DIY Turquoise Nails

I love tearing Pinterest ideas apart and bringing them back to reality. Like the gingerbread TARDIS, or the marshmallow Kahlua shots, or even the spider cookies, they were all massive failures. However, when I see others tear down Pinterest ideas, I see that as a challenge. Is it really as hard as they say? Will I fail as well? When I saw this post from MeAndMySoldierMan, she rips apart these turquoise nails, claiming they're "ridiculous" and you can just buy crackle top coat instead. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say...

...they're not ridiculous. 

If you have a half hour to spare, they're really not that hard to do yourself. All you need is:

1. White, black, blue, and clear nail polish

2. Q-tips

3. Rubbing alcohol

4. A spray bottle

5. A small container with water

6. Nail polish remover

Start by painting your nails white. Now you'll have to forgive me, I'm not the best at painting nails so bare with me and my sloppy work!

Once the white has dried, apply the blue/turquoise nail polish. Really, it can be any color you want, but I wanted mine to be as close to the original post as possible.

Once the blue has dried, it's time to prepare the black. In your small container of water, add 1 drop of black nail polish.

Spray the drop of nail polish with rubbing alcohol.

Immediately stick your finger in until the nail is completely covered (it's a quick in and out). 

Remove your nail and using your Q-tip and nail polish remover, remove the excess from around the nail. If you leave your finger in for too long, your nail will mostly turn out black (see below).

And if you wait too long before sticking your finger in the water, the rubbing alcohol and nail polish will act like algae and stick to your finger. It's kinda gross. So spray, dip in and out, and wipe off excess without any delays!

Once all the fingers are covered, paint a final clear top coat to seal the deal!

And there you have it folks - your very own turquoise nails! Sure, you could spend money on nail art to have them look like this but you'd only be able to wear it once and then you'd have to buy 'em again. This way, you can make 'em however many times you like!

TOTAL COSTS: Less than $10

$.99 for rubbing alcohol from Vons

$.99 for clear polish and white polish from Rite Aid (2 for 1)
$1.99 for black polish
$2.99 for blue polish
$1.99 for nail polish remover
Q-tips already on hand (though I suppose you could use paper towels)

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 30 minutes (almost to the second!)

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
They're really not hard to do at all, and this is coming from someone who can't paint inside the lines very well! I like how every nail can have a different design and is completely unique to anything anyone else might have!

DIY Cooling Pack That Won't Freeze!

Whelp, it's officially summer! The season for kids to fall off their bikes, runners to pull a muscle, and me to sweat my tail off. What do these things have in common? Ice packs. Sure, you could put some ice in a bag but it won't last very long because the ice will melt and sometimes the bag won't confirm to the shape you need it to. So I decided to take this tip from Ziploc's website and make my own cooling pack, which is awesome because in this California heat and lack of air conditioning, it'll be used almost daily!





To make one yourself, all you need is:

1. A plastic bag (I went with the quart size)
2. Rubbing alcohol
3. Water
4. Food coloring (optional)
5. Glitter (optional)




Mix three parts water to one part rubbing alcohol - I used 3 cups of water with 1 cup of rubbing alcohol. Next, add your food coloring (completely optional). 5 drops of blue did the trick!

And if you want to get fancy, a little glitter never hurt anyone.

Close up the bag and squeeze until all the ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Place it in your freezer until you're ready to use it!

I left mine in the freezer overnight and it was just as malleable as before!

If you're using this to cool yourself down in the summer months, the best places to put it would be your neck, armpits, groin, or behind the knee. Wherever an artery is close to the surface, you'll want to place the pack so you can keep your core temperature down. Keep cool and stay safe everyone!

TOTAL COSTS: About $4
$2.99 for box of Ziploc bags
$.99 for rubbing alcohol
Food coloring and glitter already on hand, both optional

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Less than 5 minutes to assemble + 1-2 hours in the freezer

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
This is very easy to put together and keep in the freezer. However, I might recommend duct taping the edges, as sometimes the water tends to try and leak out when you aren't looking!

