It’s nearly time to get dressed up, dolled up, and bedazzled for the holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving. For both adults and children alike, one of the most fun ways to express yourself is via nail art.
There are almost too many nail designs for Thanksgiving to choose from on social media, so for kids especially it can be overwhelming to choose the perfect design for them. Instagram in particular is flooded with beautiful designs, ranging from block colors to incredibly detailed imagery. But let’s focus on designs somewhere in the middle.
Whether they do their own nails, go to a salon, or you act as their nail tech, here are several autumnal Thanksgiving nail ideas! They can be done on small fingers with short nails, so don’t worry about the length of the nails in the posts.
Glittery Turkeys
Nail tech Heather J has created a wonderfully simple yet dazzling design that your kid can do with just a dotting tool and some basic colors. First, paint on your base color. If you don’t have the same exact shades, it doesn’t really matter as long as they’re Thanksgiving nail polish colors. You can also paint on a crème brown, and a glitter topper over it to create the same effect.
Use a dotting tool, bobby pin, or the tip of a pencil with white nail polish to create the eyes, then a smaller dotting tool in black to create the pupils. You can make them a little wonky if your kid wants a sillier look. Use the smaller dotting tool to paint on a yellow triangle for the beak, with an orange or red or the wattle above the beak, drooping down. And that’s it!
Pumpkin Pies
For a little extra sweetness this Thanksgiving, check out Erica Scott's pumpkin pie nails. The set is a lot simpler than it looks, as for the most part, it consists of a few nude shades, some glitter, and a deep vampy red.
The pies are done with a thin detail brush by painting on a few triangles, a deliberately messy dot in the middle for whipped cream, and some smaller dots along the edge of the triangle for the crust. If the details are too small for you, one larger slice of pie in the middle of the nail will be a little easier and still look good. For the glitter ombre, dab an inexpensive makeup sponge into the glitter polish, then use a patting motion to apply the glitter from the cuticle area and down the nail. This will make sure way more of the glitter than the clear polish will stick to the nail and avoid a thick, gooey buildup.
Fall Lines
For older kids who want something more sophisticated, Pin Delulu has designed a warm-toned matte set that will go with any autumnal outfit. All you need are some nude shades and a black, a matte top coat, and a liner brush. You can use striping tape to get that perfect line, either by sticking some straight on or by using it as a stencil.
This design is particularly nice on short nails, as you really don’t need much space to cover. You can find matte top coats online, but there’s also a nifty little DIY that includes mixing a little baking powder into polish to take away its shine.
S'mores
It's Cynderella brings us a delicious nail design of the classic fall treat: s’mores. Though the nails in the post are most likely made with Polygel or acrylic, you can create the same look on natural nails.
Using shades of brown, tan, and white (for the chocolate, graham cracker, and marshmallow), create a swirl design starting at the tip of each nail. Start with a base coat using the graham cracker color, then swirl the brown and white using a small brush. For a quicker application, you can paint the s’mores on a single accent nail, and use the white or cracker color shade on the other nails.
More Turkeys!
There’s a reason why we call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day": We just can’t get enough! Bailee's Nail Box has a step-by-step guide on how to paint a recreation of the classic handprint turkey craft on a nail.
Starting on a shimmery backdrop, draw a single hot dog-shaped line in red. As if you’re painting long petals on a flower, paint in five or so more — depending on the size of the nail — in mustard yellow, pumpkin orange, and bright red. Pick either a dark brown, or a black polish, and paint on a large circle, with a rectangle underneath to create the head and neck of the turkey. Add two dots for eyes, easily done with a cotton swab, then add two smaller black dots in the middle with a dotting tool, and finally add a small orange triangle for the beak. Add a top coat — as with the other designs — and there’s your turkey!
Animal Print Pumpkins
Another step-by-step guide features a Thanksgiving French tip nail design by Fie Pedersen. The design gets more and more detailed, but beginners could realistically stop at step 6 and still have a stunning set.
With an orange polish, in this case, a shimmery orange, paint on a rounded heart shape in the bottom corner of the nail. Fill it in, then start on the line work. Taking, again, a black or a dark brown, outline both bumps of the pumpkin, then fill in the other lines of the pumpkin shell. Add a rectangular stump and a vine. Now you can use a matte top coat and stop there, but for the animal print, add little messy dots of dark orange between the lines, then outline those dots with a dark brown to make a leopard print. There’s also a glitter version for some extra sparkle. This pumpkin nail design is cute all season!
Gold n’ Tan
A more abstract set from Rice Kitty Nails has a golden glow inspired by fallen leaves. These classic fall nails look sophisticated and chic. Pick which nails you want as accent nails, and paint the rest a burnt sienna shade. Paint the accent nail a pale nude, or even leave the nail with only base coat.
Paint half of the nail with the orange shade over the nude so there’s a diagonal split down the nail. While the nail is still sticky, or after reapplying a thin line of base coat over the dividing line, take some gold foil on the end of a large dotting tool. Gently dab the flakes across the line between the two shades, hiding the line in the middle. And that’s it! If there are any lumps — as the gold can be quite clumpy — just add an extra coat or two of the top coat to even it out a little.
Minimalist Fall Leaves
No Thanksgiving nail art design list could be complete without some colorful leaves. Nail artist Sofía Wood has an eye-catching silhouetted design that uses all the colors in the other designs on this list.
Starting off with a pale nude base, messily paint on three lines of color: brown, orange, and an even paler nude than the base. Make sure each color is distinct, but don’t work too hard making the lines even, as we’re going for a rustic and chunky look here. Next, use a similar method to the chocolate drip design, by using a dotting tool to place two to three large black dots, one smaller than the others. Define the dots with a liner brush, turning them into simple leaves, then draw the stems down to the bottom of the nails. Just like some of the other designs, you can do this design for a single accent nail, but this design looks great on two or three nails if they’re standing at different angles, and there are different numbers of leaves. Enjoy!
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