Nail Polish Dipped Gems

Ever wondered what would happen if you added a drop of nail polish to water and then dipped a clear glass gem into the “polish” water? Well, probably not. We have though! This curiosity inspired our next post. Starting with a recycled plastic container, warm water, and a drop of nail polish we were ready to see what we could create! We strung elastic cord through the hook on a clear glass gem (these gems are sold with the hook already attached to the top of the gem) and slowly dipped the gem into the “polish” water. Here is what happened…

Amazing!!! Perfect for making Christmas Ornaments, Necklaces, and Gifts for this holiday season. These also make a great Christmas present kids can create for teachers or family members. I think my daughter summed it up best when she said, “that’s both weird and cool at the same time!” Every gem dipped had a completely different look, which inspired us to keep creating more!

Here are the Supplies Needed:

Clear Glass Gems with Hooks
Cord or Ribbon *needed for dipping & for making ornaments
Binder Clips
Rack to hang gems from while they dry
Assorted Nail Polish
Warm Water
Recycled plastic container (we used a small clear plastic container)
Paper towels, a straw, and newspaper or a piece of cardboard
Clear Spray Paint

Directions for Making Nail Polish Dipped Gems:

1) First, it is important to protect your work surface with newspaper or a piece of cardboard. Also, make sure you have something to hang the dipped gems from while they dry. We used a wire rack and binder clips.

2) Prep the glass gems so they are ready to dip by adding pieces of scrap elastic cord, ribbon, or twine to the Hooks on the top of the Clear Glass Gems.

3) Add warm water until it is about 2″ deep in the container. We used a clear plastic cookie container from Trader Joe’s (one of our favorite grocery stores)! Now it is time to add a drop of nail polish. This is were you need to work fast. The polish lands in the water as a drop but then quickly spreads across the surface of the water.

4) As soon as the nail polish drop spreads across the surface of the water it is time to dip the clear glass gem into the “polish” water. Slowly dip the gem and cover just to the top of the gem. If you dip the gem too deep into the water, the “polish” water will adhere to the cord or ribbon as well.

5) Here is what the gem will look like when you remove it from the “polish” water the first time. You will notice that there is “additional” polish that did not adhere to the left side of the gem. To remove this, simply dip the gem into the water a second time!

6) The polish on the surface of the water will most likely be gone with the first dip. If not, remove it with a straw of piece of paper towel. Then dip the gem into the water a second time. This will help any excess polish adhere to the gem. For a different look, you can swirl the gem around in the water. After the second dip there shouldn’t be any excess polish and the gem should look like this.

7) Remove any water drops from the sides and bottom of the gem carefully with a paper towel and hang to dry.

8) Allow to completely dry. Once dry, spray the front and back of each gem with a thin coat of clear spray paint. This will protect the nail polish on the gem from scratching or peeling. For Christmas Ornaments, add a piece of Sheer Ribbon. Or make gems into necklaces by adding a longer piece of Sheer Ribbon or a piece of Metallic Silver Elastic Cord!

A Few Tips We Learned…

You can only use the “polish” water one time, unless you remove any left over polish from the surface of the water. You can do this with a straw or craft stick.
We tried cold, warm, and boiling water. Warm water worked best!
One or two colors of polish work well. There just didn’t seem to be enough time to keep adding colors and get a good result.
Red polish turns out hot pink on the gems…
It is best to protect the finished gems by spraying a thin coat of clear spray
paint on the front and back of each gem.
No two gems are ever the same!
They cost less than .60 cents each to make!

We had so much fun with this craft we didn’t want to stop creating. Each time we dipped a gem we got a completely different look. First we tried one color, then we wondered what it would look like if we drops 2 or 3 colors of polish in the water. The results were so cool!