Toenail Art For Beginners: DIY Toenail Art Is Easy, Fun & Thrifty

It always feels great to leave the nail salon with a fresh pedicure and pretty designs on your nails. In fact, it feels so great you might not even grieve too much about the lightness of your wallet. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the happy feeling of beautifully decorated toenails and keep your money in your pocket?

You may be surprised to know that thrifty DIY toenail art for beginners is easy and fun. In this article, we will present some smart ideas to help you create stunning toenail art at home using simple tools. Read on to learn more.

Start with the basics

There are certainly lots of wonderful devices you can buy to create beautiful toe nail art, but if you are short on funds you can be creative and use simple equipment. A good pedicure set, a package of nail art brushes and a box of toothpicks are all you really need to give yourself a professional home pedicure and finish up with some gorgeous, one-of-a-kind nail art.

As with any craft, the quality of your tools and materials has a big effect on your end results. Don’t by bargain basement nail polish. It’s better to have a small collection of high quality polish than a vast array of cheap, low quality colours. You’ll need:

  • An assortment of half a dozen basic polishes
  • A good, strong clear gloss base
  • French manicure pen
  • Nail polish remover
  • Acrylic craft paints
  • Clear nail polish
  • Nail art brushes
  • Cotton swabs
  • Cotton balls
  • Toothpicks

While all of these things are not absolutely necessary to get started, if you have a nail art kit that contains these items, you will be able to do a lot of wonderful things. If you are going to do French manicures, you will naturally need a good base white and a tough clear topcoat.

Alternately, you may wish to purchase a French manicure pen, which makes this type of nail art extremely easy. Acrylic craft paints aren’t absolutely necessary, but they can add a touch of fun.

Begin with a clean “canvas”

Before you begin creating, you will need to prepare your surface. Start by gathering all your materials into one place for convenience.

  • Use the cotton swabs and polish remover to clean your nails.
  • Follow the steps presented in the pedicure video at the end of this article to perform a thorough pedicure and then apply the clear base coat to your nails.
  • Allow your base coat to dry and then apply the base colour of your choice.

Again, provide ample time for drying. Once you have prepared a good base, you can begin creating your designs.

Simple nail designs you can create using basic tools

Use your imagination and just keep the basic concept of symmetry in mind to create designs of your own. You can create some really intricate free-hand designs with a tool as simple as a toothpick. Using a toothpick, you can draw tiny free-hand hearts, stars, flowers, sunbursts, lines and more.

Don’t be stingy with the toothpicks. Be sure to wipe off the tip between dips into your acrylic paint or nail polish. If the tip of the toothpick becomes blunted, toss it and use a fresh one. Using a sharp, clean implement will keep your designs fresh and crisp

1. Wavy lines

Tidy arrangements of apparently random lines in several colours can make a very attractive design. You could begin with a solid basecoat and then draw thin, slightly wavy lines radiating from an upper corner of your big toenail and outward over the nail. Match this effect on both big toenails and then pick up the colour with small dots on the remaining nails if you wish.

You can use a toothpick or nail art brushes to create this effect. If you don’t have either, use the brush that comes with your nail polish, but be sure to use only a very small amount of polish on the brush to avoid having drops and globs on your nails.

Once you are satisfied with your design, allow it to dry thoroughly and top it off with a coat of clear polish for protection and a longer lasting pedicure.

2. Floral patterns

Flowers are also very easy to create because you just need to make a series of tidy dots to create a pretty, simple blossom. Begin by selecting the colour you want to create the centre of the flower. Place a dot of that colour on your big toenail, being sure to leave plenty of room around it for petals.

Next, choose the colour you want for the petals and encircle your central dot with smaller dots in that color. If you want to get fancy, you can create some swirly dotted lines as shown in the video below.

3. Viva la France!

Another form of toe nail art is the French pedicure. This is a very simple way to decorate your toenails, and the end result is just simple, very clean and neat looking nails. Even so, it can be a bit tricky because you want precise results.

Begin with a coat of clear polish, applied and dried thoroughly on each nail. Use white nail polish to paint only the tips of the nail. You can do this with a toothpick or a very thin nail art brush.

As far as technique goes, you can either sweep the white polish from one side of the nail to the other, or you can carefully apply it in little dabs. Choose the method that is easiest for you.

If you find it very difficult to make a smooth, clean white line at the edge of your nail, you might want to invest in a French manicure pen. This makes the task extremely easy.

4. Summer fun

You can also use the basic concept of the French manicure to create watermelon nails. Instead of clear polish, paint your toenails with pink polish. Use green polish to paint the tips. Finish off by dotting your nails with a few tiny black seeds. This is a fun look for a summertime picnic.

What if I make a mess?

You may not get perfect results the first time, but keep trying and keep practicing. While it may seem that you would need artistic capabilities to create nail art, the fact is you really just need practice, patience and a steady hand.

Nail art is made up mostly of simple shapes attractively arranged. A little trial and error and a bit of patience will soon render pretty, satisfying, thrifty results. Once you have mastered the basics, you are sure to feel your own creativity kicking in. Before you know it, you will be creating your own unique, beautiful nail designs.

Toenail art for beginners – 4 videos

Refer to these carefully curated videos to see how to perform a complete pedicure, create these toenail art designs and more!

1. Pedicure tips & toe nail art for perfect toenails by cute nails:

2. Easy Pedicure Nail Art!!! Three Cute Designs! by Jenny Claire Fox:

3. French Pedicure Uneven Toes Art Black Lace Easy Beginners Tutorial:

4. Baby Blue, Floral Toenail Art, Pedicure Tutorial by MyDesigns4You Nail Art:

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