...And Presents Under the Tree

My striping tape skills failed me again on this one, which I saw on Pinterest and traced back to the ever-amazing Manicurator, Victoria. I was SO meticulous in my taping, too, trying to make sure I could get the strips off quickly when I was done polishing so that I'd get clean lines.  Apparently I was not as fast as I thought...so, plan B:

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I
*2 coats China Glaze Angel Wings
*2 coats China Glaze Ruby Pumps
*Zoya Logan
*Wet 'n' Wild Kaliedoscope
*2 coats Out the Door

I loved the gold on this one--Golden-I has such a gorgeous shimmer to it and the holo sparkle of Angel Wings were perfect together.  Angel Wings glows behind the tree!  I painted over my failed stripes with the perfect green foil of Logan.  I like that you can still see the edges (total accident) so it looks more like a tree than a triangle.  I dabbed on some Kaleidoscope for decoration and added a rhinestone topper. 
What's a tree without presents?  I love the "wrapped present" nails and used the ever-awesome Ruby Pumps.  While nothing ever looks as good in a macro photo, my "ribbons" weren't too bad on these accents.  I added a bow sticker, some glossy topper, and called it a festive day!

There are still a few polishing days left before Christmas--what's your favorite tree design?  What should I try before the season's over?

Oh Christmas tree!

Let me just say that I wore these little guys today and was SO sad tonight to take them off for a new mani for tomorrow.  I didn't give myself enough time to get through all the Christmas designs I wanted to wear this year (I'll do more "winter" ones I passed on in January) and have to move quickly.  That being said, I couldn't take my eyes off my hands today and think that I'll do these again for Christmas day.  Here are some cute little Christmas trees:

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats China Glaze The Ten Man
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*Color Club Holiday Splendor
*China Glaze Angel Wings
*Milani Gems
*1 coat Out The Door

I have become pretty obsessed with The Ten Man.  I used 2 coats of the shimmery, glittery silver goodness for a base.  It is not quite opaque, which made for such a pretty, ethereal background.  It was like glowing lights and sparkling snow behind the tree with a thin coat of silver-holo Fairy Dust.  Gorgeous! 
I was going to just use Skip the Gift Wrap because it was on my desk when I thought about pretty little Holiday Splendor in the drawer.  I taped off triangles and used this squishy, holo green glitter for the trees.  I know I've said it before, but if you ever get your hands on this one, don't let it go!  The bright, minty greed has an amazing holo glitter to it with a jelly consistency.  A-mazing!

I was going to leave the little trees alone, with a dot of Angel Wings on top.  I saw some manis earlier this month (edit: Amber Did It was the one that sparked my interest) with with multi glitter as ornaments on the tree, and I knew I only had a couple of chances to do tree designs, so I dabbed on Milani Gems, a typical though really pretty multi glitter.  The big and small hexex in so many colors looked so cool on the trees!

When I sealed and smoothed it all up in a shiny top coat, it was so pretty!  This is just a huge glitter fest, but it's really cool because of all the different kinds of sparkle, from subtle shimmer to holo and chunky.  My pictures really don't do these justice--there is a real, pretty depth in person, especially with The Ten Man base.  Like I said, I think I'm going to do these again for Christmas day because I love them SO much!  Have you found a cool Christmas tree design that I need to try?  A new way to "decorate" your tree?  Let me know!

"You'll go down in history!"

I've been having a Christmas movie marathon for my "weekend" because I miss most of them while I'm working.  I LOVE Christmas movies!  Except Frosty--that one is really weird.  Anyway, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorites, so here is my little homage to his story:

I love this movie!  Hermie's quitting makes me a little too eager to leave my job.  Yukon makes me laugh.  I love his dogs.  I want to cuddle the little dolly.  I even look past Clarice's "There's Always Tomorrow" and Santa being kind of a tool. 

 *2 coats Wet 'n Wild Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire?
*Sinful Colors Why Not
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out

Don't you just hate macro shots sometimes?  When I see those darn smudges in photos that aren't visible in real life it kills me!  This picture is really not color-true, either, but photo editing is a big world I'm not quite ready to dive into yet.  Why Not is a darker, dustier blue than this shows.  I used these cute yellow umbrellas that Holy Manicures painted (and their base) as my inspiration.  These little guys brought all of the misfit toys to children once Rudolph returned to Santa!

*3 coats China Glaze The Ten Man
*1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust
*1 coat China Glaze Angel Wings

Good ol' Yukon Cornelius!  "Silver and gold, silver and gold,/ Mean so much more when I see/ Silver and gold decorations/ On ev'ry Christmas tree..."  Always looking for his silver and gold!  So, I gave him both here!  I used The Ten Man as my base, a gorgeous silver polish with micro glitter in it.  I added Fairy Dust for a little more sparkle and then taped off half of my nail and added Angel Wings.  This amazing gold holo glitter is part of their new Holiday line and so pretty! 

*2 coats Zoya Ginessa

*OPI Wooden Shoe Like to Know?

*China Glaze Mahogany Magic

*China Glaze Ruby Pumps

*Sinful Color Snow Me White

*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out

 

"Do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?"  There are a number of really cute Rudolph manis floating around blogs and Pinterest.  I used Wooden Shoe for Rudy's face and Ruby Pumps for his nose to add sparkle.  Next time I'd leave a little more room for the antlers, but my nails are pretty short right now, so they're a little stubby.  I love that little red nose!



 

 

*1 coat Sinful Colors Why Not

*Sinful Colors Pink Cream

"We've a special job each year/ We don't like to brag..."  This is another shot of Why Not where the flash just makes it too light and bright.  I'm a little bummed about that because this is for Hermie and the elves.  This blue could be a one-coater with special attention.  I knew I was going to go over the tip, so I didn't add a second.  When I was little I thought those girl elves in their pink dresses and hats were so pretty!

*2 coats Zoya Ginessa
*OPI Danke-shiny Red

"We're on the island of misfit toys/ Here we don't want to stay!"  This nail took a lot of debate.  One of the things that makes the movie so magical and nostalgic is the coloring and quality of the stop motion.  I cannot tell, after a LOT of searching and watching, if the elephant's dots are red or pink.  I went with red.  I am second-guessing myself as I type.  ANYWAY, this is for the little polka-dotted elephant, Charlie, and all the other misfit toys who only want a child to love them.  Because I do!