Here are ten holiday nail art designs for you to mix and match together according to the level of difficulty with which you feel comfortable, and in whichever way suits your personal style.
I've included two example shots of how you can change two of these designs into French manicures to give you some ideas but in general, know that you can change background colors in order to make some of these go together better.
For example, you could paint eight of your nails in red, with an index and ring finger in white. Then apply the Candy Cane design to one white nail and a red Wrapped Present ribbon to the other. That would work well because the entire manicure would be done in only two colors, so neither design would seem out of place.
Or, you could paint all of your nails in silver, wear the Christmas Lights on a thumb and the Mistletoe on a middle finger. These two would go together well because they're both comprised mainly of gemstones with a bit of green accent. Hopefully those ideas will help get you started, but I will be in the comments section if you need help combing your favorites into one manicure.
The first of ten: Holiday Stars, Snowflakes, Wrapped Present, String of Lights and Winter Trees.
These holiday stars are based off the style of the common representation of the Star of Bethlehem. (Meaning, they're not shaped like traditional stars but rather a symbol that most people associate with Christmas and/or the holiday season.) When you have a theme idea like that you need to consider how you can adapt it to a nail, so rather than just centering one star, I've scattered two because it creates a more interesting design that is still balanced. I used red and gold because it emphasizes the holiday reference.
Start off with a deep red base. I used OPI's "Don't Toy with Me!" from their 2008 holiday collection. Use a small rounded paintbrush that comes to a sharp point and some gold acrylic paint, or you can instead use a thin nail art pen. Adhere gold or yellow gemstones to the center of the stars if you have them, or just proceed straight to the last step and apply a clear topcoat.
Start off with a base of any blue nail polish, paint on your snowflakes with white acrylic paint and adhere gemstones to the centers before finishing off with a coat of glitter if you like, or just a coat of clear topcoat. Alternatively you could use some sort of nail art pen to recreate this look if that's easier for you.
To draw the snowflakes, create a "plus" symbol, then an "X" over it, then add prongs to the end of each line. It's very easy to do and they look nice when they're done!
For this French manicure adaptation of the Snowflake design, my tips are one coat of "Ocean Love Potion" from Sephora by OPI, with one coat of Zoya's "Kotori" over to create the glittery blue that's pictured. One coat of Sephora by OPI's "Lagoon-a Beach" was then applied over my entire nails to give a fine, sheer shimmer. Snowflakes were added followed by application of some larger pieces of glitter, gemstones and finally a coat of clear topcoat to finish.
This ribbon was painted on with red acrylic craft paint, and it's one of the more difficult designs of the ten. (If you're not comfortable with a paintbrush, you might prefer trying the next design, which looks tricky but is actually very simple.)
Start out with a neutral or simple base color, and adhere a gemstone or paint a dot near the bottom corner of your nail. Draw out a loop next to your center dot, and again on the other side. For the bottom tail of your bow, you can simply draw out a line, or you can paint a line with two little flicks at the end like pictured. Finish your bow by painting a stripe above, and on the sides of your ribbon. Seal with a topcoat to finish.
Because of the complexity of this design, I would only wear a maximum of two bows to a full manicure. It's one of my favorites and I know it's challenging but I do hope some of you will give it a try.
This String of Lights is one of the easier designs of the set, if you can find the gemstones for it. If not, alternatively you could paint on the lightbulbs but part of the magic of this is that gems offer a "glowy" look that makes the theme more obvious. The simple light-string line was drawn on in acrylic paint, but you could definitely use a nail art pen or even a thin Sharpie marker instead. (Don't forget to add a little tangle/loop somewhere along your string.) Adhere your gems and seal with a topcoat.
For these winter trees, I used acrylic paint and a liner brush which is ideal for creating branches. Choose a shimmery "nighttime" polish for the background, (I used OPI's "Ink,") and layer your lighter trees over your darker trees to make them appear as if they're in the foreground.
Holiday Bells, Candy Cane, Mistletoe, Christmas Ornaments and Tiny Gingerbread Man.
This is the most difficult design of the ten and because of that, you might want to keep this for a larger nail like a thumb or big toe rather than struggling to draw tiny bells on smaller fingers. I applied the small green mistletoe leaves in the background, vague bell shapes in gold acrylic paint over and then outlined the bells in green to give them definition. I finished by applying the small red mistletoe berries and clear topcoat to keep them in place.
I really love this Candy Cane look; it's easily recognizable, you only need two colors to wear it and fortunately it's pretty easy to do. Paint your full nail in white and apply your red stripes, either with red acrylic paint and a liner brush like I used, a nail art pen or even a red Sharpie. (Keep in mind you should NEVER use Sharpie on your bare nails, but in a pinch you can use it over dry polish. Just be careful when applying your topcoat, because unlike acrylic paint, Sharpie can smear.)
I've seen some Candy Cane designs before, and the most frequent mistake I notice is people painting their red stripes of the same width, and evenly spaced like a barber shop pole. This is not how traditional candy canes look. Candy canes alternate between a few thin lines, a white gap, then a wider red stripe. Always Google your source material before starting and your results will be much more accurate and discernible than just going by what you picture in your head.
Do you like French manicures? If so, the Candy Cane design is an easy one to wear as tips. Apply red tips to most of your fingers, while painting a few in white. Add your red stripes and finish with a nude-tinted French manicure polish or just a simple coat of clear. It's a subtler way to wear the same look.
This Tiny Gingerbread Man is cute, but keep him small to avoid the dreaded "tacky-factor" that nail art sometimes dangerously approaches. I swear, if you leave the house with giant gingerbread men on every single one of your fingers then we can't be friends any more.
Anyway, smoosh on a general gingerbread man shape in brown acrylic paint or a creme brown nail polish. Apply your red bow and the black dots to finish. You can use a toothpick dipped in black polish for the dots, or yes, even a black Sharpie.
Hanging Christmas Ornaments! Very cute. Paint your nails in whichever pine-tree green you deem appropriate. I used Zoya's "Irene."
Use either nail polish or acrylic paint to randomly place some colored ornament balls. Use a tiny dab of gold polish using a toothpick, or acrylic paint if you have it and finish by stringing them up so they look like they're hanging. The focus here is the ornaments, so keep your strings in a color that won't demand too much attention or you overall design might appear too busy. I went with a slightly different green, so the strings gently fade into the background while still remaining visible.
This Mistletoe design is as easy to create as the String of Lights, and they could easily be worn together because they use the same green and gemstones as their focal point. Apply a neutral background, adhere your gemstones or whatever you'll be using to represent the trio of red berries in the center and add two mistletoe leaves on each side to finish. Don't forget to seal with a clear topcoat to protect your work.
I hope there are at least a couple designs in this set that you'll like enough to try for the holiday season. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have in the comments section. Let me know if you have a favorite from this set, and have a lovely holiday season!
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About Asami
Asami is 23 and lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and cat. She enjoys painting watercolors, LOST, coffee and semicolons.
Shop Apothica for triple-milled silky mineral makeup from Glominerals Cosmetics; completely free of talc, perfumes or chemical dyes.
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This is incredible Asami!!! Thank you for all of the wonderful holiday inspiration and the step-by-step instructions for each one. You are truly an artist - these are all so gorgeous :)
Brooke, thank you so much! It makes me really happy to hear that you like these. My sister who lives in a different state wishes I was around to give her a Christmas manicure from this set. :)
I really love these! I'll be taking my nail polishes home over the holidays so I hope to be able to recreate some of them.
I got the beautiful Jinx color from Zoya and thought it would be cute to have all of my nails that color and then just two on each hand have a big red bow and some black dots... is that the huge gingerbread you were talking about that would make us un-friends? =P
JustSomeNailsByMJ, haha! No worries, two nails is always fine! I just don't want to see anyone running around with TEN gingerbread men, big ones covering each finger. Eek, it would be horrible. The Gingerbread Man design is definitely one of those... "better in moderation" sorts of things. :D
"Jinx" seems like it would make a great background color, metallics are great for the holidays and I love golds under the Wrapped Present look. I hope you post pics!
Those are all so beautifully done! My favorite one is the Christmas lights!
OMG!! this manicures are so beautiful you are so good doing nail art.. i'm so jealous =) <3
ohhh wow asami!!those are awesome my fave of them all are the bells and candy cane... thanks for sharing this...love it...
