Frigid negative temperatures have us ready to say goodbye to winter and hello to spring. For nail art lovers, it's a chance to trade in dark tones for vibrant pastels and popping royal hues! So give winter the finger–a floral finger, that is! What I love about this spring nail art is the free-form outlines. Just like my ikat hearts last week, perfect lines are not the goal.

For this look, I used five colors, including Black Onyx, My Vampire is Buff, and Need Sunglasses by OPI. I also used Mad Magenta by Picture Polish and Posh by Revlon, a great green the leaves. I used a slim striping brush dipped in black polish to create the black lines. However, if you're not comfortable with that, you can also use a nail art pen or striping polish in black. For the leaves, a small brush will do, and for the flowers, grab a medium dotting tool. Here's how to get the look:

1. First, polish your nails with your neutral, light base. Let it dry.
2. Now dip your dotting tool into your first flower color. Blob rough flower shapes on your nails. Remember, there's no need to get a perfect shape here! Do the same with your other flower color.

3. Paint leaf shapes coming off of all of your flowers in green.
4. With a small dotting tool or your striping brush, add little black circles to each flower's center.

5. Now paint long, black arcs in and around your flower shapes. The trick is to be very quick with your strokes, so your lines are even in width. Other than that, just keep them random. Don't tell your kindergarten teacher I told you this, but it's okay to go outside the lines—it adds a great effect!
6. Add wavy black lines coming off of your flowers and disappearing into your cuticle and free edges, then finish everything with a smooth layer of quick-dry top coat. To avoid smearing your design, load your nail with the top coat, and sweep it from cuticle to free edge in a quick motion. 

Spring is coming, so put on those fingerless winter gloves and show off your floral nail art. Here's a Pin-able version of all the steps with a finished shot, too. Have fun with it!

Want more nail art tutorials? Katy has plenty over at Nailed It.