Nail polish stand and stamping tool - Preteen/Teen gift idea

My beautiful and amazing niece had a big birthday this year...she turned thirteen. I know this isn't monumental as far as things that change as a result of her age (i.e. driving, drinking, etc.) but it was big for her mom and I. How can she be 13 already!?

Well for her birthday, I knew she was at an unusual stage and I would have a tough time finding something she would love. I didn't want to get her something to mature because she is still is a child and I don't want her to grow up too fast. So I did what any good aunt would do...bought her something her mom probably would not love but I know she would, nail polish. Isn't that the best thing about being an aunt!

I made her a nail polish holder/stand and filled it with some really amazing things. I started with an old spice rack that I got at a local thrift store for $1.99. I wish I had taken a picture of it. It was oak with some hideous flowers and leaves painted on it. After removing an inch of grease, covering it with a few coats of white spray and gluing a piece of scrapbook paper, that matches her bedroom, to the back of the spice rack it was transformed into a pretty little nail polish rack.

To fill the rack, I bought some dollar store nail polish remover, Q-tips (to clean up nail edges), makeup pads and bright color nail polish. I then added an amazing nail polish tool called Konad Nail Art. I am not one to do product reviews or encourage you to buy something, but I needed to share this because it is so amazing for teens and any woman who likes images on her nails. I am personally a clear nail polish type of girl...but that might be because my nails just never grow nicely.

If you have not seen Konad nail art , please take a minute (but come back) and see how cool this system is. Here is a great video on Anna's Nail Art on how this stamping tool works.

I did two of my nails just to show you how well it works. No, I did not use the gift before I gave it, I also bought my daughter a set :) You start with a plate that has designs on it.

You then paint nail polish over the design and scrap off (with the Konad tool see below for image) the excess polish. Using the Konad stamper (see below for image), you remove the image from the template by pushing the rubber edge of the stamper over the design and place it on your nails. The image is transferred to your nail. It really is that easy.  Sorry my nails are horrible...just remember to look at the stamp and not the nail :) The stamps are really cute when you have a colored nail polish on the nail to start out with. You can get any type of image you can image, entire nail patterns, french manicures, flowers, seasonal, etc.

You can use both Konad nail polish or any thicker type of nail polish you can find. Honestly, some of the dollar store stuff works just as well for my daughter and I really prefer the price.
 
I purchased the started kit from Anna's Nail Art at a craft show, but for those of you in the US, here is where you can find the Konad stamping/scrapping tool on Amazon for Under $6:

Source Amazon.com

I did order a bundle of stamping plates (Monster brand) from Amazon and I find they work just as well as the pricier Konad. You get 21 plates (a total of 139 images) for under $18.

Source Amazon

I made a box with my Cricut to hold the plates and added a small piece of the matching paper to the flap of the box.

I secured all the items on the nail polish rack with glue dots and wrapped the entire gift it in cellophane.

This gift was a huge hit! So for any of you struggling for a gift for a preteen or teen gift (or even younger- my 9 year old loves it) this is a great option and it really does not cost too much if you order it off amazon and buy the other items from the dollar store. I would say you could probably make almost this exact gift for under $30.

Have any of you seen or used nail stampers before? What do you think?

Have a great day,
Stephanie

1982 called and it wants its Bookends back

I found a set of A and Z faux wood bookends at a local thrift store last year for the extremely reasonable price of $1.99. Nothing at my thrift store seems to be reasonably priced anymore, so you know they were bad and no one wanted them.

So here are the two beauties before.

Isn't the faux wood grain pretty.

They are even signed! Look at the date, November 1982. They will be celebrating their 30th Birthday soon. Wow I am old..it is scary when you realize you have something that is 'retro' (aka old but we want to charge you too much money for it so we will call it retro) and you could have made it.

My husband again rolled his eyes when I walked in the front door with this gorgeous set. Can't you see the potential? I could. And for $2 who could go wrong?

They each got a good dusting, because they were filthy, and a few coats of white gloss spray paint. Everything looks better with white gloss spray paint!

Here is the A now. Isn't it cute!

I intended to put them in our office but they have found a home on the shelves in my family room.

I am trying to put more white on these bookcases. As you can see the wood dice and recovered photo albums I created last year have also been relocated here.

I have never been happy with how these shelves are decorated but I think it has more to do with the selves. They look really red in the picture but they aren't really. I am seriously debating painting or wallpapering the back of each shelving unit. But there are so many other things to do around the house before that happens.

Not bad for $1.99 plus a little spray paint!

What deals have you found lately? Have you found your thrift stores are raising their prices too?

Have a great day and happy thrifting.
Stephanie