These are all just amazing, Asami! My favorites are the lights and the adorable little gingerbread man.
Thanks for adding instructions on how we can achieve this look on our own. I think I will be trying the candy cane french tomorrow. U think designs like this would only be capable by pros but u make it look so simple.
Fantastic post! Mini works of art, I love them all! They are so professional, I'd love to pay to have one of these designs on my nails!! Now, which one do I choose!? Gorgeous!! Xxx
Awesome designs Asami! I love every single one of them. You are very good with freehand acrylic drawing. Your lines are always so neat and straight! I have been practising but can never achieve your standards. I tried drawing snowflakes last night and failed miserably. *sobs* Ended up doing a totally different design from what I have planned. I'll post it up soon.
Beautiful BUT! I'm Jewish, could you add some designs for Hannukah? I just don't want to wear Christmas lights and I'd like to express some holiday spirit!
Wow, these are even cooler than the Halloween mix & match, I love the gingerbread man one as well as the candy cane!
Thank you so much, gildedangel, mayra, thriszha and Deb! I really appreciate the compliments and thank you for telling me your favorites. I hope you all have a lovely holiday. :)
blkprincess87, 87 - I think we were born in the same year! :)
I do hope you try the candy cane one, it's one of my favorites. Thanks so much for the compliment!
The Diva's Polish, thank you! If we lived in the same area I'd totally give you a free holiday mani. :)
Jin, thank you! But aw, I'm sad to hear your snowflakes didn't turn out! What did you use to draw them? I look forward to your upcoming post though, thanks for stopping by. :)
Absolutely beautiful.
I'm new to all of this. I have a Konad set coming for Christmas and some China Glaze polishes too.
I was wondering how you set the crystals onto the nail? I haven't had time to look over your whole blog but I will. I just found you.
I have a lot of Hot Fix Rhinestones. They are used for adding to T-Shirts and such. I know I would adhere then with heat but wondered if I could use those? HUM! Some of them are very tiny.
Great job,
Susie in northern NY
AHY, I've included some religiously-neutral designs within this set, namely the Snowflakes, Winter Trees and Wrapped Present. I'm sorry if they don't appeal to you but being as I am not a religious person myself, I try my best to stay away from anything too specific. I started planning these designs quite a while ago and I have no plans to create more holiday designs this month. 10 at once is actually quite a lot for me.
I do take requests occasionally but I'll be traveling next week and then taking my own holiday break so this is it for right now. Though I can't take on additional designs at this time, I welcome you to suggest any other theme ideas you may have in the future and hopefully I can make something then that you would like to wear.
I didn't mean to disappoint but I chose my subject material based on aesthetic reasons and simplicity of design, and not to make any kind of statement. I did however make a conscious decision to not include any crosses, the Star of David, or a "Jesus fish" as they are overtly religious symbols, and I try to stay away from any symbols that possess strong religious connotations.
Sorry. :(
Citrine, thank you! I love the "Mix & Match" thing because I can play around on a lot of fakes rather than having to apply the entire manicure on myself like I do on regular posts. I hope to do a "Mix & Match" for Valentine's Day too! But shhh... don't tell anyone. ;)
susies1955, yay, Konad! I bet you're excited to get your set; Konad is so much fun and I love mine. China Glaze is a great company as well, and you can use many of their creme or metallic polishes for Konad stamping!
To answer your question, yes you can definitely use really tiny iron-on gemstones on nails. Don't worry about using heat or anything to adhere them. The way to attach gemstones is to pick them up with tweezers, and stick them onto your nails while your polish is still tacky. I apply my color, stick on my gemstones and the tacky polish holds them in place until I'm ready to seal them in with a topcoat. You must always coat gemstones with a clear topcoat or they come off really easily. I sometimes even do two coats of topcoat just so the gems are really secure.
If you want to add gemstones to polish that's already dry, you can dab on a tiny dot of regular clear nail polish where you want your gem, pick up your gem with tweezers and stick it in place. Then topcoat, of course.
Feel free to ask me any more nail art questions that may come up! Have fun. :)
Yes, I'm very excited to get the Konad. I'm getting mostly in the metallic line as I heard they worked with Konad.
Thanks for all the tips.
