17 December Nail Art Ideas That Are Easy as Pie (2025)

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Growing up, many of us heard a variation on the same adage during the holidays: There is nothing more meaningful than a heartfelt, handmade gift. Well, what if we applied that idea to our nails? This holiday season, we're championing easy nail art ideas for December. Because newsflash: Not all nail looks are as complicated as they seem. With that in mind, we rounded up over a dozen fun and festive manicures that can be created just as easily at home as in a salon. Find your ultimate December DIY nail inspo, below.

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Black Glitter Swirl

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As stunning (and trendy) as a solid coat of glittery black polish can be, we suggest embracing the year's swirl nail art trend. TO DIY, start with an allover milky nude base, followed by artfully applied shimmery black swirls. The easiest way to create a swirled nail look is with an ultra-fine nail art brush.

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Icy French Tips

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How pretty is this shimmery blue-sage and cream nail look? It's icy, earthy, cozy, and festive all at once. To get the look, apply two coats of metallic sage polish to the pinky, pointer, and thumbnails; create your accent French tips using a sheer pinky-nude jelly polish for the base and a cream color for the arches.

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Burgundy Hearts

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Hearts might feel more fitting for Valentine's Day, but if you love December and the holiday season, it can work for the final month of 2024, too—especially if you switch up the color palette. Nevertheless, let's focus on the easy nail art at hand. To create this design, use a nail art brush or French manicure stickers to carve out your negative space cuticle accents. For the hearts, a dotting tool will work wonders.

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Snowflake French Tips

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Bright, Santa Claus red is easily the most popular nail color for December. Instead of opting for a solid red manicure, though, consider this snowflake French design. Start with a sheer nude base. Then, apply thick red, arched tips; You can easily create them with nail stencil stickers or a nail art brush. Let them dry, then apply white snowflake nail stickers to each nail. Finish with a thick, glossy top coat to encase them and prevent peeling. Easy, right?

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Gold Bows

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If you do opt for an all-over coat of red on your nails this holiday season, consider sprucing things up with some festive nail stickers, like these cute little gold bows. Just make sure to encase them in a clear top coat to help prevent peeling.

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Festive Red French

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Another way to wear red polish this holiday season? In a mismatched French design. Where many mismatched manis feature a few different trends, this one simply applies red polish in various French silhouettes—classic arched tips, cutout tips, and reversed cuticle accents alongside solid shimmery red accent nails. So gorg!

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Red and Rose Gold Half Moons

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Speaking of cuticle accents, check out this red and rose gold half-moon mani. Start with a red base, then use a nail art brush to trace metallic rose gold accents atop each cuticle. Finish with a top coat.

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Pearlescent Presents

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We love the look of this pearl-dotted present accent nail. You can DIY the design with a nail art brush. Then, glue a teeny, flat-backed pearl in place with nail glue.

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Minimalist Ornament Nails

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Love the idea of a shimmery black manicure for December? Instead of glitter polish, consider pairing jet-black tips with ornament-inspired gemstone accents. You can DIY this nail look with black polish, a nail art brush, some nail glue, and iridescent gemstones.

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Green Velvet French

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If you love the above design but want to rock a more traditional Christmas color, check out this green velvet French manicure. We love the dainty rhinestone accents on the pointer, middle, and ring fingers.

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Christmas Plaid

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For a more muted easy December nail look, opt for deep, dusty shades of red and green alongside cream and metallic copper. You can rock these colors as a simple Skittle shift (with one color on each nail) or recreate this plaid design using a thin nail art brush.

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Christmas Bows

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We're obsessed with these Christmas present nails. The red bows are just too perfect—and with patience and a thin nail art brush, you can absolutely get the look.

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Christmas Skittle

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For a less involved December nail look, consider a different festive color on each nail. You can never go wrong with shades of red, green, gold, and white for Christmas, or blue, white, and silver hues for Hanukkah.

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Icy Blue Velvet Nails

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Speaking of blue nails, check out this icy illusion French manicure. The trick to creating this design is maneuvering the magnetic polish in one direction for the base and the other for the tips. Easy enough!

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Christmas Treats

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How precious is this Kelly green Christmas treat nail design? You can DIY the look with two coats of green polish topped off with an array of Christmas nail stickers encased in a clear top coat.

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Vintage Christmas Nails

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We love how this simple line and dot nail design gives off festive, vintage vibes. You can DIY the look with dotting tools, a nail art brush, and red, green, black, and sheer nude polishes (or nail stickers).

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Chocolate Marble

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Have a bit more time on your hands? This chocolate marble design takes a sec to recreate but the steps are easy enough to follow. Simply swirl metallic espresso and copper polishes on a plate and use a makeup sponge to transfer them to your nail. Alternatively, you can apply dots of the polish directly onto each nail and swirl them there. In either event, you'll want to touch up your edges with an angled brush dipped in acetone—this will help the design look salon-perfect.