Glue Cover

Hello

I am very pleased to present you my very first instructable, my turn to give back to the community. I was making christmas gifts with a friend when I got this idea. The 'On a budget' contest persuaded me to get started.

The glue cover you (hopefully) are about to make is just as good as one you buy in the shop, but you will get more satisfaction from making your own, and its a conversation starter.

The cover you see in the pictures is actually the second I made, the first one didn't have a robot, and I forgot the charger and camera holes. Also, I am convinced that you can make a prettier one if you are more patient than I am.

For this project you will need

-A glue gun (I don't know the price as it was a gift, but they are fairly cheap in general)

-Extra glue (I used 6 sticks, but to be comfortable, I would reserve about 10)

-Paper painter's tape (This tape does not leave glue on your phone)

-A phone (or an other device, I'd love to see idea's)

I had all these things lying around, I predict you won't spend more than €10/$10, and you'll have a glue gun, which is nice.

You have to protect your phone, use tape that wont leave glue stains. Experience taught me it is best to start with the corners, because in the final step when you peel of the glue, some of the tape will tend to stick, especially in the corners. Make sure the tape goes well over the corners, also protecting your screen, because the glue will come over the edge.

Because you want to be able to charge your phone and take the occasional selfie, you have to provide holes. I was able to look through the tape, if this is not the case, you can make a template in advance. You don't have to provide holes for the volume and hold buttons, as you can push through the cover.

I chose to make a picture of the incredible instructables robot on the back, during the gluing process I regretted this a little bit because making the details was difficult. A more simple design, or a steadier hand might have been a better idea.

Now you can start gluing. First I glued the outlines of the camera and charger holes, and then the robot. Afterwards I glued long strips in length, but I'm shure someone can get creative in this step. After the back, I glued the sides, and I went a little over the front (dont go to far, as you wont be able to break off the glue afterwards).

Pay extra attention that the strips of glue align without openings, this wil improve the strength of the case.

If you go faster, you will have thinner lines, but in my opinion, the thicker, the better.

This might be the most difficult step, be patient, and control your anger. Slowly crack the front edges off (I use 'cracking' because this step will make a cracking sound). When these are loose, choose a side to peel off the back. This should go fairly easy, but you might have to use some force (don't break your phone). Depending on the tape you use, some tape can be glued in, you cannot remove this, testing your tape might be smart.

There, your cover is finished, sit back and enjoy!