Newspaper nails for literary hands

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Nail

Whether you're having a bookish wedding or not, the newspaper nail trend is bang on. Some brides incorporate a meaningful book or text via their bouquet or a ring book, but you can put the words you love right on your nails! Check out the tutorial on how to make this look last.

  1. Use a clear basecoat.
  2. Paint your nails using a light color like white or gray.
  3. Dip your nails in rubbing alcohol for 5 seconds.
  4. Press the newspaper or page to your nail for a few seconds and then peel off slowly.
  5. Add a clear topcoat to prevent the words from rubbing off.
  6. WIN

Rumor has it that you can use plain water if you don't want to use rubbing alcohol.

Youtube user CutePolish even has a video to make this tutorial a no-brainer:

If you end up trying this (or already have), let us know in the comments.

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Comments on Newspaper nails for literary hands

  1. You can do this with any print, works especially well with images printed on an inkjet printer. I prefer to soak the paper and place it on my nail rather than soaking my nails.

  2. OH I have done this before for banned book week <3 I have done it the above way, and i have also put actual paper on the nails (like a fake nail) and that works too, the clear polish hardens the paper.

  3. I was just tweeted a link to this and LOVE IT!!! What a wickedly wonderful idea. You could even use an old newspaper from the year you got engaged!! Gorgeous find

  4. I also found this on Pinterest (oh how I loooove Pinterest) and tried it right away. It does indeed work, and it looks awesome. However, I found that I had to let the nail polish dry COMPLETELY (as in, overnight) before doing the rubbing alcohol and newsprint step and the topcoat. The first time I tried to rush it, and the polish got all gloppy and then pulling the newsprint off it made it smeary. But once I used patience, my nails looked great!

  5. You can also use vodka if you don’t have rubbing alcohol (just don’t drink it afterwards, lol!). Make sure to get all the paper off your nails or you’ll end up with rough patches. I found that dipping my nails for 5-10 seconds and applying the newsprint for approximately 30 seconds worked. Then I would dab a bit of liquid on the back of the paper before I peeled it off, which would make sure it all came off, instead of having some of it drying onto my nails.

  6. I forsee totally printing out my own nail art in my future! Who needs expensive art from manicurists when you can print that shiz out!

  7. Awesome!!! you could totally even print out your vows and put those on your nails!!!

  8. I love all the tips people are leaving. It just goes to show that I get to do some practice runs.

    I found this on stumpleupon awhile back and loved it, especially for wedding nails.

  9. OMG – how perfect! I have a vintage/shabby chic/book wedding them and created our save-the-date postcards from vintage book pages and am using books in the centerpieces. This is what I am going to do with my fingers. I love love this!

  10. If you use a colored nail polish instead of white or grey, will the words show up on top of the color?

    • I know I’ve seen it done with pink before, so color should work fine. Darker colors might be challenging, though.

  11. I’ve just tried this and it looks pretty good. would love to find a way to do it with sheet music, rather than newspaper, but so far nothing i’ve tried works. Any tips?

    • I’ve heard some people say they’ve had luck just using regular paper like sheet music. But if not, you could always print a copy of the sheet music onto some actual newsprint.

  12. I’ve gotten this idea from another website and it really works! I love it. But just make sure you don’t allow the rubbing alcohol to dry before taking the newsprint off. I made that mistake and it didn’t turn out. I used pictures and things out of the newsprint to – not just words. But I didn’t think of printing my own.

  13. I dont think this works if you cut the paper out of a book bc thats the paper i used and i did this many times but the ink never came off. I guess i need to print it from internet or use a newspaper.:)

    • I think you have to actually use a newspaper. I tried printing my own but it didn’t work at all. 🙁

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