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Home » 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s » Tie Dye Nails

Tie Dye Nails

July 15, 2011 By Jamie Dorobek 83 Comments

Need a fun summer activity?  Try tye dying your nails!
Nail design
 

 

What You Need to Tie Dye Your Nails

  • glass bowl
  • room temperature water
  • toothpick
  • a few nail polish colors
  • tape
  • nail polish remover

How to Tie Dye Your Nails

Step 1- Paint a base coat

Paint your finger nails a base coat. I prefer white, but any solid light color will work.
 

Step 2 – Tape

Use clear Scotch tape to tape around your nails the best you can. Annie used clear tape so it is hard to see!
 
Nail design

 

Step 3 – Bullseye

This process needs to be done quickly to avoid letting the nail polish dry. Fill your bowl up 3/4 of the way with water and drop your nail polish in one after the other to make a bulls eye pattern in the center of your plastic cup.

Nail design
 
 

Step 4 – Multiple colors

Continue forming the bulls eye until you have 6- 12 circles in your bulls eye.  Nail design

Step 5 – Toothpick Design

Use a toothpick to create a design with the nail polish bulls eye.
 
Nail design
 

Step 6 – Dunk your nail

This step needs to be down quickly or else the nail polish will dry. Place your nail, palm up and dip it into the center of the bulls eye. Turn your nail over under the water and pull it out.

 

Step 7 – Repeat

Repeat steps 3-6 for each nail. You have to make a new bullseye for each nail.

Nail design

Step 8 – Clean up

Use nail polish remover to clean up around your nails. Or take a hot shower and peel the paint off with your fingers!

 

Tie Dye Nails
 

PS:  These are Annie’s pictures and awesome nails, not mine.

Filed Under: 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s, Kid Crafts Tagged With: how to, kid craft, nail art, tie dye nails

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Comments

  1. Dani says

    May 19, 2012 at 5:31 pm

    Here are a few tips and modifications to make life a little easier with this:

    1) Use lukewarm, aka room temperature water.
    2) Use dixie cups so you don’t damage your dishes.
    3) Instead of using tape, use a makeup brush to “paint” vaseline around your nails and as far down your finger as it will be submerged in the water. This way, you can simply wipe it off on a paper towel and then use a toothpick to remove the nail polish that is close to the nail so you don’t damage what you want to remain.

    Reply
    • Jamie D. says

      May 19, 2012 at 11:08 pm

      Thanks for the tips 🙂

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        July 8, 2012 at 4:06 am

        also, when you use your nail polish it needs to be a great brand…a.k.a not cheap nail polish. when the polish hits the water it needs to spread apart as soon as you drop it in the water. when you dip your nail in make sure you line your nail facing down in the water and when you do this keep your nail under the water for about ten seconds. take a toothpick and swirl around your finger in the water to pick up the excess polish off the water….this makes it so much easier

        Reply
        • Jamie D. says

          July 8, 2012 at 8:35 pm

          great tips! the good nail polish is a MUST!

          Reply
    • Tabby says

      January 30, 2013 at 12:51 am

      You can also dip two nails at once. Major time saver. You don’t have to drop the nail in the center. I find the design I like the best and dip there. Where ever u dip is the design that will b transferred. This is super cool designs and gets many compliments! I’ve been doing this for about a year. I love it! I also use the vaseline. I use bottled water, as I find tap water doesn’t work well, causing the polish to sink or dry too fast. I bough me a small Tupperware container that I use for this purpose alone. I use it over and over. White base coat brings the brightest nail color design… Another tip, if your polish is thick and hard to drip, use a straw and drop a few drops (2 or 3) of polish remover into the bottle and shake it up. This really helps to thin it out to make it more manageable.

      Reply
  2. SweetCarol says

    May 14, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    Just after Easter I had my toenails and fingernails painted in Easter Egg colors. I did have the right one match the left but I have pink sparkle, lime green, bright yellow, orange and blue (robin egg blue). I went to the salon to have them done. After I bought some cheap nail polish at the store and took it to CA with me to see my granddaughter (she was being baptised at 8) and we painted her nails and I left the polish there so she could do it again. My toenails still look great but i lost the color on my fingernails long ago. It never lasts on my fingernails. I got a compliment on the nails just after got it down when I went to a fast food place to grab something before I headed to another place. the tie dye look is neat, but sure looked sloppy to get the stuff off. So that is acrylic paint rather than nail polish?

    Reply
  3. kp7897 says

    May 4, 2012 at 8:18 pm

    What if your nail polish doesn't spread out like oil? We weren't able to make a bulls eye pattern….

