount of dark green polish.  Let it dry, and repeat with light green.  Keep doing this until you like it.  It has to dry between coats to get the depth and color effect.  If you don't let it dry, it mixes together and creates a green blob.  I had to learn that lesson the hard way.  I used the dotting tool to create three wet spots to stick the rhinestones.

The holly is almost the exact same process.  The leaves are just a little different.

Just paint a line, then cross the line a couple of time (+++).  Then use the dotting tool to fill in, but remember to leave the pointy bits on the edges.

 

**My cuticles are awful right now.  The combination of winter in a really dry & cold climate and I just started knitting.  It is so hard to knit with stuff on my nails (rhinestones & studs) because it makes the yarn jump and/or catch.  So this paint job won't last long.

OPI - Got the Blues for Red, Gettin' Miss Piggy With It
Sinful Colors - Tokyo Pearl, San Francisco, Exotic Green, Last Chance
Sally Hansen - White On
Vernis - Diamond Salad

Check out these other great 'Deck the Halls' paint jobs: