Homemade Nail Wraps

Nail wraps are all the rage!

With the super-cool designs and easy application, why not make your own with the nailpolish you have laying around? 

I will show you the basic technique on how to make these wraps, but you can customize the design to fit your needs and style.

It's a lot easier to make a detailed pattern on a flat surface instead of a curved nail!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are nail polishes, a ziplock bag or laminate report cover, a sharpie, a toothpick, and an xacto knife. You need somewhat of a thick plastic base to paint your decal on, so don't use a flimsy sandwich bag or something....

Step 2: Cut a square of the plastic from the bag so you are only working with one plastic piece.  Trace an outline of all our nails on one side of the zip-lock bag. Turn the piece over so you will not be painting on top of this Sharpie (it will leech off into your decal and look bad if you paint on the same side).

Step 3: Paint a thick layer of paint on one of your outlines. I added four drops of other colors and marbled them with a toothpick. Repeat this for all your nail outlines. Make sure your plastic is lying flat

You should have something that looks like this. Let all your paint decals dry for one day.

Step 4: Take your xacto knife and trim off any ragged edges so that the plastic is more of a nail shape; slice very gently with the blade so you only cut the nailpolish decal, not the bag underneath. Once you have a decal shape, gently lift off the whole decal, being careful not to rip it; it helps to pry the ends up with your blade. Paint a layer of nailpolish on your nail and when still wet, place the decal on top. Gently burnish the decal to adhere and remove air bubbles. 

Step 5: Repeat for each nail. If the decals are longer on the edges, you can gently trim with scissors and/or file them to shape the nail. Once they are all totally adhered and the paint beneath has had time to dry, finish with a top coat to totally seal.

There are so many possibilities with this! I will be experimenting with different designs and posting them. I started out with a simple marble to show the technique. This is great to make decals ahead of time, and then have several to choose from the next time you want a manicure!

All photos and instructions copyright Allison Cooling. Do not repost this or use my photos unless linking back to me.

Pizza for the Birds!

It's pizza....for the birds! With the holidays and winter time, I always like to help out the wildlife! A great way to use stale bread, and they look cute hanging from outdoor trees! Put them by your window to see all the different types of birds stop by. This is also super easy and a good craft to make with kids!

Just a slice!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are birdseed, peanut butter, scissors, stale bread (use thicker bread like halved sandwich rolls or something, so that they hold up. Don't try with plain sandwich bread), and paperclips.

Step 2: Use the scissors to cut out triangles like pizza slices. Spread with a good layer of peanut butter.

Step 3: Take the birdseed, and if you want it faux-pepperoni, place a bunch of seeds in small clumps and press down. You can just coat the whole thing with seed if you'd like.

Step 4: Un-bend your clip, so that the outside piece of wire is bent at 90 degrees, and the top still retains a hook for hanging. Stick this through the slice.

That's it! Go hang on a tree outside, and wait for the birds.

All images copyright Allison Cooling