I can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas! Since the day after Thanksgiving, my Handsome Husband and I have been busy decorating our home; even the laundry room has a wreath. Trees, garland, wreaths, stockings, snowmen, Santas, and the Nativity set are all in their proper places making nearly every room in the house festive. I’ve even decorated my office at work and changed my phone ring tone.

I’ve done some fun Pinterest inspired manicures that are seasonally appropriate every week, too. First I did my take on a beautiful Christmas Tree with a black background, which was a combination of two styles.

Then I did a tipped manicure with some Santa Bling that was inspired by these two manis.

I needed another idea for a Christmasy mani, so when I saw this pin, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I was very excited to already have the same or very similar China Glaze polish and the cute bling, so it seemed like this was meant to happen.

If you follow my blog, then you know that I always, ALWAYS give credit to the original source. Unfortunately, the site listed on the photo, ArtigoBeauty.com, is down. Google searches did not produce any other way to trace this source. Thankfully, the picture was simple enough to follow.

The Pintesting:

First I did a base coat and two coats of China Glaze Glistening Snow. This polish has some texture, so I did a top coat of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat and gave it a day to cure well.

The next day I added the “string” for the lights with a black Sharpie marker. It gave the right look and was easier to control than a thin black nail polish. I had my HH do my right hand.

These are the rhinestones that I used. There were 3,000 in the case when I had purchased them from Amazon for less than $3.00. (What a great deal!)

To apply, I put a coat of the top coat and used tweezers to place them where I wanted them to go on the “string” of lights. Do this quickly.

This is how the first one turned out. Once I placed all of the rhinestones, I covered each nail with another coat of the top coat. One benefit is that because it’s fast drying, there is less chance of smudges or other accidents that would mar the manicure.

This is the finished results. I was so excited to wear my mani while doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Sadly, I lost one rhinestone on my thumb while trying to get my payment card from my wallet. Then I found this base and top coat specifically made for rhinestones at Sally Beauty Supply. It’s too late to use it as a base coat for this manicure, but I put two coats after replacing the lost rhinestone and haven’t lost any more since.

I got lots of compliments on all of the manicures, but this one seemed to get the most so far. Now for the Pintesting results.

The Pintesting Results:

OVERALL RESULTS: 4.55 Pins

Accuracy:  The manicure turned out exactly like the picture. EXACTLY! 5 Pins

Difficulty:  Easy Peasy. Using a black Sharpie marker instead of the black nail polish really made this effortless. If you don’t like the way that the squiggly line turned out, just erase it with rubbing alcohol and do it again. 5 Pins

Time:  As fancy manis go, this one was fairly quick. One base coat, color, the squiggly line, the rhinestone application, and top coat. I let the base color cure overnight, but you could just use the fast-drying top coat and save the time. 4 Pins

Cost:  I happened to have everything on hand.  Even if I had to purchase everything except the base coat, it would still cost less than a regular manicure at a salon. The $3.99 for the special top coat was worth every penny, and it will last for many manis to come. 5 Pins

Practicality:  This is great for the holidays, but I was always worried that a rhinestone would fall off every time I reached in my wallet to remove a payment card since they’re wedged in there pretty tightly, or when I typed, cooked, ate, or did just about anything. It’s fun to wear and show off for an event, but this isn’t an easy manicure that would last for a week. Mine lasted 3 days so it gets 3 Pins.