Themed Christmas Nails!!

So, I thought I'd have some fun with nail designs for Christmas! My friend Emily was flying home to southern California for the holiday, so I thought it would be cute to do some Christmas palm trees for a SoCal Christmas!!

To start with, after a Beauty Secrets base coat, I did two coat of China Glaze For Audrey. On one thumb, I did one vertical line of Finger Paints Bronze Sculpture, and on the other thumb I did two vertical lines of the same color bending toward each other. These were the trunks of the palm trees. Then I used Finger Paints Sketch N Etch to draw in the leaves of the trees and outlined them with Nina Black and a very thin brush. I also used the thin brush and the black to do diagonal lines down the trunks of the trees which would turn into light strings. Under the trees, I painted a couple presents just by doing small squares in one color and then painting a thin ribbon on them. On the rest of her nails, since they were short, I just did the same Christmas Lights pattern that I've outlined in a previous blog, and then did tiny dots of colors down the palm trees as lights as well.

And there you go! A SoCal Christmas!

No, for my own nails, since I'm spending the holiday at home with family, I wanted to do a New Mexico Christmas! Which means chili ristras and adobe buildings and snow!

I also started out with China Glaze For Audrey (isn't it just the perfect color for a blue sky??). Then I used Finger Paints Hip Hip Hue-Ray (you can use any white polish) and a small piece of a make-up sponge. Using tweezers to hold the piece of sponge, I dipped it in the white polish and dabbed it along the tips of my nails to give the impression of snow on the ground.

Then I used Sinful Colors Under 18 and a small flat brush to draw chili ristras on every other nail. I did this starting at the top of the ristra (at the base of the nail) and building downwards with short strokes so that individual chilies could be seen.

 I then used Nina Black and a thin brush to outline the individual chilies, and voila! Classic New Mexican chili ristras!

 The next step was to make the adobe buildings. For this, I mixed together Nina Shiny Penny and Finger Paints Bronze Sculpture. They didn't really actually mix, but it worked well enough! I then used a small flat brush to paint a rectangle along the base of the snow, and then a smaller rectangle on top of that. I outlined each with black and then added a door and some wooden posts using the Bronze Sculpture and a small brush and small dotting tool.

I then used the sponge to dab a little more snow along the front base of the buildings, like it had recently built up, as well as a tiny bit on the roofs. (I'm still not sure if I shoulda added the snow to the roofs but oh well). I then decided I wanted falling snow, so using a tiny dotting tool, I made several small white dots and then, after they had mostly dried, I did a coat of my Beauty Secrets top coat, going from tip to base, to drag the tops of the dots a little to make them look like they were falling. 

 I think I should've waited a little longer before adding the falling snow 'cuz some of the other colors dragged with the top coat as well, but you live, you learn!! Anyways, hope you enjoyed my themed Christmas nails!!

Happy Holidays!