Laser nails!

I thought I discovered something new, but it turns out yet again, this has been done before. Oh well, someday I will invent some cool new way of doing something. At least until someone tells me it's been done before.

I wanted to take a specific design and transfer it to my nails. I don't have decal paper to make my own nail decals (yes, you can do that, been done before, nothing new), so I decided to use the newspaper nails method. If you are not familiar with newspaper nails, basically you transfer newspaper print onto your nails. It's cute. My experiment actually worked for once! *SHOCK*

It's Halloween time and I wanted to take a pattern from my favorite pumpkin carving pattern site and transfer it to my nails. I know you are immediately wondering what site I am talking about. www.zombiepumpkins.com. Simply the best carving patterns out there. I picked my pattern and had my husband do the next step. Isn't he lucky? The pattern originally was a light gray color and I wanted black. So he made it black. YAY hubby! You can use color if you have a color printer and of course whatever design you wish. I am not sure if it matters, but I used a laser jet printer, not an ink jet. Next you print it! You do need to print it small enough to fit on your fingernail. I printed out several because I tend to need to do things a few hundred times before get it right.

If you are printing out words, remember to flip the image so it doesn't end up backwards once you transfer to your nails. Cut out the pattern in small squares.

You want your nails to be painted with a light color so the pattern shows up. Also, make sure your polish is DRY. Once they are dry fill a small dish or cup (shot glass is perfect) with rubbing alcohol and dip your nail in. I also dipped the paper with my image in the alcohol, just enough to get it wet, I didn't soak it, just a quick dip. With the pattern side facing your nail press the pattern onto your nail. Don't move it around! Press down and hold while it dries. It doesn't take long at all. This part is a bit tricky. Hold it down too long or hard and you will end up melting your polish which then sticks to the design and makes a mess. Not long enough and it wont transfer. This part is really trial and error. The first time I did it I got it perfect right away, the second time took me 3 times. 

Now just simply peel off the paper! Paint over with a clear top coat and you are ready for Halloween!! 

I lost the "S" and "!" on the end of the Zombie Pumpkins!, but I wasn't going to do it again. :P