festive french mani | Craftynail

Merry Christmas everyone! And if you don’t celebrate Christmas then I wish your day is filled with plenty of good food, family, friends and love! ♥

This manicure is my entry for December’s Nail Art Ideas Linkup. The theme this week is FESTIVE FRENCH MANI and I’m realizing how seldom I wear French manicures!! I free-handed the white tips using a skinny brush and cheap NYC brand nail polish called French White Tip. I could’ve used tape or nail guide stickers, but sometimes that feels like a hassle to me. I did a light coat of a Seche Vite French Manicure color called Chic over top too. This may be my favorite French mani color ever! It’s very transparent but one one coat does the trick. It looks so sheer and natural and it has the slightest shimmer in it which is not even noticeable, but it keeps the nail from looking dull or flat!

I’m happy with my finished frenchie, especially since I painted the white tip a little high to create an illusion that my nails are longer than they actually are. It’s all smoke and mirrors, girls! lol

Now how did I do the little holly design? That’s actually a diy decal that I made last week. I stamped the holly design onto a plastic baggie using black nail polish and my MoYou Festive 03 stamping plate. Then I used some green nail polish to paint over and fill in the holly leaves. I topped that with a few swipes of topcoat and let it dry well. The hollies peeled off the baggie like perfect little stickers. Then I used some tiny scissors –you know those teensy cuticle trimmer scissors that we all have but never use? They are perfect for cutting up decals! I trimmed my holly bunches from three leaves down to two so they’d become smaller to fit better on my nails. I laid the decal on my accent fingernail, dotted some clear polish on top to secure a few red rhinestones, then I topcoated the whole thing. Here’s a shot of both hands…

These Christmas nails are a bit tamer than my usual style! I felt a little bare wearing such a simple french manicure. But don’t worry, I’ve already blinged them up by adding holo glitter that santa left in my stocking. If you give me nail polish, I will be using it as soon as humanly possible. 🙂

WHAT DID YOU WEAR ON YOUR NAILS FOR CHRISTMAS?? Did you go simple like me, or did you wow everyone with your major cray cray nails?

Warm wishes to you and yours- from the bottom of my heart! Talk soon, Craftynail xo

N.A.I.L. Dec Theme 4 – Festive French Manis

December! That festive time of year when you’ll be shopping for gifts, attending holiday parties and celebrating New Years. Better paint those nails nice- you’ll be a social butterfly, whether you like it or not! The holidays have that effect on us, don’t they?

Brijits Digits, Craftynail and Eeeek! Nail Polish! are bringing you 5 great ideas for nail art this December as part of Nail Art Ideas Linkup. Join in with us and you’ll be sporting the most festive of nails! Let’s see what’s on the plate for December…

NAIL LINKUP Dec2013

Theme 1- SNOWFLAKES

Theme 2- SHOPPING

Theme 3- WINTER SOLSTICE

Theme 4- FESTIVE FRENCH MANI

Theme 5- NEW YEAR

Feel free to share one of our December N.A.I.L. graphics on your page. We made two different widgets this month so you can choose your favorite!

As far as nail challenges go, you’ll enjoy the N.A.I.L. Linkup since it’s fun and flexible. No big commitment!

Do one of the weekly themes, or do them all- it’s up to you!
The dates for each week are only suggestions- you can post your nails whenever you want in December.
The nail art ideas/themes are open to interpretation. You can create whatever kind of design you want! Stamps, stickers, acrylics- they’re all game!
We encourage all nail enthusiasts to join in whether you have a blog, FB, IG, Tumblr, etc…
Don’t forget to enter the URL to your nails via the inlinkz below.

N.A.I.L. December Theme 1 – Snowflakes