    Reply
    • Pauline says

      September 20, 2012 at 11:15 pm

      Try using distiller water

      Reply
  4. Jamie Dorobek says

    April 29, 2012 at 8:21 pm

    You're welcome! Thanks for letting me know… Your nails turned out great 🙂

    Reply
  5. FestObsessed says

    April 29, 2012 at 7:40 pm

    Thanks so much for posting this! I decided to try it myself. If you're interested in seeing my process/results check out http://festobsessed.com/2012/04/tie-dye-nails/

    Seriously thank you for this guide. I never thought I'd be able to make my nails so cool, so easily.

    -Lindsey

    Reply
  6. Jessie P. says

    November 21, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    umm why not just put the polish on the nail and use a toothpick or something to marble them?? Does it create a different effect or something?

    Reply
  7. Carey says

    October 8, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    It is a lot harder than it looks. My daughter and her friend tried this and it never really worked, so they gave up. Maybe there is an easier way.

    Reply
  8. Lucy says

    September 25, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    This is so very cool! Can't believe how good it looks! I actually saw this as a Youtube vid before I saw this but was linked by a friend as they know I adore this sort of thing!
    Looks awesome, will give it a try soon 🙂 xx

    Reply
  9. Cajun Cowgirl says

    August 30, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    Just found this via pinterest and tried tonight. How in the heck did you get it to work? When I put my fingers in the polish blurred all together. Any hints?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      August 10, 2012 at 9:42 pm

      The same thing happen to me before I read this and I only got one nail to look good! Also the colors didn’t spread in the plastic cup I used. But this tutorial made me want to try again! Tips??

      Reply
  10. C.R.A.F.T. says

    August 3, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    Thank you for the vasaoline and chapstick tips!

    Reply
  11. Laura says

    August 1, 2011 at 10:53 pm

    You can also put Chapstick around your nails and it wipes right off. I would suggest having lots of Qtips and toothpicks available because this can get messy and having all the tools ready helps a lot.

    Reply
  12. Molly Jean says

    July 31, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    Adorable!

    Reply
  13. Beth @ Free Stylin' says

    July 31, 2011 at 12:06 am

    These turned out so CUTE!! Love the colors you chose. Thanks for the tips…I also enjoyed the video!

    Reply
  14. Michelle L. says

    July 29, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    Wow!!! Great tutorial!

    Reply
  15. Brooke says

    July 29, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    I have been told that if you put vasoline around your nails (instead of the tape, the polish won't stain your fingers and wipes right off.

    Reply
    • emily says

      June 19, 2014 at 3:24 pm

      I used Vaseline, and it really did work. The polish just peeled right off 🙂

      Reply
  16. Kirsten @ Mushki Loves says

    July 17, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    I love the colors! Thank you for this great tutorial!

    Reply
  17. Savannah says

    July 17, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    This is such a perfect/fun sumer activity. I may just have to have a girl's night with my roommates and make our own nails tie-dye 🙂

    Reply
  18. Six Sisters says

    July 16, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    These look awesome! I can't wait to try this! We would love for you to come share this at our "Strut Your Stuff Saturday" link party! http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/07/strut-your-stuff-saturday-week-2.html

    Love,
    The Sisters @ sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com

    Reply
  19. Karen @ Goodbyecityhellosuburb says

    July 16, 2011 at 10:50 am

    I get so excited when I see something new! I always have my toes painted and this is fun for the summer! I'd love it if you shared this with WorkShop Wednesday this coming wednesday. It would be a nice addition to the party!

    Reply
  20. Debbi Does Dinner Healthy says

    July 16, 2011 at 10:13 am

    My 12 year old will LOVE this!! How fun, thanks!

    Reply
  21. Topaz says

    July 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

    Dumb question of the day – when you say repeat for each nail, do you mean the entire process with the polish drops, etc., or just dip each nail separately?

    Reply
    • steph says

      June 21, 2012 at 5:35 pm

      the entire process including the polish drops its long and tedious but but it looks really cool in the end 😀

      Reply
      • Jamie D. says

        June 21, 2012 at 7:01 pm

        It’s a fun process!

        Reply
  22. Brittany says

    July 16, 2011 at 12:33 am

    Okay, that's totally awesome!! I have to attempt it now! 😛

    Reply
  23. Katie says

    July 15, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    Oh man, I tried this and failed super miserably. I only got one nail to look decent but that one nail actually looks super awesome. Maybe I'll try it again. 🙂

    Reply
  24. Tanya says

    July 15, 2011 at 8:13 pm

    There's so much I apparently don't know about the girlier things in life! So stinking cool!