Just one more question. UM, I'm 54! Is there an age limit on rhinestones and glittery stuff?
:) I mean I know I can do whatever ta heck I want but I don't want to be tacky either.
Thanks a bunch,
Susie
Very beautiful designs!!
you are very talented, congratulations!
Sometimes I just can't read your blog, because I'm so jealous. I wish I could do these designs. I never wear fake nails, so any design I do has to be on my own nails. I think I will try that light strand one, although I think the only rhinestones I have in that shape are clear, so I don't think it will be as cute. Love all of them!
Wow, so beautiful!!!
Awesome job Asami! I love the tiny gingerbread man and the cany-cane ones the most. May I ask what nail polish you used for the gingerbread man design, I'm really thinking about re-creating that look for the holidays?
Also, do you personally think it would be okay to do the candy-cane design on all 10 nails, or would that just be too tacky?
Hi Asami, I used a really small fine nail art brush to paint the snow flakes. It's the ones I featured in the same post as the magical rhinestone pick. I think I was trying to make a way too complicated snow flake design and the acrylic paint was a tad too thick. Would you be able to show us a photo of the brushes you've used to create the nail art? I am really happy to hear that you're looking forward to my next post!
This is one of my favorite nail polish posts ever! They are all great but I especially love the Christmas lights, the trees, the candy cane and the gingerbread man! I totally agree with you about the tacky factor too. One little gingerbread man with a manicure of whatever gorgeous color you used for his background is elegant and awesome!
thanks for posting all of these amazing designs asami! so much inspiration so little time ;) my favorites are the candy cane stripes and the little gingerbread man!
Beautiful! :D I love all of them, especially the snowflakes, Christmas lights and the gingerbread man!
The mini gingerbread man is so adorable! wow! so many designs... I don't know which one I want to try first! :P
Your work is absolutely stunning! I sincerely get excited when I see that you've added a new post :) You are so inspiring! Can't wait for your next tutorial!!
Wow, I absolutely love the fun holiday nail themes! I really like the red/peppermint and blue/snowflake french tips!
They are all so cute! I can't wait to try some of them.
Thanks for the designs! :)
wow i really love the candy cane, winter trees, and string of lights! so creative and cute :) i wish i had your mad skill!
that's amazing, really really gorgeous!! you're very talented :) i'm very impressed by them^^ keep the good work :)
drey jewelry design
Hi Asami,
my name is Thresa. I am new. I really love your nail art design. And they are on natural nails! I am wondering if I can contact you via email because I have an online store selling nail supplies (www.esthersnc.com) and I'd like to work together with you. Feel free to email me back at the email address on the website. Thank you very much,
I really like all of these but my favorites are the gingerbread man and the red ribbon.
Thanks for these ideas!
I'm definitely going to try some of them!
Btw I totally stole your idea: http://mindermutsigenagels.blogspot.com/2009/12/gingerbread-man.html
omg gorgeous. love the little gingerbread man <3
omg I love The Gingerbread Man!! true nail art!!
hi, i really liked the trees. i'll wear them on my toes on my next change. lol. i practiced drawing your gingerbread man but in the end i didn't use it. cute designs!
How cute! I wish I was able to paint my nails using one of your designs but, unfortunately, I had no time this holiday season D: Hopefully next time :(
Asami, I was wondering if you're going to post any nail tutorials pertaining to the New Year. I would love to see your interpretations!
Hi Asami
Thanks for visiting me. U have Awesome designs!
just followed u
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
It's waaay past Christmas and I'm only now oggling at your works of art! Oh, gorgeous! I especially love the Holiday Stars and the Snowflakes. :) I thought your reminder about not using ALL the designs at the same time was so funny! :D
Thank you so much for the comments, everyone. I really appreciate it and it means a lot to me. :)
I'm very sorry if I've missed anyone's questions on this post - I've waited so long to respond to these that I'm not sure anyone will check back so if I have missed your question, PLEASE feel free to re-ask on the most current post. I try to keep up with responding to all the comments but because I took a Christmas break after writing this post, I fell behind. Thank you for understanding and know that I do read every comment and appreciate them tremendously. :)
i love all of them !!! they're so cute :)
Amazingly done, really, these look sooo good! Thank you for the inspiration :)