Make Your Own Nail Decals

With the invention of the Internet (yes kids, I'm old enough to remember the time before the Web) and places like Etsy its now easy to get all sort of nail decals in whatever shape or color you want. But you can make them at home with things you already own in just minutes depending on how difficult the design you pick. Since I'm cheap I like the whole "make them for free" concept and I figure a few of you are like me in that regard. I'd first like to apologize for the poor quality of the pictures, I've got a nasty cold and am pumped full of sutafed and ibuprofen right now so I wasn't being as careful as I normally am. The drippy nose wasn't helping either.

For this you will need:

• Parchment paper
• Clear top coat
• Dotting tool or very small paint brush
• Nail polish in whatever colors you want to use your design

Cut a square of parchment paper out and hold the corners down with whatever (extra polish bottles work well) if it curls up. Take your clear polish and place a layer down in a square big enough to cover your nail. Since clear coat is well...clear, I've drawn a square on my parchment paper to show you where I'm working. Once it dries do a second coat, you don't want your decal to ripe later.

Once that dries its time to make your design. Parchment paper is translucent so if you want you can put a picture of your design under the parchment to act as an aid in your painting, or you can free draw it. Put dollops of the colors you need on the paper, this makes dipping your dotting tool or paint brush into it way easier than wiggling it into the bottle. 

I'm making a bat, because its Halloween...duh. It can be helpful to stick your finger by your design periodically to make sure you aren't going to big. For my bats, I'm starting with an oval shape for the body. I'm using the smaller end of my dotting tool to help keep my design small.

Next I drew in my wings. A smooth curve for the top and two points for the bottom.

Then a dot for the head and two little spikes for the ears. And that's your basic bat shape. You can add white dots for the eyes and two little lines for the teeth if you want. Don't worry about sealing it with top coat, you'll do that when you apply them. And for that you'll have to come back for the next Mani Monday.