Tag Archives: DIY

If you follow TDV on Facebook or Twitter then you are well aware that over the past couple of weeks I have become completely obsessed with studded manicures. Ever since I saw Kate Spade use studded nails in their Fall 2013 runway show I’ve been dying to give it a try. Plus, I wear alot of very girly clothes so wearing a bit of an edgy manicure is a fun contrast.

I ordered nail studs from eBay for next to nothing. I’ve used 2 sizes in this post, 5mm studs (which I purchased from here) and 3mm studs (which I ordered from here). Otherwise all of the supplies needed are more than likely things you already have.

For a complete tutorial check below the jump! And make sure to leave a comment and let me know which of my studded manicures is your favorite!

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One of my favorite things to do is to find items I have around the house and use them to do nail art. In the past I’ve done manicures using plastic wrap, paper towels, newspaper, glitter, qtips and even eyeshadow.

The other day I was looking at a wine glass I have sitting on my vanity that is full of makeup applicators from eyeshadows, powders, etc that I’ll never use. I realized the sponge tip applicators that come with eyeshadows aren’t that much different from regular old makeup sponges that I use to do a gradient manicure. But I thought the eyeshadow sponges being a bit more porous might give a different look.

As it turns out I was right!

Below the jump there is a step by step guide to how I created this manicure.

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It’s pretty obvious we are big fans of nail polish strips/appliques/etc around here. Sally Hansen Salon Effects are my favorite, but I also quite like the OPI appliques as well as others. The ones I like the best do have one thing in common; they are always made from real nail polish and are not just stickers.

Between loving real nail polish strips and my eternal desire to try a splatter manicure (and not have to deal with the clean up…) I finally decided to give making my own polish strips a try.

The way I went about making these polish strips was a combination of a gazillion tutorials I’ve seen for this over the years. For an entire tutorial check below the jump!

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Thanks to OPI Man With the Golden Gun gold flake top coats are suddenly all the rage. Granted, OPI isn’t the only brand with a gold flake top coat. Sephora by OPI and Zoya have both released their own versions. And while each company’s top coat is slightly different they are all fairly expensive. OPI’s version is $30 and has become quite difficult to find for alot of people.

I, for one, was not willing to drop $30 on a top coat I was sure I’d rarely use. Due to this I begin to think about doing a DIY version. My grandmother was a gold leaf nut. She would gold leaf anything! As I kid I would play with the gold leaf sheets. They were so flimsy and would literally stick to anything. I figured, hey, that might work for my DIY top coat.

If you caught my tweet then you know I hit up my local Michaels. Between the DIY caviar and velvet manicures I’m becoming quite familiar with the place. I spent $6.99 on the supplies for my DIY gold flake top coat and absolutely love the result!

Now, I will say there is a learning curve to this technique (if you will….) and the first time I did it I was frustrated and it was time consuming. But now that I’ve had a little practice I can do it easily and quickly.

Below the jump there is an entire DIY including what supplies are needed and tips on what to avoid doing so hopefully you won’t make the same mistakes I did!

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Yes, the title of this post is correct. This post is about a manicure I did using plastic wrap! My favorite nail art is the kind that can be easily done with things I already have around the house. For this manicure I used plastic wrap to give my manicure a cool texture.

For step by step instructions on how to do this super simple nail art check below the jump!

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Another day, another crazy nail trend! I’m beginning to think someone at Ciaté literally went to an arts and crafts store, stood in the scrapbook aisle and picked out scrapbooking materials they thought could pass as nail art. First was, of course, the Caviar manicure. Now there is the Velvet manicure. Ciaté has not launched their Velvet Manicure kits yet, though they are supposed to land at Sephora within a month or so. The Caviar kits are $25, so I imagine the Velvet manicure kits will be similarly priced.

Anyway, there is no reason to spend $25 to get on the Velvet Manicure bandwagon. I spent less than $7 at Michaels on supplies for these manicures. There is a step by step guide below the jump (and a ton of pictures!)! Make sure to leave a comment tell me whether or not you love this look or think it’s super silly.

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