Pretty phone covers

It's safe to say that most of you would back me up when I say majority of the budget phones or the not-so-sophisticated gadgets we own come with very distasteful and less than minimum options for flip/back covers. If you too are bored with the way your phone looks too generic, here is how you could up your phone game:

PRESSED FLOWERS
If you were always fond of floral prints, here's your chance to take your love for it to the ultimate level by adorning your phone case with real, pressed flowers. If you haven't made pressed flowers before, you should know they look absolutely gorgeous and are extremely easy to make. You could go the conventional way of pressing flowers by placing flowers of your choice (preferably small in size) or single petals within paper napkins, further enclosed on both sides by two pieces of papers. After you've set the arrangement, make a final check to ensure all the flowers are facing up, petals spread out. Then, put the good old dictionary or a similarly heavy book to good use by placing the ensemble inside for 7 days. Or, you could opt for the method of the restless: use a microwave oven. Place the paper-tissue-flower ensemble under a heavy glass dish and heat in high power for a minute. 

Now that you're done pressing the flowers, bring out your bland old phone cover and start delicately arranging the flowers on the cover, gluing mildly in position as you go. It's preferred that you put brighter colours in the background and darker colours at the top. Now, for the top coat use adhesive mixed with a bit of water and use 3 coats, ensuring overnight drying between coats,to attain a clear gloss finish. 

STAR STUDDED GALAXIES
Who doesn't love a starry night? If you want to capture the enigmatic play of colours of a galaxy, simply bring out your old nail polishes and paint yourself one on the cover of your phone. For this, at first you need to paint a uniform coat of black colour on the phone cover that will serve as a background for your galaxy. Next, bring out the blues and purple and the greens from your nail polish stash. Use an old plate as a palette and a small piece of your sponge and get working on the masterpiece. Dab the sponge on the colours and unleash your inner Van Gogh by dabbing the colours on your canvas. There are no rules but one: use the darker colours first and then dab on lighter colour on top of them for creating the aurora effect. If you do not have lighter shades of the colours, mix some white nail polish with the darker ones and you're good to go. Finally, it's time to paint the stars. For this, dip an old toothbrush in some white acrylic paint mixed with a few drops of water and the run your thumb through the bristles which creates a fine splatter pattern that resembles the star studded galaxy that you'll be able to hold in your hands.

SPRAY PAINT LACE CASE
For the cheat method to a super elegant look for your phone, grab some leftover lace and secure it tightly with some tape over your phone cover. Depending on the colour of the cover, pick a contrasting colour of spray paint and spray paint all over the phone case. Wait a few hours till the paint has dried and then simply peel off the lace, revealing your classy vintage phone cover.

Labiba Mustabina studies biochemistry and biotechnology at North South University. A tree hugger, she also claims to be a closet artist. You can reach her at [email protected]