Christmas Nails

Cool Christmas Nails
by Joanne Elliott

Are you ready to have some fun this Christmas?! Well why not get a few girlfriends together for a night in with pizza, soda, and prepare for the festivities with a nail party! No matter how old or young you are, anybody can make these entertaining ideas sophisticated and glamorous. And the best thing is, none of these suggestions will break the bank!

Christmas Nails Party Ingredients:

• Your favorite friends, your mothers, your younger sisters, even your great great grandmothers� the more the merrier!!
• As many types and colors of varnish as humanly possible� get rooting around in your closets (this is also a good way of forcing yourself to have a quick clear out!)
• Lots of clear or translucent nail varnish.
• A hairdryer that can go at a low heat.
• Beautiful sparkling glitter, permanent marker pens, an old firm sponge, card, scissors, nail glue feathers, sequins, etc etc.
• A table or surface which you can all fit around� which won�t be ruined if things get a little messy!
• Tissues and varnish remover... just in case.

Now use these design ideas as a starting point... I expect you to get even more inventive as you go. Be brave! Be bold! Go wild!!

Glitter Chick

Design your own glittery nail varnish. This one�s really easy. Choose a �base� color, and paint your nails with one coat. Then immediately sprinkle glitter onto the surface of the wet varnish! You can use any color glitter that you want. Or why not go for a rainbow effect, or try to draw on stripes with the glitter? Use the hairdryer to ensure that the nail varnish is dry. Then finish the effect with a thin coat of clear varnish� this will �seal in� the glitter, and also stop the glitter from being scratchy. (A surefire way to ladder your tights!)

Seasonal Stencils

Why not try to cut out seasonal shapes in thick-ish card to make a stencil? You could try snowflakes, stars, snowmen etc etc. Once you have made the stencil, simply lay it over the nail in the desired position. Then take your varnish brush, and remove the excess polish. (This should stop the varnish from oozing under the stencil and spreading everywhere). Now dab at the stencil until you have built up a solid block of color. Remove the stencil, et voila! Sensational seasonal nails in seconds!

Serial Stamping

Get your old firm sponge and cut out tiny shapes to use as stampers. This can be quite fiddly, so it�s probably better to use simple shapes like circles and triangles. Paint your nails (with a flat base coat, or use any combination of ideas). Once the base is dry simply paint the sponge with the varnish and stamp the nails. If the effect doesn�t go to plan, why not try �stippling� your nail with the sponge to give a sort of misty, blotchy color effect. (N.B. This will only work so long as the varnish is smooth in the end. Pitted or lumpy varnish will just look bad!)

Crazy Lady

If you�re feeling a little eccentric, this one will be right up your street! Why not stick cool things onto your nails?! Paint the base color as bright as you want. You can even use a combination of techniques like stripes or dots to create a really bold effect. Then take some nail glue, and carefully stick things like feathers or festive star shaped sequins directly to the nail. You can co-ordinate these with your outfit, jewelry, or hair slides, and guarantee that everybody in the room will be looking at you!

Funky Freehand

If you�re not really artistically inclined, you may well regard this one as �The Master Class�! Try blending colors of polish directly on your nail. You could use stripes, dots, or even make up your own funky freehand patterns. Now if you really want to go to town you can wait for the varnish to dry, and then �work into it� (as my old art teacher used to say!). Take a permanent marker and draw onto the top of your nail. You can get much more attention to detail if it is a fine-liner, even down to the fact that you can do a dotty pattern exactly around a nail varnish circle. Just make sure that you give your nails a final coat of clear varnish when they are dry. Even permanent marker can smudge on varnished nails you see�!