Homemade Glass Cleaner vs. Windex

Nowadays it seems like everyone is much more aware of what chemicals are used in cleaning products than, say, 50 years ago. Many are resorting to making their own cleaning products but does that really make them "better"? Do they do the same job as the store-bought name brand cleaners? I decided to try this recipe from Instructables for homemade glass cleaner to see if it was worth the switch.

To make your own you'll need:

* An empty spray bottle (I used an old Lysol bottle)
* 1/2 cup of white vinegar
* 1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol
* 2 Tablespoons of corn starch
* 3-4 cups of warm water (I used about 3 1/2 cups until the bottle started to overflow!)

And to be fair, I tested against original Windex.

Start by adding all the ingredients to your bottle, leaving the water for last. If you don't have a funnel, you can easily make one out of paper (or Post-It notes!)

Once the water has been added, screw on the nozzle and shake it for a few seconds. Now you're ready to clean those windows! It's really hard to show the results in photos but I did make an attempt.

I covered two pieces of glass with chocolate and sprayed the left with the homemade solution and the right with Windex.

So both solutions worked just fine but I might add some bullet points the original post doesn't mention...

Homemade solution: 

   * Smells bad (if you're cleaning all of your windows, get used to the smell of vinegar!)

   * Leaves streaks

Windex solution:

   * Full of chemicals

   * Paper towel leaves lint (though that might be the fault of the paper towel, not the Windex)

In the end, it's really up to you. I didn't like the streaks, nor did I like the smell of vinegar, but at least I knew what was in the solution. If I had kids and was concerned for their health, perhaps I'd stick with the homemade glass cleaner. For now, though, I think I'll stick with the Windex.

TOTAL COSTS: About $6

$3.29 for white vinegar

$.99 for rubbing alcohol
$1.80 for corn starch
Empty Lysol bottle already on hand
Cost of Windex is $2.79 at Vons

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Less than 5 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5

There's nothing difficult about pouring all the ingredients into an empty bottle, it's just up to you whether you prefer this method over buying some over the counter!

Newspaper (or book) Nail Art

I'm not a big fan of painting my own nails, however I think I've had maybe 3 professional manicures in my life. When I saw this idea on Pinterest for newspaper art, I thought it was simple and easy enough for an amateur like me. I made a few mistakes here and there that I wouldn't want you to make, but for $2, this project is worth a try!

You'll need:

1. White nail polish 

2. Clear nail polish

3. Rubbing alcohol

4. Newspapers, phone book pages, etc. I don't recommend using book pages because I found the actual paper sticks to your nail instead of just the ink from the text (see below)

First, and this is optional and I didn't do it, put on a base layer of polish. If you want to skip this like I did, paint on your layer of white (mine was actually for french manicure tips, according to the bottle, but it worked perfectly). Wait for it to dry before applying another coat if needed.

Once it's dry, dip your finger into rubbing alcohol for 15-20 seconds.

 

Then immediately apply your newspaper/phone book pages/maps/whatever you want. I tried using old pages from a Harry Potter book that I had saved from my hollow book post. I waited for about 20 seconds before removing it.

As you can see, the book page didn't work so well...

So I tried again with pages from a phone book.

And voila! It worked!

Make sure to apply a clear top coat to all your nails so the ink doesn't come off.

And you're done! You could do crosswords, maps, receipts, whatever you like (so long as the paper isn't thick)! Be creative and enjoy this cheap and easy DIY!

TOTAL COSTS: About $2

$.99 for rubbing alcohol from Vons

$.99 for clear polish and white polish from Rite Aid (2 for 1)

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 hour

Keep in mind, I spent 20 minutes trying to make the book pages when I just should have given up!

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5

It's not hard, it just takes a couple of nails to get the process down pat.