Hiiiiiii! Sorry I haven't been around for a while. My sister got sick then I got sick then my mom got sick and it's been crazy here lately. Thankfully, we're all back to normal now. Woohoo! Anyway, I didn't have time to paint my nails today so I decided to show you how I did my very own nail polish swatch book instead.
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A reader once asked me how I keep track of all of my polishes. Well, all of us (my two sisters, my mother and me) used to browse through each nail polish box I have but after a disastrous event (I sort my stash by brand and they didn't put them back properly... *sobs*), I decided to make this swatch book and make all our lives easier. lol.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
(1) SCISSORS - try to find the sharpest pair around. I had a hard time using my ancient old pair of scissors. lol.
(2) TAPE - I used the transparent one (Scotch tape?) but in the widest size available because I wanted to fully cover the popsicle stick. I also used magic tape.
(3) NAIL WHEEL - you can buy this at your local nail art store (usually two for a dollar) though I recommend the rectangular ones more than these oval ones because they're easier to separate.
(4) NAIL POLISHES - ready your polishes. broom broom~
(5) GLUE - I used wood glue (stole it from my mom's cabinet, lol) but I think Elmer's will work too.
(6) POPSICLE STICKS - I bought purple ones and then cut them in half to save space.
(7) LABELS - I was too lazy to write so I typed and printed them instead. Hihi.
(8) FOLDER - I swiped some from my mom's supplies (with her permission, of course). Hehe. I cut them into two to make them look like thick bond papers.
(9) BINDER - I chose the widest one available because I know my swatchicles will need space. (^_~)
PROCEDURE:
(1) Swatch your nail polishes on your nail wheels.
(2) I used the oval-shaped nail wheels so I had to cut out each nail out of the wheel itself. If you bought the rectangular ones, I think they can just be snapped off.
(3) Line up each nail carefully and make sure to remember what's what (don't lose track like I did). Hihi.
(4) Take half a popsicle stick and apply some glue on one-third of it.
(5) Place the nail and glue it to the popsicle stick.
(6) Wait for the glue to dry a little and then tape the label on the rest of the popsicle stick. Make sure to tape all around the stick to prepare for step 7.
(7) Use magic tape to tape the swatchicles to the folder. I arrange them by color (or hue) and if I ever want to rearrange some of them, I can simply take them off without damaging the sticks (which are protected by what I did in step 6).
(8) Punch holes through the side of the folders and put them inside the binder. And voila~ you have your very own nail polish swatch book.
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As you can see, my swatch book is already full. Hihi. It currently has nine pages. First Page contains my yellows, nudes, browns and velvets. Second Page contains my pinks, glow in the darks and magnetics. Third Page contains my reds, color changers, and holos. Fourth Page contains my blues and multichromes.
Fifth Page contains my silvers, blacks and neons. Sixth Page contains my violets and sands. Seventh Page contains my greens, textures and mattes. Eighth Page is dedicated to glitter toppers and Ninth Page contains all of my 3D stuff like glitters and caviars. Hmmm... I think I've gone insane.. lol. What do you think?
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Thank you all for dropping by and supporting my blog! I gotta go. Good bye for now and I'll see you again soon!
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that's a great idea! How many polishes do you have?:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ela! I think I have around 400 now. lol.
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great idea, this is going on my never-ending 'to do' list :D
ReplyDeleteThanks! I have a never-ending "to do" list as well.
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I really like the idea of making a swatch book!
ReplyDeleteThanks for inspiring me!
I really love your blog ;)
Xx Julia
Awwwww. Thanks Julia! I'm really glad I made someone inspired.
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Now I'm sick! No, REALLY! I've been sick all weekend with the flu. I was helping my mom who was sick, now she's bettter and I'm sick. I LOVE your swatch book! It looks soooo good. What a fab way of keeping organized and referring to things. LOVE IT Kat!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.averysweetblog.com/
Awwwwww. Thank you so much Kim! That's exactly what happened to us. We were all taking care of each other then got sick one after the other. lol. So much "love" goes around these days. Hope you get better soon!
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I won't judge! Haha, Because if I were to do this on makeup, I'd probably fill out this much too. :D
ReplyDeletelol. Thanks Rae!
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This is a great idea!! I should probably do one too :D
ReplyDeleteThank you! You should try doing one. Hihi.
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Ohhhh! This is neat. This will be on my next project. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Bo! I'd love to see yours if you ever did.
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This looks like a great idea! I've been thinking about getting those swatch sticks (which are basically the fake nail things attached to popsicle-like things) but they don't carry them at my local beauty supply, I might try this instead! Plus this way, it looks pretty in the fancy binder :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lucy! That was my problem too. They were only available at nail art stores and they were pretty expensive so I did these instead. Hihi.
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very clear! i love how you did it ;)
ReplyDelete-angelof invisiblestilettos.com
Thanks Angel!
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Haha, feels like we were all got a bit down at around the same time. Whoa, that's a lot of nail polishes, but well of course, haha. :D This is such a great idea! Although I probably don't have that many to make some but probably someday when I have add more to my collection! For now I'll just admire yours! Haha. Btw, I think printing the label actually makes it clearer and neater too! :D
ReplyDeletexo,
Emm
doodleandstories
Awwww, thanks Emm! I hope you feel better now too. Hihi.
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Hi, where did you buy your nail wheel? Ive been trying to buy but it's so hard to find.great post by the way!
ReplyDeleteHi Mia! I bought them at Divisoria but I think you can also find them in nail art stores inside your local mall.
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