Congratulations to NAILS Mural Contest winner Patty Lopez of Parral, Mexico. Lopez spent five years living in Cancun, which was the inspiration for her “Topical Tropical” design. “If you travel just outside the city of Cancun, there are many little jungles, some of them with animals roaming free,” she says. One set of nails is flat art (it’s a recreation of a mural she’d painted on her bathroom wall); the other is 3-D acrylic.

Second place winner Jennifer Dinh of Brooklyn, N.Y., titled her “Little Mermaid”-inspired design “Classic at its Best.” Third place winner Melissa Wills of Middletown, N.Y., used a combination of 3-D acrylic and paint to create her “Haunted House.”

To see a slideshow of all the winning designs, click here and scroll to “Nail Murals 2008.”

KEYWORDS: mural, nail art, contest, annual contest, themed designs