I tried to come up with some patriotic designs for the 4th of July, but I just wasn’t getting anywhere. And then I thought, well, why do I need to do a flag design? I wanted to think of something distinctly American. What’s more American than Levi’s blue jeans?

My nubbins are growing slowly!

Does anyone remember when Bath and Body Works made nail polish? They had two lines: the regular polish and Color Drops, which came in round bottles with little charms on them. I still have a couple of these lovelies (I trot out a Halloween sparkle in October that I’ve had since, like, early high school), and the name stickers have gone missing on most of them. I started with a base of an old Color Drops in denim blue (it might even be the one in that photo I linked) and waited for it to dry a little. I then cut a makeup sponge (from Target, probably) in half and used the rough cut side to sponge on OPI I Saw…U Saw…We Saw…Warsaw (one of the most cumbersome color names ever), a rich navy from the recent Euro Centrale Collection. I tried to get a fairly even sponge coat, adding texture as well as mixing the colors. I went over it with OPI’s Alpine Snow, again sponged using the rough side of the sponge. Then I did one more rough sponge in my original Color Drops color to create a sort of denim look.

I then drew in a pocket on one nail and added Levi’s iconic copper rivets to all my nails in SquareHue’s Amber Lager (the March O’Hue Collection). I also added a little red Levi’s tag, but it’s tough to see. I may have mistakenly made my pocket swoops the Jordache design instead of a Levi’s one, but Jordache is also an American brand, so it’s all good.

I don’t actually own blue jeans this color anymore; all mine are dark wash.

I finished with a coat of Seche Vite to even everything out, since a couple tufts of the sponge stuck to my nails and I had to dig them out, leaving holes. It took a little patience, but I think the color mix worked well with these. No one can ever accuse me of not having enough blues! 😀

Next week: blue! WHATEVER WILL I DO? Ahaha!