There’s no better way to pre-game a Thanksgiving feast than with a festive manicure project. Before picking up a fork and knife, grab your favorite bottle of fall nail polish and create a nail design that reflects the foods and colors of the season. From literal turkeys to simple half moons, there’s something for every nail artist.
Ahead, 25 Thanksgiving nail designs that will make your hands the centerpiece of the table.
Pumpkin Spice
Cranberry Gradient
Wear your pumpkin spice latte obsession on your nails. This cozy burnt orange is elevated with a glittery top coat.
Tiny Turkey
Lean in to Thanksgiving with turkey nail art. First, paint on a white base, before applying a brown half moon. Use a detail brush to paint on eyes, a beak, and feathers.
Abstract Autmn
You don’t have to be a professional nail artist to achieve this abstract nail look. Paint on a clear base before applying gold foil to your tips. Apply blots of yellow, red, and white polish. Using a ball point brush, create black dots.
Make It Mod
Just because it’s fall doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with patterns. Mix things up with checkerboard and polka dots, while leaving the rest of your nails matte and muted.
Falling Leaves
The french manicure gets a festive fall upgrade with an orange tip. Bonus points if you expertly glue on a leaf decal.
Skittles Strikes Again
Skittles nails, but make it Thanksgiving. Don’t be shy with color selection and try two or three of your favorite fall shades. A cool blue will offset the otherwise warm hues.
Turning Tortoise
Tortoiseshell is the classic fall neutral. Try it with a sheer half moon and glimmering gold rim.
Bubbling Up
Manicurist Chelsea King created this crackle effect with dish soap bubbles over a gel top coat. Try it with fall colors like deep teal and brown.
Bar Graph
Here’s a throwback: Middle school bar graphs. A cream base will accentuate colors like red, orange, and plum.
Tiger Queen
Channel fierce tiger stripes by adding triangular streaks to your manicure.
Botanical Details
Okay so this one is slightly more literal but admit it’s still kind of stationery chic? Intricate sprigs and blooms adorn a white and camel base for a look that’s fall festival, not PSL basique. The pattern averse might appreciate just a single nail dressed up.
Pumpkin Perfect
If your favorite pie is the same as the nation’s favorite spiced latte, then this delightfully minimal mani is for you. A single dollop of the camel-toned polish is balanced at intersection of a negative space design. Yum.
‘Tis The Season
Fall isn’t just about browns, yellows, and oranges. A rich emerald is perfect for any Thanksgiving dinner table and can easily last you into the December holiday season.
Rothko Redux
A dreamy fall color palette, like mauve, citron, and cobalt blue, all balance each other out for a relaxing neutral nail look.
Cranberry Sauce
Whether you make cranberry sauce from scratch or open a can right before dinner, these nails will pay homage to the dinner table staple.
Falling Leaves
This is an imaginative way to mimic falling leaves. Start with a bare nail, and ombré your tips in orange. Once dry, fleck on gold foil to the tips. Finish with a top coat.
Dry Brush Technique
Negative nails are typically reserved for graphic, linear designs, but the dry brush technique is shaking things up. Start with a bare nail, thinly apply a shimmery gold polish, then wipe off the majority of the product until it’s nearly dry.
Chanel Tweed
If you can’t afford the 2.0, get the next best thing with Chanel-inspired tweed nails. Start with a white base, then alternate between black and gray in a crosshatch pattern. Keep your strokes purposefully messy to imitate the woolen textile.
Sand Art Slay
Revisit a favorite childhood craft with this look, inspired by sand jars. Using Thanksgiving shades of orange and gold, paint wavy lines horizontally on top of a neutral base.
In the Round
Take two key Thanksgiving colors—red and gold—and outline the top and bottom half of your nail for an easy negative space design.
Nude Grid
Elevate a nude nail with this design in contrasting textures. Start by applying a nude base then layer it with a matte top coat. Let dry, then paint a grid in a clear topcoat with a striping brush.
Diagonal Glitter
If you want something basic but glam, go for this simple negative nail. Start with a clear base coat. Paint the upper half of each nail bed on the diagonal in a glittery lacquer. Once dry, seal the nail with a clear top coat.
Copper Plaid
Try this copper look by adding strips of metallic nail tape in a slapdash plaid design on top of a nude nail. Finish with a clear top coat.
