Scarecrow Nail Art Tutorial You’ll Love for Fall

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]all is my favorite season from the cozy sweaters and hot cocoa to fall decor and more. Now I can’t start the first Fall nail design without paying homage to my favorite decoration around this time, scarecrows. So today I bring you a step by step nail tutorial that incorporates patches on a scarecrow, along with that friendly smile they usually have on. So keep reading to find out how you can recreate these fun and unique scarecrow-inspired nails at home.

[large_title title=”What You’ll Need”]

• Nail polishes in nude, gray, purple, teal, and orange (or colors of your choice)
• A small detail nail brush.
• A pen
• Acrylic paints in black, white, orange, yellow, blue, and brown.
• Base Coat
• Top Coat

[large_title title=”How To Recreate the Nail Look”]

First apply your favorite base coat to protect the nail. Once you’ve done so, it’s time to apply the nail color that will serve as your base. I chose this muted gray with a tiny hint of blue, however feel free to swap colors based on your preference. Tip: Choosing a lighter shade as a base will help the other colors stand out more.

After applying the base and cleaning the edges, top it off with a coat of glossy top coat. This helps protect the base layer from the patches and acrylic paint we will add.

Next, choose a couple colors to make the patches. I like jewel toned colors for fall so I included purple and teal, as well as orange.  Tip: You can apply the patches with the nail polish brush, or with a smaller detail brush.

Alternating between the three colors, start to paint square, rectangles, or triangles. If the polish is still sheer after the first coat, wait a bit for it to dry then go over it with a second coat. Tip: The polish can pull up and take some of the first layer with it, if it’s still wet when you paint the second layer.

Once the shapes are dry, add borders with black acrylic paint. I used a small detail brush I found at Micheal’s for this. If you have a brush that is too thick, you can thin it out by clipping some of the sides off until you reach the desired thickness.

Simply draw borders along the shapes . It doesn’t need to be perfect, the beauty of a scarecrow is that they are haphazardly put together. Also, put some stitch like lines along the border.

Now we can start drawing the face of the scarecrow! To create the scarecrow, I used acrylic paints instead of nail polish. Acrylic paints take longer to dry and are generally easier to work with.

I started by painting the scarecrow’s hat. You can choose any color for this. I chose blue so it can tie into the blue tint of the other polish we used earlier.

With yellow acrylic paint, draw tiny lines that are various lengths for his hair. The line where the blue hat and yellow hair meet can be messy! We are going to cover that up in the next step.

Now, using a brown acrylic paint, draw on a thin line for the brim of the hat. This will cover up any spaces between the blue and yellow.

Next, put the eyes and the smile. I used the bottom of a pen to make the eyes. Use a small detail brush for the smile. I would draw the smile all at once, instead of drawing it on in sections. Drawing it in sections can make the smile look too choppy. Using the same brush, add lines as stitches for the smile.

Details can make any nail design stand out. I added small white dots in the eyes to resemble buttons, and a cute nose for our scarecrow!

For the white dots, barely touch the nail with the brush so the dots can be tiny. I used the same detail brush we’ve been using to draw on the nose in orange acrylic paint.

For the final step, seal the design with a coat of glossy top coat. Tip: Wait for the acrylic paint to dry completely so it doesn’t smudge.

Now that you have a cute, friendly scarecrow on your nails be sure to show him off! Feel free to customize your scarecrow with any color scheme you’d like. Even if you are unsure of your abilities to paint a design like this, just go for it! If you do try this design, be sure to tag @modernchicmag and @jannasnails on Instagram using the hashtag #modernchicnails

For more nail art inspiration, check out our Summer Meets Fall Nail Art Tutorial

Summer Meets Fall Nails & Tutorial