** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

Howdy! Happy 4th of July to all our friends on the south side of the border! Hope you have a great long weekend with friends, family, loved ones and some BBQ’d meats. At least that’s what I did on Canada Day!

Anyway, I want to celebrate this special day with my very first real nail-art attempt. I’m actually surprised with it since it’s my first ever design, although of course there is room for improvement. I made soooo many mistakes doing this, but that’s how we learn, right?

I had a lot of fun creating this Patriotic American Flag Nail Art… so much so that I’m thinking of doing an entire series on national flags! I’m hoping to take a vacation overseas soon and was just thinking (and getting excited) about traveling to a foreign land with its flag on my nails. OoOOo.

Patriotic American Flag Nail Art Swatches & Pictures

How to Create Patriotic American Flag Nails Tutorial

 

Step 1: Get your supplies ready!

Here’s what I used/you need:

• Blue: FingerPaints Laugh My Art Off
• Red: elf Medium Red
• White: elf White from the Nail Art Kit (Don’t use this. Mistake #1: I didn’t realize I don’t have real white nail polish until I started. This was the only white I own, and it doesn’t have a brush.)
• Base & top coats of your choice
• Scissors, tweezers & Scotch tape
• Brush, toothpick or dotting tool

Step 2: Paint your nails with the base coat, then your blue.

Wait for it to dry completely before moving on.

Step 3: Section your nails diagonally with Scotch tape.

Don’t make the tape too long, which I did in this picture. 🙁  I find it’s harder to make it stick to the curved ends your nails. And make sure it’s on tight. Have the design of where you want the white and blue in your head before you paint.

Step 4: Apply the white.

I suggest applying the nail polish in the direction away from the tape, in case your tape isn’t on properly. This will help prevent smudge lines which I got. 🙁 Wait for it to dry completely. (In this picture, I had removed the tape to show the design better, but you can keep it on for the next step.)

Step 5: Cut, then horizontally apply strips of tape using tweezers.

I think three stripes of white and three of red look good on my nails. But this depends on how much space you have. Make sure the tape is completely down.

Step 6: Apply your red.

Before you apply, make sure the stripes are the desired width. The red stripes on my middle finger are too thin, which I don’t like.

Step 7: Remove all tape & reveal!

Boo at the red leaking. 🙁

Step 8: Create stars (white dots).

You can use a thin brush, dotting tool or toothpick for this. I just randomly placed the stars.

Step 9: Apply a top coat to add shine & protection.

Make sure everything is dried though. I made another mistake of applying the top coat too soon – it smudged out my red, as you can see in my index and baby fingers.

What I learned:

• You need time & patience! 😛
• Make sure you have all the needed supplies before starting!!!
• Use good tape & make sure it’s completely down.
• Don’t cut the tape unnecessarily long.
• Use tweezers for picking up & applying tape strips.
• Wait until everything is dry before taping or applying a TC.
• Apply polish in the direction away from the tape.
• The white doesn’t have to be perfect, since you’ll go over it with red.

I hope you had fun with this patriotic nail design! Let me know if you have any tips for me; I’m just starting out and would love some advice! Next national flag nail design: the Canadian flag… but only after I get real white polish!

What do you think of this patriotic nail art? Would you change anything about it? What national flag would you like to see me attempt next?

Related Country Flag Nails:

• Canadian Flag Nail Art
• Hong Kong Flag Nail Art