Cindy Crushes Programming: Nail Polish Gems

Today Cindy is sharing with us how to make gem stones with nail polish. Please note, the galaxy gemstones would make a great craft to go along with the 2019 space themed summer reading program.

Supplies

• Old Nail Polish
• Clear Glass Gems (can often be purchased at dollar stores or craft stores)

Additional supplies (not needed, but can be used to turn gemstones into magnets)

• Magnets
• Felt
• Hot glue gun

I am always looking for cheap fun crafts and ways to use old supplies. I had lots of old nail polish from a previous craft, so I looked up nail polish crafts and found nail polish gems.

I tried three different types of Nail Polish Gems– crackle, rainbow, and galaxy.

See Also: How to Make Nail Polish Gem Stones

Crackle is when the back of the gem is painted white and then covered by another color. This one did not turn out well and would not recommend making this one.

Rainbow is very easy and very pretty. You make use of all the colors of the rainbow in order. I always make sure to have an image because some people, including me forget the color order. This would be an awesome craft to do with for a library Gay Straight Alliance Pride craft. You could use all the different pride color designs.

Galaxy was the most popular. You start off using a light glitter nail polish and keep adding more layers of glitter nail polish and the last layer is a dark color like dark blue or purple. Galaxy gems are so shiny and beautiful.

You have to make sure when doing nail polish layering the teens wait for to it to dry before applying the next layer. Layering is very important.

Finishing touches: If you put a circle of felt on the back it can be made into a magnet by hot gluing a magnet to the felt. They do not need felt, but this can be an added touch to make the back smoother.

Final Thoughts: This craft was so much fun and easy to make.. The teens loved it and the adults who saw the gems were very impressed. I would do this craft again. I would also try to learn a few more complicated designs.

If you still have nail polish left over, here are 31 DIY crafts you can make with nail polish

Cindy Shutts, MLIS

Cindy is passionate about teen services. She loves dogs, pro-wrestling, Fairy tales, mythology, and of course reading. Her favorite books are The Hate U Give, Catching FIre, The Royals, and everything by Cindy Pon. She loves spending times with her dog Harry Winston and her niece and nephew. Cindy Shutts is the Teen Services Librarian at the White Oak Library District in IL and she’ll be joining us to talk about teen programming. You can follow her on Twitter at @cindysku.

Filed under: Cindy Crushes Programming, Teen Programming