I finally upgraded to a new phone because I ran out of storage on my old phone (too many photos) and I really wanted to get my hands on that updated iPhone camera. And with a new phone comes the need for a new phone case. I’ve long been drawn to the Chaos case favored by Victoria Beckham and Alexa Chung but I’m not quite willing to drop $250 on a monogrammed phone case, even if it is made from leather.
But after drooling over the expensive version for a few months, I spotted a simple faux-leather phone case at Nordstrom and realized how easy it would be to monogram it myself. Keep reading to see how I created a custom stencil for this project.
For this project, you’ll need the following:
• phone case
• stencil paper
• X-acto knife
• cutting surface
• ruler
• pen
• paint
• paint brush
• spray sealant
1. Cut out a rectangle of stencil paper roughly the size of your phone back.
2. Figure out what you’d like the dimensions of your monogram to be, then sketch out the shape on the reverse of the paper. I went with a simple block-letter shape and my initial is symmetrical, so I was able to just use the tick marks on the back of the paper to create my letter, but if you want to do something a little more complicated, simply pull up the letter and style you want on your computer screen, then tape the piece of paper over the screen and trace it. Just remember, unless your initial is perfectly symmetrical life mine, you’ll need to reverse it.
3. Carefully cut out the letter using an X-acto knife.
4. Trim down the sides of the stencil until it fits evenly inside the perimeter of the phone case.
5. Figure out exactly how you’d like to position the letter, then peel the backing off the paper. Smooth it down carefully from top to bottom, then use your fingernail or the edge of the ruler to really make sure the sticker is sealed down. Pay close attention to the edges, since we don’t want any paint to seep through.
6. Once you have a nice seal, brush a light coat of paint over the letter. Let dry for a minute or two, then add another thin coat.
7. Let dry for a minute (paint should be no longer shiny but not all the way dry—if it gets too dry, it can remove patches of paint with it) and slowly peel up the sticker from bottom to top.
8. If there are any stray patches, use your fingernail to scrape and nudge the paint. Let dry completely.
9. Finally, give the whole thing a thin coat of clear sealant spray to keep the paint from chipping.
I credit spending my formative years in Texas with my monogram obsession, and even though I’ve moved away, my love of all things initial stamped doesn’t seem to be dimming. Case in point: I couldn’t resist making a second phone case, this time with two letters in a sans-serif font. I love that I can change them out depending on my mood, and I’m already planning on whipping up another one—maybe in a cool green or yellow shade.
