How to Bling Out Your Cellphone With Crystals

Make your cellphone stand out from the crowd.

Convert your cellphone from an unexciting necessity to a stylish fashion accessory. Trendy phones encrusted with crystals are everywhere, so customize your phone and make it to fit your personality. Be as elaborate as you want with the design, or keep it simple, and simply cover your phone with crystals in your favorite color. Plan your design first to find out how many crystals you will need. Some crystals are more expensive, so weigh the differences in cost and quality when you are deciding which stones to use to decorate your phone.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Tweezers
• Flat, self-adhesive crystals

Instructions

Create Design

1. Place your phone on a piece of paper and trace around the outside edge with a pencil to create an outline of its shape.

2. Sketch your design on the piece of paper. Simple designs include things such as stripes and dots, or you can incorporate symbols or letters. Use the ruler to make straight lines in the design. Leave enough room on the top and bottom for at least one full row of crystals before adding special symbols.

3. Decide on a color scheme for your phone design by choosing complementary or contrasting colors.

4. Determine the number of crystals you will need to cover your phone. Take the ruler, and calculate horizontal and vertical rows based on the size of the crystals you will be applying. Lightly sketch these rows on top of the design. This will give you an estimate of the number of crystals required. Always purchase a few extra crystals to ensure you have enough, and keep them on hand for repairs later.

5. Clean the outside of your phone with a cotton ball slightly saturated with rubbing alcohol and let it dry completely.

6. Lay your cellphone on the table and use the pencil to draw the design on your phone so you have a guide to follow.

Apply Crystals

1. Choose a color to begin your design with, and peel a self-adhesive crystal off the sheet. If you find your crystals hard to hold on to, use the tweezers to pick them up.

2. Press the crystal firmly to the phone beginning at the top left or right corner.

3. Repeat Step 2, working your way down the design. Stick crystals close to each other, and lay your ruler on the phone to keep the rows as straight as possible. Follow your sketch, and make sure you are applying the right color of crystals in the proper place.

4. Apply additional crystals to the outer edge or back of your phone if necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• Refrain from touching the back of the crystals since this will interfere with their adhesion to the phone.

• If you lose some crystals, clean the area where they fell off and reapply new ones.

• Do not cover anything that will interfere with the function of the phone such as the speaker, headphone jack, buttons or ports.

References

• "Create Your Own Bling: Add Glamour to Your Favorite Accessories"; Ilene Branowitz; 2007

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish