Make Your Own Nail Art Stickers

 Making your own stickers is easy. If you have trouble doing designs with your non-dominate hand you can make stickers to simply be placed on. 

 All you need are a few simple things that you probably already have: a piece of plastic, nail polish and/or acrylic paint, paint brush, cuticle stick or toothpick and optional are tweezers and scissors. 

 I like to use Ziplock freezer bags because they are thick and I do not have to have anything to hold it down while I work, plus it will be easy to get your sticker off thicker plastic when done. A plastic bag or saran wrap will also work but I find it harder to work with. 

 If you use a freezer bag I suggest cutting it so you have several smaller pieces, for me it is easier to use that way. I don't use the part of the plastic that has writing on it because most of the time it will make my design hard to see so I just toss it.

 Now I have a bunch of plastic to make my designs on.

 I wanted a Hello Kitty mani so I made her face. Everything I used for her was acrylic paint. I started with just her basic shape, if you do not have a steady hand you can do this with black first and then fill in with white leaving a small black outline. 

 Keep adding details until you are satisfied with it. 

 When you have your design finished let the paint fully dry, add top coat. Make sure you have enough top coat on your brush to cover the design and do not brush back over it. It can drag and pull which is what mine did a bit but it isn't that noticeable. You want to cover the design fully and even cover a little past it. This way when you lift it you are picking at just clear topcoat and will not damage the design. 

 My best tip for this part is cover the design but do not make it thick, then make a thick edge on one side of the design so you can lift it with the cuticle stick, then trim it away before placing on the nail.  

 I like to use tweezers to pick it up once I have lifted an edge. 

 You can see I made these about two weeks ago but haven't gotten to use them yet. 

 Anyways, after they are off the plastic I trim the excess with small scissors. Doing that will make it blend in better when you put it on the nail. 

 You can make any design a sticker. I tried out a quick lace design to see how it would work.

 To use the stickers, paint your nails like you usually would. Once the final coat is dry I place my sticker on where I want it and use the flat edge of a cuticle stick to press it down. I do not use topcoat to stick it to my nail. I find that it causes me to get tons of bubbles and I don't need it as long as I put the sticker on just before covering with top coat. 

 After you have your sticker where you want it and pressed down flat, cover with a topcoat and enjoy.

 Have you tried making your own stickers? How did it go for you?  

Tip for using OPI Pro Wide Brush

 I know many people do not like the Pro Wide brush because it is too large for their narrow nails. I have almost the same problem but I love the Pro Wide. My pinky nails are somewhat narrow so what I do is simple turn the brush straight up and down. This is kind of hard to explain in words but instead of using the brush flat, where the widest part is horizontal with the nail, turn it so the flat part is vertical. Like in the pictures below.
 Use the wide part of the brush flat, horizontal to the nail for wide nails.

 For narrow nails turn the flat part vertical, up and down, so you are using the narrow side of the brush. 

 I hope this helps some of you. Using the brush this way lets me cover my pinky nails in two strokes and the rest of my nails in three. It works great for me.

 Have you tried the Pro Wide this way? Do you like the Pro Wide brushes?