Ever since I can remember, my sister Cheryl has been obsessed with nail polish. And by obsessed, I mean she could easily go on that show My Strange Addiction. I don’t think there’s been a time in her life when she didn’t own an entire Walgreens’ worth of nail polishes. Even as an awkward pre-teen, she had this shadow box that she made in “shop” class hung in her room jam-packed with every Wet ‘N Wild and Sally Hansen polish ever made.
Over the years, wherever she’s lived, the collection has grown and moved with her. Her “stash” is a sight to behold. Just picture Ulta. Now add a few aisles. And guess what’s always on the top of her Christmas list?
I’m thinking it started way back with the Sunday-night ritual my mom, sisters and I had for years. We’d all sit at the kitchen table, with piles of cotton balls and bottles of remover, soaking, filing, buffing and painting, while my dad complained about the smell. To this day, on Sunday nights I still feel like I should be doing my nails. And sometimes I do, with my own daughters. But unlike my sister, who changes her polish at least once a day, I’m lucky to have a coat of clear that lasts all week.
Lately, I’ve noticed a huge explosion of blogs, websites and YouTube videos devoted to all things nail polish. My sister is all over these like basecoat on cuticles.
One of her favorite sites, Chalkboard Nails, is hosting a contest using something called a dotting tool. My sister came up with something super cool, and I’m letting her guest post on my blog in order to enter the contest. In the weeks leading up to the contest deadline, she legit blew up my phone with at least three pictures a day of a new design on her nails. I think what she finally ended up with is so cute and original! I’ll let her tell you about it.
Here she is:
Connecting the Dots
First, I would like to thank my wonderful sister for giving me a “rental” spot on her blog. I do not have a blog, but check hers out! She’s a great writer and it’s fun to read. (Aw, thanks, sis!)
So I entered this dotting tool contest on Sarah’s blog, Chalkboard Nails (another awesome blog!). The first thing I did was go on a hunt for a dotting tool. I searched several stores, with no luck. I know I could’ve made one out of bobby pins or straight pins, but the search was part of the fun. (Ed. note: Probably because it led her to more nail polish!) Here’s what a dotting tool looks like:
Lo and behold, of all people, my husband found me one! Who knew? Now I was set! But as it turned out, that was the easy part—coming up with a design was the hard part! After much thought, and trying to come up with something cool that hasn’t already been done, here’s what I came up with:
Gumball machines! The design allowed me to really utilize the dotting tool for the “gumballs,” as well as to outline the actual machine. Here are the tools of the trade I used:
Here’s how I did it and what I used:
- Base Coat: Pro-FX Fiberized Ridge Filler (love it!)
- Then the base color: Pure Ice, Super Star
- Next: Sally Hansen, Devotion Creme (This is the red. I used the brush from the polish to make the base of the gumball machine.
- Next: Milani, Black Magic (I used the dotting tool to outline.)
- Then: OPI, Rinse Charming (This is the silver, where the gum is ‘dispensed.’)
- Now, the gumball colors:
- Sally Hansen Diamond Strength, Something #340
- Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, No Hard Feelings #370
- Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, Limestone #620
- Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, Heart of Stone
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Mellow Yellow #360
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Twisted Pink #240
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Sun Kissed #150
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Blue Me Away #130
- Finally, I topped it off with: “In A Hurry Air Dry Top Coat” and Essie, Good To Go
And I just want to say, this was waaaaayyyyy harder than one might think! Big kudos to all the other entrants—I have a huge respect for all the talent. Amazing!
Now, just for fun, here are a few other designs I played around with, some with the dotting tool, some with stamping:
Well, that’s it for now. I’ve got to go do my nails…and TLC is calling. Something about a My Strange Addiction application? Haha!