Crystal Beaded Cell Phone Cover

Materials:

metal cell phone faceplate
blank paper (or computer drawing program)
markers or colored pencils
glue
crystal beads
thin stick (crochet hook)
lip balm

Steps:

1. Get a metal faceplate, preferably one made by the manufacturer of the phone so that the fit is perfect and the faceplate is durable. It's also recommended that it's as close in color to the background color that will be your crystal design, because a little of it will show through.

2. Decide what the pattern will be. Note: Geometric designs are easier than more detailed images. Floral or other irregular designs are a bit more challenging to do. Draw it on paper or using a computer drawing program. Draw small circles on the pattern, making sure the circles are as close as possible to the size of the crystals you'll be using. Draw the circles in staggered rows, rather than in an exact grid of one on top of the other.

3. Using markers or colored pencils, start filling in the tiny circles with the colors you like so that it forms a picture of what you want. Keep in mind there are limited colors of crystals.

4. Once you have your design, gauge whether it's big enough for the phone cover by wrapping it around the phone cover. Make sure that you have more design than you think you'll need; continue it beyond what you think the borders of your phone cover will be, just to be on the safe side.

6. Put a small dab of glue on a piece of scrap paper. Use a spot about the size of an aspirin because it will dry quickly and you don’t want to waste a lot of glue. Using a thin stick, dab a bit of the glue onto the thinner tip of your stick (figure A). Put it on the phone cover in the upper left corner.

7. Dab the opposite end of your stick in lip balm so that it gets a bit of wax on it (figure B). Note: The softer the lip balm, the better. Use this waxy end to pick up a crystal, especially if you're using tiny ones. Set it on the spot of glue you put on your phone cover. Continue to do this exact process as you move along the full edge of your phone cover. Then, starting back at the top corner, do the next row (figure C). Make sure the crystals are being set staggered, kind of "between" the edges of the ones in the row below, not just directly above. You want to get the pattern tightly interlaced so that not much of the phone cover color below shows through. Do the next row the same way and so on, until finished.

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