These are a really great craft because you don't need many supplies and what you do need is pretty cheap! You'll need a bottle of nail polish (which I'm sure you all have bunches of!), a clear glass ornament (you can find these at any craft store, I think mine were $4.99 for a pack of 12), and a small jar with a paper towel in the bottom of it. I used China Glaze Santa Red My List for this one.
Remove the little silver cap from the ornament (duh). They pop out really easily, you just have to pull a little.
Dump a whole bunch of polish into that sucker. You'll be dumping most of the excess back into the nail polish bottle so don't be afraid to pour a lot in. It'll make your life easier!
Swirl the ornament around to completely coat the inside with the polish. Do it slowly to avoid bubbles. This can get time consuming if you are using a slightly thicker polish. I made some ornaments using textured polish and they took a while to coat and I had to keep adding more because the polish didn't flow as smoothly, BUT they turned out amazing, so it was totally worth it.
Once your ornament is thoroughly coated, pour the extra polish back into the bottle.
Once you get most of the polish back in the bottle (or you get tired of holding it), place the ornament upside down on top of your jar. The paper towels will catch the leftover polish and your ornament has a safe place to dry. Once it's dry (I left mine overnight), pop the ornament top back on and go put that beauty on your tree!
I used about 1/5 to 1/4 of a bottle of polish for each ornament. Pretty much any polish will work for these, but glitters/heavy shimmers/holographics will have the most stunning results. From left to right here I have:
Row 1: KBShimmer Don't Pink Twice, Teal Another Tail, Will Yule Marry Me?
Row 2: OPI DS Pewter, OPI Silent Stars Go By, Zoya Chita
Row 3: China Glaze Santa Red My List
And here is my beauty Will Yule Marry Me? on display. These little ornament hooks are a great way to show off your favorite polish ornament!
Will you be making some of these? What polish are you dying to see an ornament made from?
That looks adorable!
ReplyDeleteBut I'd be afraid of wasting my polish haha
For me, I'd probably stick to drugstore brand polishes for just that reason. Sure you don't get some of the depth and individuality but there are tons of amazing colors that you can make ornaments like this with and for less.
DeleteI wonder if they sell smaller clear ornaments? Then you could use less polish. :)
DeleteI made these using smaller ornaments - they came out beautifully and used a little less than 1/4 of the bottle. It also depends on the polish though - for example, those gritty China Glaze glitters (Glistening Snow) used much more than a regular shimmer. Such an amazing idea though! I made 30 in about 2-3 hours, now I'm obsessed!
DeleteMake your own polish colors by using a couple of those small bottles and some clear polish to boost the volume. =] I add iridescent and holographic glitter to mine.
DeleteOh, great idea! Your Crictmas Tree will be unique:)
ReplyDeleteWonderful tutorial and they look brilliant!! If I find some clear baubles, I'll go for it!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm totally going to make some of these! I've been wanting to for awhile now. The ones you made are so pretty! I just have to decide if I want to use my more expensive polishes or just go out and find some cheap ones. I'm torn; I don't want to waste any of my favorites yet they would look stunning as ornaments. Decisions, decisions. Lol.
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time deciding to use Will Yule Marry Me? but I figured it would be admired more on the tree since I don't wear it constantly on my nails!
DeleteThis is awesome! And your space/background looks so gorgeous! I bet your house is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks Emily! <3
DeleteThis is amazing!!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!! Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic idea for the upcoming holidays! I wouldn't use my rare-to-find glitters and holos, but I'll definitely browse through my "use them up" box :D
ReplyDeleteDaaaaw! So cute!!! Now you can have ornaments of whatever color you want xD :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing:)
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome idea! :D I LOVE the Will Yule Marry Me? ornament! Thanks for sharing~
ReplyDeleteWow these look great! Such an awesome idea to help you get exactly the colors you want on your tree! <3 probably going to try out one or two this year !
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful! Thank you for the tutorial! I think I'll make some as gifts this year and spread my polish love around a bit. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome ♡
ReplyDeleteOh my God! That's an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteEspecially if we have some old or less liked polishes ;)
Stunning! :)
ReplyDeleteVery cool idea!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I really want to try doing this now!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to do this for a while and its finally Christmas time! Yours came out gorgeous, I hope mine do too!
ReplyDeleteoooohhh pretty!! I don't know If I can bear to use my "good" polish though! but how cool would a multichrome ornament look??? I bet if you did the multichrome first, let it dry completely, then did black it would make the colors pop out! -Maybe I'll be brave and try because I do have some dupes -especially if I can find mini ornaments? lol Thanks for the Cool Idea!!!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of trying that with KBShimmer Myth You Lots and then putting black in after it dries! Let me know how it works if you try it!
DeleteI've made a ton of these and you can layer polishes inside just as you would on your nails (only backwards, if that makes sense!) you just have to make sure the first layer is completely dry (a couple days dry is best). You can also use multiple colors at a time just tilting the ornament and pouring the different colors down the sides in a few different places then start spinning the orb to get the colors to mix and coat the whole inside. I also "drain" mine in a cardboard egg carton (I learned the hard way that mail polish eats through styrofoam rather quickly and ended up with nail polish all over my treadmill belt, the hubs was NOT pleased!)!
