Nail Polish Flowers – Part One

Nail Polish Flowers – Part One (You Are Here)
Nail Polish Flowers – Part Two
Nail Polish Flowers – Part Three

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you would have seen this sneak peak:

That’s right. I am tackling the nail polish and wire flower pin from Pinterest. This DIY caught my eye a while ago but the only instructions I could find were in foreign languages. After some experimentation and additional research, I felt ready to tackle this beautiful project. Want to make your own? Follow along!

First, gather your supplies. You will need:

1. Wire: I tested this DIY with 20 and 26 gauge wire and both worked just fine though 26 gauge yielded flowers with petals closer together. Pick any colour and metal type you prefer.

2. Nail Polish: The best nail polishes to use are medium to thick in consistency, with no large sparkles or special effects; however, other nail polishes DO work. I even managed to get a crackle top coat to work, I just had to make several layers to fill the holes that would appear once dried.

3. Wire Cutter/Scissors: You will need something to cut the wire with and I suggest wire cutters for jewelry wire. If you do not have this, NO WORRIES, just grab a pair of scissors.

4. Shaping Tool: No need to get fancy here. You can use a stick, pencil, pen, or anything small and circular. This is just used for the initial shaping of your flower petals and/or leaves. I used a mix of a pen and a jewelry tool in my photos.

5. Gloves: If you want to stay on the safe side and avoid blisters, wear gloves. The wire ends can prick you and cause minor injuries. Also, be careful to keep the wire ends away from your face!

Cut the wire to your desired length. I suggest starting with a 6” or 15cm portion of wire. Keep in mind what you want to use the flowers for and adjust the length accordingly but wire can always be added by twisting new pieces together with the stem. From here on, it may be useful to also watch Sigrid Soto’s video tutorial HERE. Watching the process can be much easier to learn from than just looking at pictures though I have made some adaptations that you will see over the course of this series.

*Sorry about the photo quality!

There are two methods to shape your wire and today I will share the “neater” version. This version requires you to hold the starting end of the wire below the shaping tool and wrap it around the tool for as many times as you want petals. Try starting with 4 or 5 times/petals. Push together the loops and slowly slide off the shaping tool. It should come out looking like a spring.

Cut another small piece of wire (3” or 7.5”) and feed it through the loops you created. Push both ends of this short wire down towards the stem and twist together with the stem. This ensures your loops are set and will not fall apart.

Now that they are set, spread your petals apart. Start by halving the petals and pushing one half to the “top” of the flower, and the other to the bottom. Then separate each petal using your fingers and spread the petals apart until you reach your flower shape.

Now it is time to break out the nail polish. Load your brush with polish and set it under one petal near the stem. Hold the brush in such a way that it completely covers the petal. Slide the brush up to the tip of the petal ensuring contact with all sides of the petal at all times. THIS IS KEY. The brush must have contact with all “sides” of the petal. The pictures below show what to do but I am using a dry brush to demonstrate as there is no time to take pictures while doing this!

In the end you should eventually get a bubble-like covering over the petal. This will take several tries but do not give up! It is entirely possible. See:

Wait for the polish to completely dry and add additional coats until you achieve your preferred look. I recommended at least two coats to ensure consistency.

Once dried, you can easily bend the wire frame of each petal to form more realistic flowers. Just avoid pinching or pushing through the nail polish, it can break though you can just clean it off and start over. It is a fairly forgiving project.

So play around with these flowers. Find a design you like and make it yours! In two weeks I will share the other method of shaping your flowers which yields a larger flower. Later on I will show ideas for how to use your flower in things like décor, jewelry, and accessories.

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Please share your creation! I would love to see your spin on this project!

And shout out to Sigrid for her amazing video!