Feeling Christmasy

 Just thought I'd share some fun nail art for the holidays. Nail art is something that allows me to quell my creative desires when I don't have the time or the energy to start a more involved project. Granted depending on the complexity of the design, it could take a significant amount of time to do the nail art. However I find the process to be soothing and the outcome to be totally worth the time put into it. Anyway I was looking for something fun and Christmasy to do on my nails, after perusing my Funky and Fun Nail DIY board on pinterest I ended up combining elements from a couple different inspirations for my nails (check out my pinterest boards here: https://www.pinterest.com/Cr8tivelyTinker/). It also helped that my mother in law recently got me a gift set of OPI nail polish in many different colors. Can I just say, I'm in nail polish heaven right now!

Here are the nail looks that inspired me, all of these were found on pinterest and can be seen on my Funky and Fun Nail DIY board:

Here's a little step by step so if you're interested, you can do it too. This was pretty easy to accomplish.

Here are the supplies: white, red, two shades of nude, and two shades of green nail polishes; dotting tool and small nail brush. I used the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear clear polish for a base and top coat. I'll explain the use of the nail art pen as I go.

After the clear base coat dried I applied the green and red to my thumb and pinky finger. My index, middle and ring fingers got a coating of a pale nude polish for a neutral background. 

The most complicated part of the whole design is making Santa. To begin you'll divide your middle nail in to thirds, paint the top third with the same red that's on your pinky finger.

Sorry the picture went sideways,  anyway after that red polish dries apply white along the edge. I used a Sally Hansen Nail Art pen but I would recommend using a dotting tool with white nail polish instead (I'll explain later).
You want this line to look like it could be the fluff on Santa's hat.

Now on the bottom third of the nail make essentially a french tip, just take some white nail polish right across and then make some lines of white up the side that go up to the hat. This is forming a beard for Santa.

For Santa's eyes just use a dotting tool to put two black spots,Then use a slightly darker nude polish than the base coat to make his nose, also using the dotting tool. For the candy cane I used the Sally Hansen pen to draw a guide, then carefully painted/dabbed the stripes over it with a tiny paint brush. The Christmas tree was super easy, just get two shades of green and use a dotting tool to make the tree shape with dots. Then use a brush to paint a red star at the top.

 I am absolutely in love with the outcome of this combination of designs on my nails. It is super cute, fun and perfect for Christmas.

 By the way if you don't have a dotting tool that's ok. You can use the rounded end of a bobby pin or even the rounded head of a sewing pin.

 As I mentioned earlier, I used a Sally Hansen Nail Art pen for making Santa's white trim and beard. While I absolutely LOVE Sally Hansen nail polish, the nail art pen isn't so great. After finishing my nails, but before doing the top coat, I washed my hands and all the white paint from the pen washed off my nail (it was dry to the touch so I thought it would be safe). So I had to go back and use my white nail polish instead. So I wouldn't recommend the nail art pen for making designs you intend to have for awhile. It works great as a tool to make lines that you can then follow with a brush over them.


**Disclaimer: I do not represent OPI or Sally Hansen, I was not endorsed by either entity for this post. These just happened to be the products I had on hand.**