DeleteWow, fantastic!! Imagine how deborah lippmann glitter and be gay will hurt my eyes)))))
ReplyDeleteThese are so amazing! I have more nail polish than I could ever use on my fingers, so I think it'd be a great way to feel like I'm getting my use out of it =)
ReplyDeleteOh wow this is an amazing idea :D
ReplyDeleteI have been waiting for this tutorial, thanks so much! I will be on the look out for clear glass ornaments :D
ReplyDeleteThis looks so cool :) I have been stamping on ornaments for a few years but this I have never tried...love to try it..so have to find some clear ornaments.
ReplyDeleteAmazing ideas! So pretty!
ReplyDeleteWow, so fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThe one with Pewter looks amazing <3
ReplyDeleteso pretty but I'm also way too cheap to use my polishes... however if you google using floor polish and glitter you can make ones that look pretty similar on a budget, or you could use those $1 sparkly craft paints too.
ReplyDeleteI've made a couple with the floor polish and glitter but I love the nail polish ones way more. Plus, I have wayyyy too much polish, so this is the more cost-effective option for me!
DeleteThese look so awesome, there are no words. ^^
ReplyDeleteAmazing idea! :)
ReplyDeleteOH. MY. GOD. This is the most awesome thing ever and I am sooooooo gonna try this :D I'll maybe try and find smaller balls because a. it uses less polish and b. we have a tiny tree (I actually do wanna use them for decorating the tree!).
ReplyDeleteHobby Lobby has little glass ornaments! :)
DeleteUnfortunately no Hobby Lobby here, but I did find them (16 for around $5, not too bad. They are so cute in size!)
DeleteDId it and love it! Going to use as my swatches at my next two shows hanging from my tent!
ReplyDeleteI'm as excited as everyone else to try this! I actually have found I have a preference for wearing polishes that aren't holos or duochromes (I must be a mutant...please don't throw things at me :) ) but, of course, only found that out after buying several more expensive holos and duos. Now I have a purpose for those polishes where I'll properly appreciate them! Thank you so much for such a timely and well-written tutorial!
ReplyDeleteI currently have Lava, a gorgeous pink/orange/gold prism from Sally Hansen’s Lustre Shine Collection drying as my first attempt with this craft technique. It's actually the polish in my collection I immediately thought of in response to your question above, "What polish are you dying to see an ornament made from?" I have just left it on the kitchen counter, dripping away on top of a glass jar onto paper towels. However, I'm already so taken with how pretty it is, I'm dying to go start pouring other polishes into the remaining clear glass ornaments I bought just yesterday to try this out! Happy Thanksgiving!
DeleteDelphi,
DeleteWould you consider selling any of your holos/duochromes? If you aren't using them all for ornaments of course!
Kimberly
this is the coolest thing i've seen i am definitely going to do this! nail polish really is so versatile :)
ReplyDeletegreat for those hard to match colors (decorating your home). very cool.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAwesome idea. I'd use dollar store or other really cheap polishes for this. No way I would use 7-10 dollar polishes :)
ReplyDeleteOh my Will Yule Marry Me is stunning!
ReplyDeleteI think that if I were to try it, I would add a few drops of polish thinner, so I don't have to use 1/4 of my fav polishes. But what a great idea :)
I tried that and found that they took a LOT longer to dry and the polish actually ended up separating inside the bulb (with most of the polishes I tried thinning, but not all) and I ended up with a sort of crackle texture that took a couple days to dry. You can layer colors in these so some of the crackley ones ended up looking pretty cool but it wasn't the effect I was going for.
DeleteYeah, the thinner doesn't work well! I tried it with one polish and ended up having to use two or three coats and it still didn't look good.
DeleteI made some of these a few years ago! I used clear ornaments I got at the 99cent store and $1 nail polish. They came out great. I wouldn't use a "good" brand like China Glaze or OPI, I'd be afraid of wasting it. :)
ReplyDeleteI WILL BE Copying this HOPEFULLY this year.
ReplyDeleteShall give you credit of course if I do.
This is AMAZING!! SO gorgeous.
This is amazing, but i love my polishes ... wouldn't use them for this purpose :-(.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see China Glaze - Flying Dragon
Wow you guys, I just made one using OPI DS Lapis - STUNNING!!!! Don't worry about using your really good polishes - think about it, are you really ever going to use the whole bottle??? The end result is so worth it - you can enjoy the polish more by having it in an ornament!!
ReplyDeleteI've been making these for a couple of weeks now. At first I was worried about using the " good" stuff, but quickly got past that when I realized that I never, ever use a whole bottle. I even did one with Fantasy Fire. I figure I would be able to enjoy it for a lot longer than a manicure would last. There is a bit of trial and error and you HAVE to wait until one layer is totaly dry before adding another. I discovered this the hard way. Also not every polish plays nice with the others. Its been fun experimenting. I'm so glad to see so many people making them !!
ReplyDeleteCan I use any other types of cups instead of glass? I would like to do this with my students.
ReplyDeleteI so love this idea but am so worried they will start fire on a christmas tree since nail polish is flammable am i crazy or what
ReplyDeleteOnce it dries, most if not all of the flammable parts of the polish will have evaporated. Not to mention if there was a spark or flame by your tree that could possibly ignite nail polish, you're going to end up with a fire anyway...regardless of if there is a polish ornament on your tree.
Delete