Here's what I did. It's basically a nude nail polish, with some blue and red nail art gems. You can use whatever nail polish and jewels you want/ can find. I originally was going to do a white base instead of nude, but I find white to be a really difficult nail polish color to work with, and I didn't want these to be too festive in case I wanted to wear them after Independence Day.
Again, use whatever polish you want, mine's like a 99 cent one off ebay, so there you go.
Just apply as many coats as needed, let them dry just a bit (so they're still tacky but not so wet that they're slipping all over the place and making a mess). Remember, if your nails get too dry, you can do a layer of top coat.
For the gems, just moisten the end of the dowel thing (or a toothpick) with your tongue and use it to pick up the gems.
Then press them into your nail polish.
Apply a clear top coat when you're all finished.
Et voila. Just festive enough, without going overboard. Goodbye!
