12 NAILS OF CHRISTMAS: Cute Christmas Character Nail Art

by - December 24, 2018


Hey guys! Anyone that reads my nail posts regularly knows that hand painting is not my forte. In fact, it's kind of something I avoid like the plague because A) I'm just not adept at it, and B) I'm so much of a perfectionist that I tend to just take it off and move onto something else. That said, this holiday season I was really inspired by some of the gorgeous hand painted nail art that I've seen online while searching for inspiration for these 12 Nails Of Christmas and I wanted to try at least one - and I think it turned out pretty darn good! I'm no pro, I realize, but I think that proves that this is a mani that can be easily recreated with a few bold polishes and a couple of easy to find tools or stuff you already have around the house! This mani was definitely inspired directly from some that I've seen online and I really didn't do much differently. 

Keep reading for more!


For my first finger, it had to be Santa. I started with a two coats of Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar and removed the polish at the tip using acetone so that I could add the BornPrettyStore White Stamping Polish for almost a loose french kind of a look. The reason I removed the polish is because I want finding that the red was bleeding into the pink and creating a kind of pink snow look that wasn't cute. Next, I went in with BornPrettyStore Black Stamping Polish and a liner brush to paint on the belt and a large dotting tool for the buttons. Next, I went back in with the liner brush and BornPrettyStore Gold Stamping Polish to paint on the belt buckle. Because it was a little wobbly and weird, I went back in with the black to really define the shape of the belt buckle.

For my second finger, I went with a classic elf design. I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Queen Of Green, which has seriously been a staple for me this holiday season. Next, I did cheat a little on the hand painting and used the vertical stripes image from the Hehe 029 Stamping Plate and the BornPrettyStore Gold Stamping Polish because I wanted them to be really crisp. Next, for the collar, I went in with my liner brush and the BornPrettyStore Red Stamping Polish and drew two triangles from the base of my nail. I also used a large dotting tool with the same polish for the buttons. I actually used the stamping polish because I wanted to get more coverage over the dark green base and went in and filled both the collar the buttons with Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar later for cohesiveness to the whole mani. I decided at the last minute that I wanted to add bells to the collar, so I went with Avon Gel Finish in Limoncello and my large dotting tool for those.

On my third finger, the snowman image was probably the most simple, but the scarf was probably the thing I was dreading painting the most out of this whole mani. I started with a coat of BornPrettyStore White Stamping Polish for my base and then added a coat of Essie Gel Couture in Lace To The Altar to add a more shimmery base. For the scarf, I thought about going with red or green for consistency, but ultimately decided I wanted to keep this nail really cool toned, so I used my liner brush and Sinful Colors Light My Sapphire for the scarf. Once again, for the buttons I used the BornPrettyStore Black Stamping Polish and a slightly smaller dotting tool because I wanted three buttons on this nail isntead of two. 

Finally, for my pinkie, I did a gingerbread man. Because I wanted a shimmery base and shimmery browns are few and far between in my collection, I went a little bit darker than I had planned with the TiVoli Brown Shimmery Polish from the Dollar Tree (honestly, these super cheap polishes have been coming in handy for my lately.) Next, I went in with BornPrettyStore White Stamping Polish and my liner brush to draw the squiggly line, touching up any wobbles using that same brush and my base polish. Next, I added the buttons using Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar and my large dotting tool. In retrospect, I wish that I would have dotted with white first for a sort of outline on the buttons, but you live and learn!

I finished all of my nails with Essence The Gel Top Coat for a good dose of shine and smoothness overall!

All Products Used
Sinful Colors - Sugar Sugar
Sinful Colors - Light My Sapphire
Sinful Colors - Queen Of Green
Avon Gel Finish - Limoncello
Essie Gel Couture - Lace To The Altar
TiVoli Metallic Brown Polish
Born Pretty Store - Black Stamping Polish
Born Pretty Store - White Stamping Polish
Born Pretty Store - Gold Stamping Polish
Born Pretty Store Red Stamping Polish
Essence The Gel Top Coat
Hehe 029 Hufflepuff Stamping Plate
Born Pretty Store - Dotting Tools
Artist Liner Brush (purchased from Michaels)


Honestly, you guys, I can't even tell you how excited I am about this mani. It's definitely not in my usual style, which I really realized as I kind of stared at it after it was done, but it's pretty cute and I'm kind of impressed with myself for being able to do it at a level that I'm willing to post here on the blog. It was a little bit touch and go for a while.

I also really feel like there's value to sharing this mani because it is one that you can recreate at home. It's a LOT of different polishes, I know, but when it comes to the tools you can skip the internet and pick things up locally or use things from around the house. A bobby pin works pretty good as a dotting tool and any liner brush will do. If you do decide to try out this mani, I'd love to see your results!

Thanks for reading!

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