Polish In Bloom!!

(Disclaimer:  I am not artsy craftsy in anyway shape form or fashion except for experimenting with my nails!!  The pictures and the words in part are not all mine.  They belong to a very close friend of mine who has authorized me the use of her pictures and tutorial description for this blog's purpose.  If you would like to use this tutorial in any part - I just ask that you ask me so that I can let her know and she not feel as thought I was betraying her trust in me in any way.  Our friendship is valuable to me - and I would hate to lose it over a blog and pictures she entrusted me with for educational purposes only.  Thank you for you consideration and understanding in this matter, in advance - Now, on with the show!!)

Hello there fellow followers! Well. today I thought I'd bring you a treat since the weather has been so beautiful outside and the flowers are blooming and so is nail polish!!  That's right - nail polish is in bloom!!

What you will need and how to make this bouquet of Polish-cicles:

You may already have quite a few of these items on hand at home and if not - most them can be purchased ratherly cheaply.

First you will want to gather all of the supplies you see in the tutorial and then put them all into practice once you have everything in front of you.

At first I thought fine tip sharpies were the best, but they tended to bleed quite a bit. Then I tried it with one of those Flair felt tip pens, and it didn’t bleed at all!

 

 Popcicle sticks: $2-3 dollars for 250 at any craft store or walmart.  Go through the popsicle sticks and throw out the ones that are really rough because the smoother the wood, the less the ink will bleed.

Get a glass container for $1 or $2 at Wal-Mart, Target or a Craft type store.

 

Fill with those little beads they have in the flower section (also only a few bucks) and then watch your collection grow. No watering necessary!  

 

Double sided tape: I have found that the kind with the green on the backing as opposed to the white sticks much better. 

Nail tips: in the largest size available. You can get like 100 online for like $2 or you can get a 25 pack at sally's for the same price. The lower the number, the bigger the size, exactly opposite of pants. I usually use 00, 0 and sometimes 1. The tips work best because they are flater. 

 

I like to use both natural and clear tips because when you want to see the opacity of a polish, the clear ones really help you out on that. You can see how many coats you need for the coverage you want. I use the white when I know it’s an opaque polish.

An acrylic nail cutter.  You can get one for $5-$10 at Sallys. Sharp scissors work well also. 

I like to trim the nail at least a little because there is texture to the bottom and a number on the top and I think it ruins the swatch if you don’t cut it down. I trim a little off each end.  

  

Cut the tape into a strip in half, down the middle.

 

Then you apply the sticky side to the end of the stick long ways.

 Once the nails are trimmed, peel off the backing and apply to the stick. Trim a little more if necessary.

 

Before you paint, write on the stick so you don’t risk smudging the polish when it’s wet or not remembering what it was when you go back to it later.

Then you paint, set on the edge of the table or counter top to dry and then you can add it to your Polish-sicle holder. These are cheap and fun and look quite nice sitting around the house, or at least much better than scattered polish bottles everywhere. Sometimes they are so pretty, I don’t want to put them away!

 Next time you can’t decide on a color, you don’t have to open and swatch every color you have when you are trying to make a decision - just go to your garden and "pick" a flowered polish-cicle of your joice!!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS TUTORIAL AND WILL TRY AND PLANT YOUR OWN GARDEN OF COLORFUL BOUQUET'S AROUND YOUR HOUSE OR IN YOUR NAIL POLISHING AREA!!

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!

XOXOXOXOXO