Spring Checkerboard Nails

Spring Checkerboard Nails

So in honor of spring here is a checkerboard nail design in spring colors: pink, green, and silver. Now I used special nail tape to help make my lines even but if you want to you can just cut strips of tape and try to make them as even as possible. 

Tip: Open all of your nail polish bottles before starting

Fact: Wearing nail polish too often can make your nails turn yellow. I wear nail polish about every other week to keep this from happening. 

Supplies Needed:

• Nail tape (or regular tape)
• 3 different colors of polish
• Clear coat
• Not a fast nail project!  

Step 1: 

Start with a clear polish for a base coat. It doesn't have to be a base coat. I use my OPI top coat which works fine. 

 

Step 2:

Paint a light color for the next coat. Do 2-3 coats to makes sure that you get the desired color. A trick is to not paint your full nail. By not painting the sides your nails seem longer and thinner. If you look at my thumbs you can see that I didn't pain the full side, though it's barely noticeable. Let this dry completely before you do the next step. I slept with my nails like this just to make sure they were completely dry. Using OPI Rapi Dry   works well to help dry your nails quickly. 

 

Step 3: 

Once your nails have completely dried use strips to tape to make checkerboard pattern. You can make as few or as many boxes as you'd like. I use special nail tape that is made for things like this. Keep in mind what order your put the tape on so you can remove it in the opposite order later. 

Step 4:

Now fill in your boxes with different colors. I did mine in an alternating pattern so each nail wasn't like the one next to it. 

 

Step 5:

Let the nails dry for about 2 minutes before taking the tape off. Make sure to take it off in the opposite order that you put it on so that you don't end up pulling of more than one strip at a time. Then finish with a clear coat and let dry.

Questions, comments, or requests please post and let me know how it went! Any ideas for my next nails. I was thinking maybe a tribal print. . .