Crafty Hearts - Making Nail Decals part 2

Today is part 2 of how to make your own nail decals. Previously we looked at how to create zig zags using pinking shears. This time we are using another common craft tool, the hole punch. With a large varsity of shapes and images available in most scrapbooking aisles, the possibilities are endless! So if you like the look of these glitter heart decals here's how you do it.......

Start off by painting nail polish onto baking paper. Do one thick coat and let it dry. Apply another thick coat then let it dry overnight to ensure it is hard. Painting the polish in 4 cm width squares or rectangles is the ideal shape as you can maximise the area you can put through the craft punch.

You can use a variety of polishes, smooth or chunky glitters, cremes, and liquids sands. Stay away from using sheer polishes as the base colour you apply under the decals will show through with your final result. 

After leaving your polish strips overnight, gently peel them off the baking paper. Use you craft punch to punch out the shapes. The brand I used was Fiskers. They are great as they have a little catcher on the top of them that catches the shapes you punch out so when you are done you open the lid and tip all the shapes out rather than them ending up all over the place. 

Out of these size polish squares I got 12 decals of each colour.

I store my decals in these nail wheels so they are ready to go whenever I am in the mood to use them. To apply them I start with 2 coats of my base colour and then 1 coat of fast drying topcoat. When that is completely dry I use a small dab of top coat under the heart to stick it to the nail. Applying that layer of top coat first allows you to move the heart into position without dinting your base colour. Apply another thick layer of topcoat over the decal to seal it down.

This is such a simple technique that gives incredible results, its really striking! I hope you decide to give it a go with your favourite polishes.