valentine's day

Valentine's Day is one of the easier holidays to figure out a paint job for.  Five different pink polishes and a glitter heart sticker - done.  Super easy and really fun.  Bonus - I finally got the heart sticker on straight and center.  I went with a matte top coat to give the already busy paint job a bit more of a mellow feeling.  Plus, the polish on the ring finger has a bit of a glitter undertone to it.  With a gloss top coat it really stands out.  With the matte - nothing.

OPI - Kola Beary, Short's Story
Sinful Colors - Dream On, Easy Going
Sally Hansen - Fuchsia Power

happy thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope everyone has a great day with family and/or friends.

Hope that all your turkeys turn out perfectly and there are no accidents with a deep fryer.

And that no marshmallows catch fire when trying to heat up the sweet potatoes.

China Glaze - Sugar Plums
Sinful Colors - Lets Meet, Exotic Green

halloween swirl

I have always wanted to try a water marble but the mess and daunting clean up have kept me away.  Enter the toothpick!  It doesn't have the clean grandness of a perfect water marble but it does have a fun swirl and marble.

It is very easy and rather fun.  It just takes a little bit longer to dry.  But I would rather wait an extra 5-10 minutes of dry time vs dousing my cuticles in acetone to remove the overage.

So how was this done?  Just lay down the base coat (clear) and let dry.  Figure out which colors you want to use (I used four - two orange and two black) and open all of them so they are easy to access.  One finger at a time -  paint the base coat with any of the four polishes. Quickly drop a couple of drops of polish on the nail of the different colors (1 drop of each, at least two colors).  The more colors, the smaller the drops.  The smaller the nail, the smaller the drops.  Quickly use a toothpick and swirl the polish around.  The polish will be on the thicker side so it needs to dry a bit before even applying the top coat.

I am so happy the way this turned out.  I am definitely going to be trying this method again with some other colors.

OPI - Deutch You Want Me Baby?
Sinful Colors - Courtney Orange, Secret Admirer, Black on Black

easter eggs

I wasn't sure what paint job I wanted to do for Easter.  That is until I drove past the local park and saw a bunch of kids getting ready to do an Easter egg hunt.  Light bulb.  Easter egg nails.  Super easy and won't be sad when I have to take them off Monday.  Just picked through all my colors and got out all the pastels that didn't have a glitter or shine to them.  And then I went a little crazy.  I like some of them but really dislike the pinky.  I also went with a matte top coat since most decorated eggs do not have a nice shiny finish (something about being super toxic).

Sinful Colors - Innocent, Why Not, Unicorn, Rise and Shine, Feeling Great, Easy Going, Amethyst
OPI - Do You Lilac It?
Wet & Wild - Sunny Side Up
Sally Hansen - Mint Sorbet, Sun Kissed

st patrick's day gradient

I own very little items of green clothing, so in order to avoid getting pinched (St. Patty's Day) I went with green nails.  But just solid green wouldn't do.  So I went with a gradient on four of the fingers and a pot of gold on the thumb (really just solid gold glitter).

I figured out an amazing trick for gradient paint jobs.  It worked perfectly.  I'm always heasanta about gradient because it gets all over your fingers.  Then, I was gluing something and got some white glue on me.  It dried and peeled off so easily.  Light bulb!!  What if I used the white glue around my nails.
*more after the jump*

pink hearts

Pink, pink, hearts, and some more pink.  I caved and did a girly Valentine's Day paint job.  I went through all my plates and pulled all the ones with hearts.  It turns out there are a lot of them, especially in those little side decals.

*more after the jump*

holiday challenge - we wish you a merry christmas

Last day of the holiday challenge is going out with a bang, 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.  Another theme that makes me start singing in my mind:

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;

Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer

We won't go until we get some;

We won't go until we get some;

We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas;

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I bet you are singing it in your head now.  Sorry.  Well, I really don't know how to do figgy pudding nails, or even a cup of good cheer.  I just went with the general Christmas theme for this paint job.  Not even the whole Christmas theme, my favorite parts of Christmas.

Candy canes:

Twinkle lights:

holiday challenge - santa clause is coming to town

Day four of the holiday challenge is 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'.  The first place my mind went is to the song of the same title.  Particularly a few lines:

He's making a list,
Checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town

These lines inspired my left hand:

And then some other lines:

With little tin horns and little toy drums

Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums

Santa Claus is coming to town

These lines inspired my right hand: