Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say, and yesterday I got a little desperate with my nails. I was getting ready to go to my first holiday party of the season, and at the last minute I realized I had no festive nail polish colors in the house! Egads! I did a major cabinet-clean recently, and all that I had left in my polish collection was a few basic colors… not even any red. So I grabbed this neon orange (that’s a basic color, right?) and thought I’d try blinging it up with some glitter from my craft room.

Did you know you can use regular craft glitter on your nails? All you do is paint your base color the way you normally would; then, immediately after adding your last coat (while it’s still super wet), sprinkle on a light coat of glitter. Fine glitter works best (if you ever look closely at glitter you’ll notice it comes in a range of sizes, from very fine to rather course. I used this Martha glitter, which is really fine and worked great).

Then, paint on a clear top coat, and you’re done! This method was a total success, and so simple–I got lots of compliments at the party and the little bit of sparkle has been making me happy today every time I glance down at my hands.

Glitter mani: not just for tweens anymore. Try it this holiday season!

A little colorful eye candy for this summery Monday… the polish is Essie in Mint Candy Apple, and the fabric is Jay McCarroll for Free Spirit Fabrics (as seen on my dining room chairs).

I’ve been kinda stressed and overwhelmed the past couple of weeks, but this morning I woke up feeling energized and happy, and ready to tackle a new week… I wonder if it’s the nail polish that did it?