Painting Jewelry With Nail Polish: A DIY Experiment

I am terrified of losing my wedding rings.

I’m an adult, I should be able to keep two rings on a finger. The problem is that I’ve lost weight since moving to Ireland and they’re a bit loose. I’m Italian, my hands move a lot in a day. Even before that, I bought a bunch of cheap rings that I wouldn’t feel bad about losing/ruining if I was at a bar or going swimming or something.

Enter the subject of this DIY experiment. This particular ring was part of a three pack I got on 10 for $10 at Claire’s. It’s the only one I haven’t lost. Look, I could just buy another cheap ring, but I love this one. It fits well, it’s inconspicuous and doesn’t make me look like I’d be worth robbing. I last wore it for an entire weekend when we went to the lake and I mean, my finger was very green.

Now, when I was a teenager I read somewhere that if you cover your cheap jewelry in clear nail polish at the back it wouldn’t turn green. I mean, I’m going on vacation and I’d love it if this ring could come with me.

This is probably the cheapest DIY I’ll ever do. All you need is a piece of jewelry to cover, nail polish- I used Catrice Spectra Light in 03 Irregular Galaxies because, well I had it. The most important thing here is a scrap of parchment paper. Nail polish can act as a glue and if you don’t use something with slip power it can be hard to get the ring off.

Then all you do is paint your ring. I found the easiest way to do this is paint the actual ring bit one side at a time, let that dry, then do the knot bit in the front. Of course I learned this the hard way, so yours will look way better. It’s important not to glop on the polish- it pools and leaves you with bits that dangle.

After two coats I’m actually really liking how it’s looks. It’s good to know there’s a way to get any piece of jewelry any colour I want.

Here’s the thing. This would be fine to wear out if we were just going to a pub or going out dancing. I want to beat this thing up.

Will this thing survive my vacation?

I’m back from Malta! It was an awesome vacation. But that’s another post, let’s talk about the ring.

The only time I didn’t wear this was when I went snorkeling. Otherwise it four days straight of sunscreen, hand washing, and lots of sweat. I did wear it for more gentle, wade-y type swimming.

Overall I think it held up really well. A bit of the nail polish scratched off, but it’s easy to touch up. I wonder if a clear spray paint or even clear nail polish layer would have sealed things in a bit better.

So, can you paint jewelry with nail polish?

I think so. I mean, if you were just wearing this for a night out every now and then I think it’d hold up fine. Also, it’s a great way to keep jewelry out of the trash and give it a new life.

I’d definitely do this again!