About

Cost
$ $ $ $ $
Difficulty
• • • • •
Time
30 mins

Wow your friends and family with super-cute holly and flowers!
This is my first How-To Project, please let me know if you thought it was as awesome as I thought it was!

Usually I'm somewhat Grinchy around Christmas, but I guess tonight the holiday spirit filled me! My nail base is a standard Fiberglass wrap enhancement, and I didn't do super awesome on making those look cool, so I decided to throw something on there to distract. :)

The finished product shown is my left hand (done with my right hand). The how-to is my right hand (done with my left hand)...I'm not left handed, so it shows! Sorry! Also--I listed nail art pens, but if you rock at life and can use polish and a toothpick, go for it!!

Hope you enjoy!

Posted by Jesi! from Loveland, Colorado, United States • Published See Jesi!'s 3 projects »
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  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 1
    Step 1

    Grab your favorite base coat. This will make your nails look shiny and pretty. I used NailTek Moisturizing Polish Optimizer.

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 2
    Step 2

    Okay, now grab your green color. I use Nubar pens, because they rock. :)If you are especially gifted with a toothpick, go for it. :) A note about nail art: when you're doing something little and fancy, wipe as much excess polish off as you can and use that little brush like a hovercraft. :)

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 3
    Step 3

    Make your first holly shape. I did holly on all fingers except my middle finger, but you roll how you want! To make this shape, I just made two wide V shapes, one inside the other. Then I did a little line in the middle. You can Google images of holly if you hate mine. :)

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 4
    Step 4

    Okay--another note about nail art. Let your polish dry before trying to add other stuff to it, otherwise you will smear polish everywhere! I'm an impatient little monkey, so I use OPI Rapid Dry spray in between all the steps. I would steer clear of polish-type quick dry stuff, because you don't want to suffocate your nail.

    So spray that holly shape and make sure it's dry!

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 5
    Step 5

    Grab your brown polish and make a little line in the center of your holly.

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 6
    Step 6

    Pretty, no?

    (SPRAY!)

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 7
    Step 7

    Find your red polish. Sorry for low-quality pictures, I'm aware the red looks like brown. It's not, I promise.

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 8
    Step 8

    Favorite thing about Nubar pens--they have this sweet little dotter. Use that or your awesome skill and make some little berries. :)

    (SPRAY!)

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 9
    Step 9

    White! This is SUPER cool, but you HAVE to get as much polish off that brush as possible. And hovercraft that baby!

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 10
    Step 10

    I think the white adds just enough pizazz! Holly done!

    (SPRAY!)

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 11
    Step 11

    So I was going for a poinsettia here, and whether it looks like a poinsettia or not, I dig it. :)

    Grab your red again, and make some petals. :) I do it this way, just because I hate outlining with black first...seems too easy to mess up!

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 12
    Step 12

    Fill 'er in!

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 13
    Step 13

    Black = scary. Be careful to keep that line thin. Get as much excess polish off as you can, and hovercraft that little brush. Careful!

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 14
    Step 14

    Okay. So black was fun! Just kidding about the scary part. Go ahead and outline your petals (if you want to do that first then fill them in, go for it). I also added a little vein in the petal.

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 15
    Step 15

    Alrighty. Go get your green again and add some leaves behind the petals. I did kind of like with the holly, but only one little V shape.

    Throw some of that green down in the center of the flower as well. You can use the dotter if you want, but I prefer to dot with the brush for stuff like this. It looks less structured. :)

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 16
    Step 16

    Yellow! Fun :)

    Remember to hovercraft your brush. Very lightly go over the nail. If you have a bunch of polish on that brush, you're going to glob it all over the place. Remember my pointers, grasshopper!

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 17
    Step 17

    Okay. Throw some yellow dots (brush dots, not dotter dots!) over the green in the center. Just to spice it up a bit.

    I also added some brown to the leaves in the back. :)

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 18
    Step 18

    See, now this is what happens when you don't hovercraft your brush! Very light, very small, and almost no polish!

    Throw some white on thurr to make it look like snow!

    *My left hand is pictured above. The step-by-step was all done on my right hand. I'm not left-handed, and I think it shows :(

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 19
    Step 19

    Top coat, top coat, top coat!

    This will keep your nail art intact for a lot longer! I used NailTek Moisture Balancing Top Coat.

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 20
    Step 20

    Finish off with some cuticle oil, just one drop at the base of each nail (on the cuticle!) Keeps your fingers looking pretty. No one likes ugly fingers with pretty art!

  • How to paint a nail painting. Holiday Nail Artsy Fun! - Step 21
    Step 21

    Don't be afraid to wipe it all off and start over! I use OPI's Clean Up and Correct pen, and it rocks my face. Without that thing, I would have given up nail art a long time ago!

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Comments

hello julia
hello julia · Mission Hills, Kansas, US · 1 project
i love it!
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Sailorshame
Sailorshame · 11 projects
how sweet!!! x3 thanks ypu so much for the tutorialHappy
(=^O^=)
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