Presents (Manicure) for All!

Hello and welcome to this week's Mani Monday! Its the Monday before Christmas so I thought a present manicure would be perfect. This uses the Homemade Nail Decals method, you it is super easy to do on your off hand, which I know can be an issue for most people. Plus it makes this an easy manicure to do that can be prepped ahead of time.

To do this manicure you will need:

• Base nail color. I used an ELF polish in red to keep it extra festive
• Ribbon color. I used a Sinful Colors polish in a sparkly gold.
• Clear top coat
• Parchment paper
• Sharp knife
• Nail polish remover and q-tips or swabs

First, paint a stripe of clear polish on the parchment paper. Make it nice and thick, review the link above if you don't remember how to do this technique or are new to the blog. I made mine bigger than I needed in case I needed to redo my decorations.

While the clear polish is drying, paint your nails the base color you chose. I always recommend 3 coats to make sure it is nice and opaque, but that will really depend on the polish you picked out. Let this dry before moving onto the next step.

Paint a chunk of your clear stripe with your ribbon color. If you have a sheer color like my gold I recommend doing more than one layer. I did a chunk about an inch wide just to make sure I would have enough stripes to do one hand.

Paint a little bow on the other end. A simple one is made with two little ovals and two little lines coming out of it. Again, if you used a sheer color do a second or third layer on the bow. 

Once everything is dry, use your sharp knife to cut a thin stripe out of the chunk of ribbon color. Using pointy tweezers makes this 100% easier but you can do it all by hand. Place a thin coat of clear polish on the nail you want the bow on (I did my ring finger) and lay one stripe across the middle going from left to right.

Cut out another stripe (try and keep all stripes close to the same thickness) and place it in the middle of your nail going from base to tip. This should create a cross on your nail, don't worry about any overhang we will deal with that later. Place your bow where the two lines cross, making sure to put another thin layer of polish underneath it. This acts as a glue and helps the layers to bond.

Using the remaining ribbon chunk, cut a stripe for each nail and place at an angle going across your nail. I tried to keep them in the middle of my nail but don't stress it. Once they are all placed top with a coat of the clear polish on all nails. Let this dry then use a q-tip or cotton swab soaked in nail polish remover to clean up the edges. If you let it sit on the overhang for a second they will dissolve right away. Repeat on your other hand then sit back and marvel at your amazing manicure!