24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 24: Favorite Manicure

This is going to be a super quick post because my husband has to work tomorrow so we're celebrating Christmas today and the family is coming to my place! Tons to do still! Panic!

Okay, calming down enough to post this. The favorite mani I did for this challenge was the snowman face, but I decided I didn't want to repeat what I had done so I decided to replicate Lexi's at Finger Painted.


I used acrylic paint. I have super cheap stuff and it doesn't dry very fast on my nails so I didn't wait long enough to put on top coat. It smeared. So now it looks like Mr. Snowman has orange snot. Sigh.

Whew! We're at the end of the challenge! I loved doing this so much. It really stretched my nail art abilities, and I've expanded what I can do. I think I'm neater at polishing now, but I've also incorporated stamping and acrylic paint.

I'm off for this next whole week so I'm sure plenty more designs will be posted!

Don't forget to check out these ladies designs, and Happy Holidays!!!!

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 23: Santa

I had a great time doing today's mani. I even did it on my right hand to go all out since there's only 1 more day left!!!

I did Santa skittles on my hands since I had so many ideas I wanted to use and couldn't choose just one!

Here's a closeup of each individual nail. I apologize for what looks like poor cuticles--it's actually top coat that I didn't see for cleanup (it's so hard to see since it's clear!)

On my thumb, I did a base of China Glaze Sea Spray with Sally Hansen Glass Slipper on top so it looks like snow. I love this top coat. Such gorgeous sliver flakies.

Santa's hat on my pointer

Santa's face on my middle finger (again stupid bad cleanup of the top coat)

Santa's suit on my ringer finger

Santa going down the chimney (my poor pinky, the cuticles are not happy, plus there's top coat on them :( 

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 22: Rudolph

So here's the Rudolph mani that I was supposed to do yesterday. Oops.  I was again inspired by Rina at Simply Rins and used her tutorial to do the reindeer face.

I just added the reindeer onto my middle finger because the elf is too darned cute!

I actually did the design all the way down to my tip so what you're actually seeing is Seche pull.  I also added some Essie Shine of the Times on the other fingers. Isn't it gorgeous?

I mean, just look at all those beautiful flakies. Even better is that it was finally sunny so I could take a proper photo of them to show you all.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 21: Elf

So I goofed! I found this awesome tutorial by Rina at Simply Rins on how to do elves. I was so excited about finding and wanting to try that I had completed the mani before I realized that elf today is tomorrow. Sigh. I wasn't going to take it off, so here it is today!

The base is Revlon Blue Lagoon, and the elf was done with all acrylic paint. It's my first time using them, and I really really like it. I was able to get much finer detail this way.

Isn't he adorable?!  Thanks for the great tutorial Rina!

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 20: Sleigh or Sled

I come a new pretty in the mail yesterday, Orly Androgynie,  so I had to use in today's manicure!

First I used Androgynie as the base.  Look how pretty!

I mean, just look at all the glittery goodness!! This is two coats of Androgynie. It's a thinner black so it definitely needs it.

Inspired by this idea from Posh for Polish, I stamped on a sleigh and reindeer. I took forever to get the reindeer to work. Finally, I figured out I was scraping off too much polish and pushed down lighter, it worked! Doh, user error!

Finally, I added in some color details on the sled. In retrospect, I wish I would have left the actual sleigh part white because it looked better.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 19: Santa Hats

I got the inspiration for this mani from Posh for Polish.

After my base coat, I added a thick-ish layer of Finger Paints Sparkle Top Coat.

Next, I mixed together some Savvy Ruby Pumps and Pure Ice Siren to get the red I wanted.  I painted on a rough triangle.  Finally, I dotted on Finger Paints Paper Mache.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 18: Stockings

I chose to do this design on only 2 nails.

I painted the base O.P.I. Cuckoo For This Color. I told you I used it a lot for this challenge!

Then I painted on each stocking with Finger Paints Paper Mache.  I filled in the red using Pure Ice Siren and added mine and my husband's names. I thought about doing 2 more on the other fingers with my dog and cat's names, but didn't want you'll to think I was crazy.  o_0

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 17: Tinsel/Garland

Meh, not my favorite of the bunch.

I was feeling pretty uninspired couldn't find much online. Sorry for the clean-up, it didn't look like that in real life, I swear!

The colors used are O.P.I. Cuckoo For This Color and China Glaze Twinkle Lights.  I've been using Cuckoo For This Color a lot lately because it is a great Christmas green.

I've been messing around with my watermark, what do you think?

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 16: Lights

I really like how this one turned out. My students at school and the lady who cut my hair all commented on it!

Tons of people have put Christmas lights on a wire in various ways. However, I saw this picture with the plug and knew I just had to do it.

The base is 1 coat of Revlon Gold Coin along with 2 coats of China Glaze Blonde Bombshell. All the details are done using my Migi nail art pens.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 15: Presents

I really like how this one came out! I choose non-traditional Christmas colors to have some fun!

