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Manicure Inspiration: 10 Amazing Bookish Nail Art Tutorials

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Kate Scott

Staff Writer

Kate Scott is a bookstagrammer and strategic web designer serving women business owners and creative entrepreneurs. Follow her on Instagram @parchmentgirl and visit her website at katescott.co/books.

Give yourself a bookalicious makeover with these 10 amazing bookish nail art tutorials!

I have the artistic talent of a thumbless marsupial and a complete inability to function with long nails. My perpetual manicure-less state makes me look upon people who create amazing nail art with a certain degree of awe. I mean, I can barely apply a coat of nude polish neatly, much less create a work of art on a canvas the size of a nail bed.

Here are some of my favorite bookish nail art tutorials from around the web. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably end up with an unidentifiable blob of polish on your nails…but, hey, at least you tried.

1. Spooky Harry Potter Nails

I thought about saving the best for last but I can’t wait that long. This nail art has everything: dementors, glow in the dark nail polish, insanely detailed brush strokes.

2. Comic Book Nail Art

These comic book action bubble nails are infinitely more achievable than the aforementioned Harry Potter nails, which is to say that if you are somewhat artistically inclined, you might actually be able to pull this off.

3. Mockingjay Nail Art

There are quite a few Hunger Games nail art tutorials but this one is my favorite. I like that it uses blue instead of the traditional black and gold colors from the first book.

4. Jungle Book Nail Art

This Disneyfied version of The Jungle Book is colorful and cute…if you can pull it off.

5. Elvish Script Nail Art

There are numerous Lord of the Rings nail art tutorials out there. I personally like the Elvish script look, though you could also try this Middle-earth nail art or this super-advanced glow-in-the-dark Eye of Sauron tutorial (by the same artist who created the Harry Potter dementor nail art).

6. Dr. Seuss’s Lorax Nail Art

These colorful nail designs are whimsical and super cute.

7. The Fault in Our Stars Nail Art

The end result of this tutorial looks professional and easier to attain than some of the others on this list.

8. I ❤️ Books Nail Art

This tutorial is moderately simple and looks reasonably good, even if you can’t paint perfectly straight lines.

9. Divergent Nail Art

If you can manage to keep your hands from shaking while drawing all those infinitesimally fine lines, the end result will look pretty cool.

10. Expecto Patronum Nail Art

Since we started out this list with dementors, it seems only fitting to close it will a patronus charm.

Which nail art design is your favorite?