DIY projects are pretty fun to do. Not only do they provide you with an excellent hobby to pass your time, but they also give you a sense of achievement once you finish that project. One of the more popular DIY projects people do nowadays is making nail decals. These are printing miniature photos and attaching them to your nails so they seem like nail paints. But, due to their small size, they were pretty difficult to make before printers came to the rescue.
With printers, you can make nail decals relatively easily. All you have to do is to print the photos according to your nail size and attach them to your nails. But, things are easier said than done, so you must know how to make nail decals with printers properly.
So, let’s take a look at the process of making nail decals with printers.
Making Nail Decals With Printers: What You Need
When using your printers for making nail decals, you will need a few things before you start the process. These materials are necessary for the perfect completion of the project. These materials are :
- A photo editing software
- White nail polish
- Topcoat
- Clear Coat Spray
- Clear decal paper
Once you have assembled all these materials, now it’s time to make your nail decals.
Process Of Making Nail Decals With The Printer
After you have gathered all the necessary materials, it’s time for you to get to work and make the decals you want. Remember, the following steps will seem very easy, but they are anything but. You need to be very careful with most of them, otherwise, the result will not be anywhere near as good as you want. The steps you will need to follow are :
- Choose the image that you want to print on your nails, and resize it with photo editing software to fit your nails. Before resizing the photo, you can measure the size of your nails with a ruler and then resize the image accordingly.
- Don’t immediately start printing on decal papers. First, perform a test print on a piece of normal paper or cardstock paper to see if the size is perfect or not. If not, you can edit it accordingly.
- After test printing on a normal paper, if you are satisfied with everything, start printing the images onto a clear decal paper.
- This step is interchangeable with the next one. Cut the images out and lay them on a surface that has proper ventilation to dry them properly.
- Once you see the ink is completely dry, coat the cutout images with a couple of coats of clear coat spray. You can buy this clear coat spray from any hardware near you. You can either cut the images out first and then spray them or you can spray them before cutting them. But in my opinion, it is better to cut them out first, as it prevents the unused paper from being ruined by the spray.
- Now, cut the images into smaller parts so you can stick them on your nails. Make sure the space between the images and the edges is minimal, or it will look awkward when you stick them to your nails.
- The next step is to prepare your nails for the decals. To do that, paint your nails white with nail paint and let them dry.
- Now, dip the images in water for a few seconds. This will allow the decals to slide right off of the paper.
- Now wet your nails and stick the decals to them. Then use a tissue to soak up any excess water by dabbing the nails repeatedly.
- Then apply a topcoat onto your nails to seal the decals in place.
To get an affordable printer- Read Best Wireless Printer Under $100
Tips And Precautions
Now that you know how to make nail decals for your nails using a printer, here are some tips for you to make things go smoother. Also, a few precautions are thrown in there for good measure so you don’t mess things up.
- To print high quality nail decals with ease from your device, you have to use a good quality pc/mac compatible printer
- It’s better not to create designs for the full nail. Rather you should stick to designs that stick to the upper center of the nails. Full nail designs will not lay flat and they will pucker.
- Nail decals are not one size for all. Different kinds of nails require different-sized nail decals. If your nails happen to curve a lot, then it’s best to use narrower designs as these will fit better.
- Make sure to spray the clear coat spray in a ventilated area.
- While soaking up the water from nails, you must not rub with the tissue. Always dab to soak any moisture as rubbing will take the decal off your nails as they haven’t been sealed yet.
- Always get decal papers that suit your printer. If you have a laser printer, buy a waterslide decal paper that is compatible with you
Also Read- Best Printer for printing book at home
Some Of The Best Ideas For Nail Decals
Now you know how to make nail decals using a printer. Then how about I tell you the most popular and best ideas for decals? These are not unique but will make you look very trendy also. A few of the most popular decal ideas are :
- Pets
- Bands or Music groups
- Friends and/or Family
- Birthdays
- Graduations
- Sports Teams
- Favorite characters from TV shows, cartoons, anime, or movies
- Travel destinations
- Holidays
- Texts
But these are not the only things you can decal. You can make anything into a nail decal you want to.
Final Words
Almost everyone nowadays wants to stay trendy. So what better way to stay with the trend than that. making a nail decal of your favorite team or musician or anything else, sticking them onto your nails, and showing them off? Knowing how to make nail decals with the printer will allow you to do just that. So, follow the aforementioned steps take adequate precautions, and get yourself up to speed with the trend.