I used a different base coat for each but forgot to take a picture of my thumb. I used Pure Ice Siren (red), Sinful Colors Why Not (blue and it stained!!!), Sally Hansen Green with Envy, and Pure Ice Peony.  The white is using Rimmel French White Nail Tip Liner -- I went a bit thick on the red one : ( 

Then I added rhinestones to each present. I really like how this one turned out.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 14: Ornaments

I decided to do a simple design today. I think this would have worked better if I had chosen a different background color.

The base is Wet N Wild Metallica. I stamped using O.P.I. Cuckoo for this Color (green) and Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen in Red Chrome.  I can't remember what plate I used though. I choose to do two on each ornament on the middle and ring fingers and one green/one red on the pinky/pointer fingers.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 13: Christmas trees

So my poor middle finger smudged very badly after I added Seche Vite. Sigh. I didn't have time to fix it, so here yea go!

Look at my poor nails. :(  They've been breaking left and right. I've been using Essie Rock Solid as my base coat and doing everything else right (filing in 1 direction, fine grit file, sealing the nail plate, pushing back cuticles, moisturizing). So I blame stress. My face is breaking out all over the place, too.

This didn't quite turn out like I hoped it would. The base coat is Savvy Ruby Pumps. Clearly, they took their name from China Glaze. It's a pretty nice color, but a bit thin. It's not as glittery as Ruby Pumps. Next, I added in the tree base using Essie Sew Psyched (green) and Sinful Colors Nirvana (brown). 

I added in the details using Revlon Gold Coin. I decided to just make dots instead of trying to draw a star, but they don't quite look right. The sparkles on the tree is Milani Gems, which I believe is a dupe for Happy Birthday.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 12: Holly

Just a super quick post today. I'm not feeling well, and I have tons to do.

The base is Revlon Gold Coin. Then I sponged over Finger Paints Paper Mache. Next I stamped using O.P.I. Cuckoo for This Color and dotted on the holly berries.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 11: Wreaths

For this design, I looked at a bunch that I found on the internet and kinda combined them together.

Sorry for the mess on these! I swear they didn't look so bad before, but then I've been lacking some sleeping lately.

I used tons of colors on this so I'm not really going to list them all here. They're kinda muddled anyways.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 10: Poinsettias

I decided to do a poinsettia as a accent on one nail and then do a poinsettia inspired design on the other nails. The idea looked better in my mind. I do like the actual poinsettia though.

I used Revlon Gold Coin as the base, Pure Ice Siren for the red, and Wet n Wild Black Creme. The rest is a combination of colors that I mixed.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 9: Green & Red

Today's theme is green and red, and I had a hard time narrowing it down!

For the base, I used O.P.I. Cuckoo for This Color and 2 coats. I could have gotten by with 1 careful thick coat.

Then I stamped using Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen in Red Chrome and Bundle Monster plate BM 214.

Here's a closeup of the design. I am getting better at stamping I think!

Here's some others who are also participating:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 8: Candy Canes

Today's them is Candy Canes. I really like how this turned out.

Candy canes

For the base, I used 3 coats of Sally Hansen Whirlwind White.
For the stripes, I used Pure Ice Siren and a small brush to make the thicker stripes. Then I mixed some of Siren with Whirlwind White and Savvy Ruby Slippers to make the thinner, lighter lines.

Here's some others who are also participating in this challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 7: Gingerbread man

Another quick post. It's been a busy few days.

My students really liked this one. They love looking at my nails and always wondering what I'll have on next.

The gold is China Glaze Trendsetter as a base with one coat of China Glaze Blonde Bombshell.

The gingerbread man is made of Sinful Colors Nirvana, Wet n Wild Black Creme, O.P.I. Cuckoo for This Color, and Pure Ice Siren.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 6: Penguins

I have both hands to show you today.

Here's my left hand (the one you normally see).

Male penguin

Sorry for the cuticles on this one. They looked cleaned up better in person. Also, that's not tip wear on the penguin but pulling from Seche Vite.

I used Wet N Wild Black Creme, Finger Paints Paper Mache (white), Wet N Wild Sunny Side Up (nose & feet), O.P.I. Cuckoo For This Color (bow tie and stamping), and Bundle Monster plate BM201

This is my right hand. It's not nearly as good as the other. The female penguin looks wonky, plus my stamping is a bit off, and half my nails are broken. Poor right hand.

I used the same colors as listed above except I used CQ Crimson Pearl for the stamping and hair bow.

Here's some others who are also participating in the challenge:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails

24 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 5: Snowman Face

Just a quick post today.

Colors used:

Finger Paints Paper Mache (3) -- white

Wet n Wild Black Creme

Wet n Wild Sunny Side Up (nose)

L.A. Colors Art Deco 24K Glitter

Here's some others who are also participating:

Paint That Nail

Obsessed With Glitter

Nails and Stuff

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Base Coat Top Coat

KK Nails

Me, Myself, and Nail Polish

My Polish Stash

Finger Painted

Polish, and Makeup, and Cars, Oh my!

My Wet Nails