    Reply
  25. C.R.A.F.T. says

    July 15, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    I haven't actually tried it yet… hopefully, this weekend Annie will give me a manicure 🙂 {fingers crossed!} I'll let you all know how it goes via facebook!

    Reply
  26. eclypsechic says

    July 15, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    That is so cool! I can't wait to try.

    Reply
  27. egbkid says

    July 15, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    I love it! I can't wear colour on my fingers, though, because I can't take it off! Polish remover irritates my skin. I colour my toe nails, since I can just stack the colours and let it chip; I'd love to do this but I am sure it would be very akward dipping the toes in the water!

    Reply
    • Lynne Clay says

      March 2, 2015 at 7:11 am

      Try this then. Make up the polish bull’s eye and instead of placing your finger in the polish, place a circle of plastic ( cut up baggie works well ) over the polish. Pull the plastic off the water with a pair of tweezers and place on a paper towel, paint side up to dry. This takes about a day. Then cut the dried polish circle to fit your nail shape. ( you should have enough to do five fingers with one circle ) Put on a base coat to act as glue, while the base coat is still tacky, peel off polish from plastic and put on nail. Let dry & put on top coat.making sure to coat the tip of your nail and the underside of tip also. Enjoy!
      After it’s worn a while ( about 1 -2 weeks) it will chip off or you can pop it off with an orange stick, leaving only the base coat that is clear behind.
      Hope this helps you out.

      Reply
      • Jeanine says

        June 25, 2017 at 8:16 am

        What an awesome suggestion for someone who doesn’t tolerate nail polish remover! Also fo the rest of us to try as well. I may have to try this with a larger size bowl and ziplock as some of us struggle to do both hands equally as well.

        Reply
  28. Kelly @ Run With Glitter says

    July 15, 2011 at 10:26 am

    That looks so cool!!!!
    I will have to give it a try sometime! http://runwithglitter.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  29. becky says

    July 15, 2011 at 10:23 am

    How neat is that! I can't wait to try that! Thanks for the great info!

    Reply
  30. Lindsay says

    July 15, 2011 at 9:36 am

    ooh that looks fun!
    This summer I've been loving all of the cool colors, blues, greens, purples. Really I love them all!

    Reply
    • Kaitlyn says

      June 27, 2012 at 7:14 pm

      Please don’t try this.. I tried it myself and got fingernail polish stuck on my fingernails and skin..

      Reply
      • Aly says

        July 3, 2012 at 1:31 pm

        Did you remember to tape your nails? Also if you dip a Q tip in nail polish remover you can clean around the nail without ruining the design.

        Reply
        • Mary P says

          July 15, 2012 at 2:07 pm

          While I myself have never tried it ( because I wasnt sure how to do it til now,lol ) several ladies around my area have done it and loved it!

          Reply
      • pat hall says

        September 8, 2012 at 10:39 am

        don’t use tape ,take a Q tip and vasoline and put it all around your nail and finger ,the polish can’t stick on it. Use a good amount making sure you don’t get it on the nail.

        Reply
        • Megan says

          March 10, 2013 at 5:15 pm

          Does that actually work? Tape seems difficult and I wanted to know if vasoline really worked be for I did it.

          Reply
        • Naail says

          April 27, 2013 at 2:32 am

          Hi!! Just wondering whats a Q tip?? Thx 😀

          Reply
          • CheesySmiles says

            February 26, 2014 at 6:03 pm

            a Q-tip is a little stick with cotton stuck on both ends. People usually use them to clean ear wax out of their ears, but they can also be used for things such as removing nail polish and fine-tuning designs that need the edges cleaned up. 🙂

      • JesseLaine says

        January 30, 2013 at 7:43 am

        Sweety,it says it will get messy….
        Everyone,i would advise trying it,besides,life wouldn’t be fun if we couldn’t make a mess!

        Reply
      • khalayah cowan says

        June 4, 2013 at 12:23 pm

        thats why they said use nail polish remover duah girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you read are you stupid or something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        Reply
        • Bekind Daily says

          June 7, 2014 at 10:01 am

          Do you really have to resort to belitting name calling? I thought we were here to offer help not criticism. Have a nice day ♡

          Reply
        • Brooke says

          June 4, 2017 at 1:37 am

          You dont have to be a jerk not everybody is as up to date as you obviously are

          Reply
    • Taylor says

      March 7, 2013 at 10:21 pm

      This wouldn’t work for me. It all got stuck to the tape instead of my nail..

      Reply
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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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