What You’ll Need: clear base and top coat; electric blue nail polish; white nail polish; dark blue, white, yellow, and red acrylic paint; fine-tipped brush; blue and silver jewel rhinestones or decals; glue; tweezers.
Tip: This design uses a straight French tip, but it can be modified to a traditional French tip by using three-ring-binder stickers to create the curve in both colors. If you modify, make sure to let the first color dry completely before applying the stickers for the second color.
1. Apply a clear base coat.
2. On the index finger, paint two coats of electric blue polish.
3. On the rest of the nails, paint the tops with two coats of white polish, stopping about midway down the nail.
4. After the white polish has dried (about five minutes), using a fine-tipped brush and electric blue polish, draw a line halfway up the white.
5. For Tuxedosam, using a fine-tipped brush and white paint, start by drawing a half-moon at the bed of the nail and then coloring it in for the belly.
6. For the beak, use yellow paint to draw a loose horizontal half oval shape over the border of the blue and the white at the top of the white belly. Draw the feet by making half oval shapes and then, at the top, jagged edges with three peaks.
7. Right below the yellow beak in the white belly, using red paint, draw two small triangles facing each other with points touching to create the bow tie.
8. Using a fine-tipped brush and dark blue paint, draw a thin outline around each of the elements including the border of the white and the blue.
9. For the eyes, add two dark blue dots above the beak on either side. For the hat, use white paint to draw a half-moon shape at the top right corner of the nail and fill it in with white paint. Outline the border of the hat in dark blue, then add a second blue curved line through the white in the middle of the hat.
10. Using top coat or glue and tweezers, apply the jewels, alternating blue and silver jewels in a diagonal pattern on the pinky and ring fingernails and thumbnails. Apply a more elaborate design on the middle finger using larger jewels or more jewels. Apply a small dot of glue for each stone, making sure not to use too much and not to push the jewel too far into the glue.
11. Apply a clear top coat to all nails, including over the jewels.
