Painting with Fingernail Polish - Who Knew!

Okay, I must admit that I have a rather large stash of old jewelry I have accumulated over the years.  Most of it has been given to me or I have found it at garage sales.  I deconstruct these pieces to use in making new jewelry.  It is a great way to purchase beautiful vintage beads and bring them back to their glory.  On occasion I have purchased a "grab bag" of jewelry that has all kinds of pieces.  Some I am able to use right away, but some need a little more pondering.

I have a rather large supply of silver and gold jewelry pieces that were interesting but basically in a word Ugly!  I kept these pieces with the hope of one day being able to figure out a way to make something that would turn them from ugly ducklings into beautiful swans.  Well, I finally came up with a method to transform some of them.  Fingernail polish.

What made the pink lemonade idea pop out was a clearance item in the craft store a few weeks ago.  There were several jewelry enamel kits on clearance.  When I started investigating the process on the package the light bulb went on "Why couldn't you do the same thing with fingernail polish?"  So I came home and thought these ugly duckling pieces had nothing to lose.

Here are some of the newly transformed swans:

The detail on this heart was beautiful.  But it was lost in the ugly gold color.

Here is the painted piece in red.  Wow what a difference.  I added the silver to highlight the diamond shape and give it a little more pop.

 

This fish was silver only before.  Adding the blue and green gave it a whole new life. See the necklace I made using this at New Necklaces.

 

He was only silver in the beginning.  I added simple colors to the etched dots and this cat has nine new lives.

 

Even a simple gold charm turns from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan with a fresh coat of polish.  I have two of these and I plan to make a pair of ear rings with and added dangle.

 

The basic process is just like painting your nails.  Clean each piece well (I used alcohol), then apply the polish in thin coats.  Let each coat dry well before adding the next one.  The last step is to add a top coat of clear polish.

 

While I was painting my daughter came out and ask if she could join me.  I said "Sure if you bring your nail polish."  She has many more fun colors like bright blue, purple, black and green.  We had a great time transforming our ugly ducklings into beautiful swans. 

 

Remember the next time you are at a garage sale and see that ugly piece of jewelry just imagine there could be a swan waiting to emerge with a little help from your nail polish.

 

Danna