Cracked Porcelain Nail Art

     Originally I was trying to do a marbling technique. After ruining my thumb nail trying to smudge the black lines with isopropyl alcohol, I decided that I liked the cracked design that I had going on.  It reminded me of a broken porcelain doll.  While the cracks are perhaps a little thick up close, they're quite visible from a distance, which I like.  Another nice thing is that you don't need any special nail art tools.  All you need is some nail polish and a Sharpie.  These look great for every day wear, but could also be a nice addition to a Halloween broken doll costume.

The nail art isn't clear here, but I can still see that there's something going on with these nails.  It actually looks kind of marbled, I feel like, although it doesn't so much when you get up close.

Materials:

*Clear nail polish base and top coat
*White nail polish
*Black Sharpie

Directions:

*Paint nails with a clear base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint nails with a coat of white nail polish.  Let dry.  Follow with an additional coat of white polish if needed.

*Once the white polish is sufficiently dry, use a Sharpie to draw cracks on your nails.  Let sit for about half an hour or so.

*Carefully seal in the design with a clear top coat.  I found that the Sharpie smudged pretty easily, although not really much worse than the nail art pen I had smudged when I applied the top coat.  For a less smudgy alternative, you could use black acrylic paint and an ultra fine nail art brush to draw on the cracks.  That's probably how I would have approached this if I had been shooting for this aesthetic from the get go.

Jack O'Lantern Nails

 

Looking for more spooky nail inspo?  These jack o'lantern nails may just fit the bill.  If I were to try these again, I'd probably freehand the faces, but painter's tape is great if you find it difficult to paint precisely on as small of a canvas as your nails are.

Materials:

*Rose gold nail polish
*Green nail polish
*Orange nail polish
*Yellow nail polish
*Painter's tape
*X-acto knife
*Nail polish base coat
*Nail polish top coat

Directions:

*Apply nail polish base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint nails rose gold, except for the accent nail (or accent nails).  Paint those nails orange.  Let dry.

*Paint the tips of each nail green.  For precise lines, you can use painter's tape as a guide, although you will want to let your nails dry for several hours first, so the painter's tape doesn't peel up the paint.  I usually let it dry overnight before applying painter's tape.

*Cut jack o'lantern face shapes out of painter's tape to create a stencil.

*Apply the painter's tape stencil to accent nails.  Make sure your nails have been dry for many hours before you apply the painter's tape, to minimize the odds that you'll peel up the tape.

*Paint yellow nail polish over the stencil and then peel up stencil.  Let dry.

*Apply a clear top coat.  Let dry.

Redrum Nails

We're counting down to Halfoween with some spooky fun nail art.  First up we have these The Shining-inspired redrum nails, which are fun to play with in the mirror.  Whether you're a fan of Stephen King's book, Stanley Kubrick's movie, or the 1997 miniseries adaptation, these blood red letters could be a great nod to The Shining.

Materials:

*Blood red nail polish
*Opaque polish color close to your nail color
*Nail polish base coat
*Nail polish top coat
*Ultra fine nail art brush

Directions:

*Paint on a nail polish base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint on a couple coats of a polish that is close to your nail color to try and make your nails look a little more uniform in color.  You could also paint them a light solid color, such as cream or light blue.  This is just to create some sort of base over which to paint the "redrum."  Let dry.

*Using an ultra fine nail art brush and blood red polish, write out "R" on your left ring finger nail, "E" on your left middle finger nail, and "D" on your left index finger nail.

*On your right hand, write "R" on your index finger nail, "U" on your middle finger nail, and "M" on your ring finger nail.

*Seal with a clear top coat.

Kesha-Inspired Rainbow Geode Nail Art

     Looking for a bright manicure to add a pop of color to your looks?  Consider these rainbow geode nails.  These were inspired by Kesha's manicure in her "Praying" music video.  I followed the same color scheme as her manicure.  I've linked Kesha's music video below in case you were looking for my inspiration.

Materials:

*Black nail polish

*Light blue nail polish

*Red nail polish

*Pink nail polish

*Orange nail polish

*Yellow nail polish

*Gold glitter polish

*Nail polish base coat

*Nail polish top coat

*Ultra fine nail art brush

*Acetone (for cleaning the brush between colors)

Directions:

*Apply a base coat.  Let dry.

*Paint a small, yellow half oval shape at the center of each nail.

*Paint an orange arc around the yellow.

*Paint a pink band around the orange one.

*Paint a red band around the pink one.

*Paint a light blue band around the red band.

*Paint the remaining part of the nail black.

*Add a little gold glitter at the center of the yellow part of each nail.

*Seal with a clear top coat.

Here's what the nails looked like from a bit of a distance:

Up close the imperfections are a bit noticeable, but I feel like at a distance, they look pretty good.

If you like nail art and Halloween, stay tuned because next month I'll be sharing some spooky nail art designs with you as we count down to Halfoween (the halfway point to Halloween).

DIY Wedding Table Numbers

Here is another wedding craft that we didn't get to use.  I've included a video tutorial below.  I made it last year before the world went to heck, and I had much higher hopes for my wedding crafting then.  I never got around to making the SVG files, but I do have some PNG files.

Here are the templates I made.  You'll note that the circular base is not included b/c I didn't get around to making a PNG template for it, but you just have to cut a circle larger than the base of the numbers and cut a slit in the middle to insert the number through.  

DIY Decorative Letters (for Weddings, Parties, etc)

 

Here's one of the crafts I made with the intention of using for our wedding last spring that we did not get to use, thanks to a certain virus.  I was hoping that we would have some sort of celebration this year instead, but that's looking pretty improbable at this point in time.  However, I still wanted to share some of these craft ideas with you, in case you might find inspiration from them for your celebration.  I've included a video tutorial of how I made these glittery letters below.

DIY Stickers - No Sticker Paper Needed!

 

Adorable stickers are one of the surest ways to put a smile on someone's face.  This craft is suitable for crafters of all ages (perhaps with supervision in some cases, as it does use scissors), and you don't need anything fancy to make them.  I've included a video tutorial below, and keep scrolling for a written tutorial.

Also, if you love these cute little foods, Brian designed them.  He sells a pair of leggings with this print on his Etsy store, Wayton Designs.  He has also promised me a dress with this print, so that should be coming at some point in time.

Materials:

*Parchment paper

*Waxed paper

*Designs (either hand drawn or printed)

*Glue stick

*Packing tape

*Scissors

Directions:

*Cut out the designs you would like to use for your stickers.

*Attach a strip of packing tape to a piece of parchment paper.

*Glue your sticker designs on top of the packing tape.  If the stickers are bigger than a single strip of packing tape, you can layer another piece of packing tape immediately below the first before gluing down your sticker designs.  Let dry.

*Use another strip or strips of packing tape to seal in your sticker designs so they are less likely to get damaged.

*Cut around your stickers, leaving about 1/4" of excess tape along all sides.  This will help keep your sticker designs sealed in and minimize the likelihood of damage.  Peel the parchment paper backing off, and your stickers are ready to use.

*If you're not ready to use your stickers yet, you can place them sticky side down on a sheet of waxed paper until you're ready to use them.  The stickers may stick to the waxed paper a bit, but I found that this was a better option for long term storage, as the stickers tend to fall off parchment paper.