Blogger: Very Emily

Swatchicles!



A couple of weeks ago I was astounded to come across a photo someone shared in the PAA group of Swatchicles - essentially swatched nails on popsicle sticks, and I knew I had to do them. I am an organizer by nature, I am not OCD but I do like a clean system and nothing I had in place was working. Nail wheels were no longer working, I wanted swatches I could move around to compare to others, etc...
I was considering getting the nail sticks on ebay but they seemed expensive when thinking of the 300+ colors I CURRENTLY own (not to mention future colors I'll own!). So when this post showed up and said it cost 6 bucks, I was sold.
Of course, as with most things I do, this was more expensive than I expected and took AWHILE to finish. Almost a week.

Nails - well I had some a friend gave me awhile back, then I bought a bunch of l & xl tips from sallys, at 1.50 a pack (20 per pack) and then when I ran out of those, I got a set at Walmart (because Sally's was closed) that cost me 5 bucks for 200, of course I could only use the thumbs and pointers in the pack, but it was enough to get me finished. I also had nail wheel swatches I ripped off the wheels. All in all the swatch nails alone probably cost me 15 bucks. And they're all kinds of crazy different looking. But thats kinda how my life is.

Sticks - Walmart/Hobby Lobby craft sticks. I also got skinny sticks for using on the smaller tips - those will be good for practicing ideas on colors and nail art. These cost about 2.50 a pkg and I bought 2 packages of 150 each. So there's 5 bucks.

Glue - Hot glue. Be careful, it burns. And it melts the nails, so wait a sec or 5 before applying nail to stick. You could use white glue or some other glue, but nothing is faster than hot glue. Cost - Free to me as I am a crafter so I had these on hand already.

Polishes - Well this is self explanatory. Use what you have! I used WnW clear topcoat to finish these off, and on matte's I top coated the top half so I could see it both ways. Cost - 2 bucks for 2 bottles. 1 bottle lasted for 200 nails.

Pen - To write the polish info on the stick. Some people go all out on collection info and all that but I kept it simple, color name and color it was swatched over if applicable. I considered listing the coats used but I decided against it. This is all to your preference of course.


Here they are in cups, sorted by color family. Seemed fine at the time.


More cup shots.


THEN....Then I saw THIS POST from Very Emily's blog this morning. I knew what had to be done.




Basically, I took a box, cut off the lid and cut the lid into 4 pieces, 2 long and two short rectangles. I used those to make a tic tac toe and glue it inside the box to section it into 9 slots.
I wrapped the outside in scrapbooking paper using hot glue and then i wrapped the outside in a green zebra ribbon with hot glue. Voila. Emily rules for inspiring this - and it is so much cuter and size efficient for my tiny storage space!

This last one is for Debbie who can't believe I own a lot of Teal polishes!



Overall cost - about 20 bucks for approx. 350 swatchicles, with supplies to make another 200 or so smaller ones.

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    17 comments

    1. Very EmilyMarch 13, 2012 at 3:28 PM

      Ahhhh that's so pretty! I love your box! Thanks so much for linking to my blog Missy! (: I love all your teals and blues! So gorgeous! *drool*

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      1. Very EmilyMarch 13, 2012 at 3:33 PM

        p.s. I shared your post on my FB-page! (: https://www.facebook.com/VeryEmilyBlog

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      2. Missy M (Gnarly Gnails)March 13, 2012 at 3:34 PM

        Thanks! It was so much easier than I expected and I totally love the outcome - thanks again for such a great post, it cut down my space usage by like a square foot! In fact, I probaby need to make another one soon, too!

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      3. Very EmilyMarch 13, 2012 at 3:39 PM

        Yes it looks totally impressive but it's quite easy and straight forward! I think yours came out so great! I really like the paper you added, I love the houndstooth strip on the top and bottom! I know most people used the cups but I don't have much space either so I had to find a different solution. I'm so glad it works for you as well! It looks so gorgeous on your workspace right? (:

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    2. Missy M (Gnarly Gnails)March 13, 2012 at 3:54 PM

      yes it was the PERFECT solution and addition to my space! i had this very similar wrapping paper to what you used and at first i was thinking it would be perfect (i adore anything that looks like old vintage flocked wallpaper, which this does) - but then I didnt want to make one so similar to yours and the pink and houndstooth and green zebra just is totally me, so I'm glad I dug around in my craft stash for them!

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      1. Very EmilyMarch 13, 2012 at 3:57 PM

        Aww if you used something similar to me I wouldn't have minded at all, no worries haha! In any case yours turned out amazing! This totally made my day haha (:

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    3. Missy M (Gnarly Gnails)March 13, 2012 at 3:59 PM

      well your post that inspired me made MY day - so we can be in awe of each others awesomeness for 5 more minutes, before it starts to get weird! =)

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      Replies
      1. Very EmilyMarch 13, 2012 at 4:09 PM

        Yes, BUT, weird is awesome haha! Who cares for normal and boring right? ;D

        Delete
    4. Missy M (Gnarly Gnails)March 13, 2012 at 4:11 PM

      you got that right sister!!

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    5. hollysageminiMarch 13, 2012 at 4:54 PM

      Such a cool idea! Looks great too.

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      1. Missy M (Gnarly Gnails)March 13, 2012 at 6:02 PM

        thanks! it's all owed to Emily for coming up with such a great storage idea!

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    6. ElizedgeMarch 13, 2012 at 5:17 PM

      glad this worked for you, I started before you and haven't finished yet!

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      1. Missy M (Gnarly Gnails)March 13, 2012 at 6:03 PM

        oh no! on the sicles or the box? cuz man...those sicles take FOREVER! mine would have taken way longer if I hadn't had about half of them already swatched on nail wheels!
        and don't get me started on the smell...my bf was so annoyed at how bad I stunk up our place night after night painting!

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    7. Missy M (Gnarly Gnails)March 13, 2012 at 6:03 PM

      thanks! <3

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    8. JFloColmanMarch 13, 2012 at 7:52 PM

      what a great idea! i love how this looks too! a great way to see all your colors at once

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    9. Niesha(skyla91)March 14, 2012 at 4:20 AM

      I waanna do this but I know I would have nowhere to put them. ); I'd have no space for them. But one day I will!

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    10. LaraMarch 14, 2012 at 12:14 PM

      I love this idea! :)

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    I love reading your comments, please feel free to leave one! I can't always respond due to time constraints or pure forgetfulness, but if you have a specific question about something, ask here or email me!

    Gnarly Gnails
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