The Chosen Manicure

If you have a pulse and stable contact to the outer world, then you might have heard of a franchise called Harry Potter. You also might have heard that it's ending, leading to mass hysteria that will no doubt be followed by mass depression. Today, I will pay tribute to one of the most beloved series in the world, in nail art form.

(I didn't actually put Matte About You on my nails, it was just the first bottle I grabbed) 

I google-image-searched the house crests and then roughly did the backgrounds for each of them on each nail. I really probably should have stopped there, because it looked pretty snazzy, but I decided to go for overkill.

Voila.

On MUA, people have been talking a lot about ziploc manis lately. This is where you paint a design on a ziploc bag, let it dry, and then peel it off, thereby creating your own little personalized nail stickers. Well, that is what I tried to do with the animals, but they refused to peel off the bag. My wise, obnoxious friend Anna (I only mention her here because I know she will say something about it in the comments if I don't -- hi Anna) suggested that maybe it was because I used a Hefty brand bag rather than a Ziploc brand one. Now, this sounds ridiculous to me, but maybe that's why, because I followed the tutorial to the letter and I don't know why it wouldn't work for me when it's worked for so many other people.

Anyway, if you have any tips for me, please share them because goodness knows I could use them. I had to resort to cutting them out of the bag, which caused them to not lie very nicely on my nail. Seriously. They're so irritating. But I couldn't just not use them after I worked so hard on them... they turned out so good!

A lion for Gryffindor. He probably turned out the worst, he was tricky *shakes head*

A raven for Ravenclaw. I thought this was going to be the hardest one but I'm actually very happy with how it turned out. I just wish there was a little more contrast between the raven and the background.

(my ring finger is wonky, I had to shove a pen under it to make it pose right, lol) 

A badger for Hufflepuff. I have to say, he turned out pretty cute.

And of course, a serpent for Slytherin. This little guy was easy and he turned out snazzy.

Oh and here's my thumb. It's a lightning bolt. I mean come on.

Drawing all these animals once was plenty, thank you very much, so I decided to do something different for my right hand.

Heh. I'm glad the words are all short, I don't think I would have been able to do five letters. Again, you can see the outline of the bag. Stupid ziploc stickers. >:|

And here's my right thumb, the Deathly Hallows symbol.

The full effect. I'll wait while you collect your jaw from the floor and regain your thoughts. I have that effect on people sometimes.

I did want to do something extravagant and over the top to mark such an important event, but I *might* have been a little overzealous. There's only so much you can fit on a nail before it begins to look crowded and you lose detail, which is what I think is starting to happen here. I really like my right hand, but I would like the entire manicure a lot better if these dumb stickers would lie flat.

As you might have guessed, I used approximately a basquillion polishes so if you want to know what one is, ask away.

Ah well, I enjoyed drawing all the wee creatures and creating the patterns. They looked great separately, eh?

How are you marking the end of an era?