31 Holiday Designs: Part 1

Hello loves, and welcome to another one of my (recently) sparse blog updates! I've committed to posting one holiday/winter design on Instagram every day of December, and today I'll be showing you the first 10 holiday nail art designs. All of these have been made with a mix of freehand and stamping - I hope you enjoy them and spread some lovely festive cheer, regardless of what you celebrate!

*Disclaimer: In many of these designs, you'll notice that I won't name some of the polishes that I use (sometimes, this is the name of the most prominent color of the design, like for the candy cane mani). In light of the views that some indie makers have revealed, I cannot in good conscious support these makers and their brand with free publicity. While I may continue to use their polishes for the sake of artwork, they will not be receiving any recognition and I will be looking to replace them with colors from other brands that I can continue using in my art instead.

With that, let's get started!

1. Pink Snowstorm, Silver Snowflakes

This look was made using Polished for Days Aki (pink) and Caligo (silver). The silver snowflakes were freehanded using a dotting tool, if you can believe it!

2. Candy Canes


With this mani comes the reveal of my nail undies, or, the slight staining you can see towards the tips. All freehanded! The white I used was WakeMake's Extreme White.

3. Christmas Lights

This was a Christmas lights mani inspired by @nail_art_by_tal! All freehanded, with a green base of Painted Polish's Sage Advice, purple lines of her Autumn Twilight 2.0, and a glowing blue flakie light of Polished for Days Moonglade.

4. Drag Marble Abstract Holly 

This look is probably going to be one of my favorites from this entire series - I already know it. The drag marble here was done with Heroine NYC's Empower-mint as the base, followed by Born Pretty Store's stamping polish Aloof (BP-ML04) for the actual drag marble. On the index and pinky are Polished for Days' Clover. Enjoy the macro!

5. Abstract Wrapping Paper

This one was a look I was unsure about but ultimately decided I liked - using Polished for Days Aisling (red) and Caligo (silver), I made an abstract wrapping paper design. Up to interpretation!

6. Santa & his Sleigh

My first stamping look of the month! Here's an image, using Nicole Diary's winter stamping plate 197 from Born Pretty Store, that combines Santa, his sleigh, a reindeer, and some trees for extra scenery. The base was Heroine NYC's Peek-A-Blue, and the images were stamped using Painted Polish's Autumn Twilight 2.0 and Born Pretty Store's Aloof (BP-ML04).

7. Blue Snowflakes


Another stamping design, and another one of my favorites from this set! I used Painted Polish's Stamped in Slate for the grey base, and then topped that with a snowflake design from Born Pretty Store's Christmas theme stamping plate BP-01 and Polished for Days Serein. The gradients on the sides were done using Polished for Days Moonwake and Moonglade. 

8. Multichrome Ornaments


Multichrome stamped ornaments - using Polished for Days Cloudburst, a gorgeous blue-purple multichrome - and an image from Nicole Diary's winter stamping plate 197. The stamped look was done using Painted Polish's Autumn Twilight 2.0.

9. Holly Leaves


Some freehand holly leaves (that, let's be honest, look like Christmas snitches) using Polished for Days Clover in the leaves!

10. Sparkly Snowglobe


Last up in part 1 of this series is a stamped snowglobe accent design. I used Heroine NYC's Between the Sheets as a base, added some silver ends using Polished for Days Grim Grinning Ghost, and reverse stamped a snowglobe image using an image from Nicole Diary's winter stamping plate 197. Again, stamped with Painted Polish's Autumn Twilight 2.0 (I can't seem to find my black stamping polish, so you'll just keep seeing this dark plum color instead!). 

Which design was your favorite? Let me know, and stay tuned for part 2 & 3 of my 31 Holiday Designs series! 


XOXO,

Lauren

 

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