DIY Tutorial - How To Apply Adhesive Vinyl On A Plastic Phone Case

Do you love customizing any and everything? If you said yes, then this step by step tutorial is for you! Today I’m showing you how easy it is to apply adhesive vinyl on a boring phone case to transform it into a trendy and colorful one using the Cricut Maker.

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Estimated Time To Complete: 20 mins

Supplies Needed:

Step One: Design Setup

I knew I wanted to do a simple geometric design on my case so I used the shapes tool in Design Space to make a bunch of triangles, then I changed the colors to match the different colors of vinyl I’m using.

After clicking the make it button, the software will show you the order of colors that it will cut. Follow the instructions on the screen to load and cut each color.

Step Two: Load and Cut Vinyl

Place each color on the cutting mat and cut one by one. The shiny side of the vinyl should be facing up and the paper backing should be sticking to the mat.

Step Three: Weeding

Use a hook tool or anything sharp and pointy to weed the excess vinyl away from the designs. In this instance it isn’t totally necessary since the triangles are simple shapes but sometimes I find it difficult to peel up a corner of the vinyl and the weeding tool really helps with that.

Step Four: Transfer Tape

Cut a piece of transfer tape so that it is slightly bigger than one of the triangles.

Peel the transfer tape away from the backing and apply it on top of the triangle using a scraper tool to apply gentle pressure.

Peel the transfer tape and vinyl triangle away from the paper backing and apply it to the phone case.

Step Five: Apply Vinyl Decals

Use firm pressure to apply the decal onto the plastic case. Since my scraper tool is bigger than the case I just used my fingers to press down really hard.

Also, since I’m using a clear case I had the option of placing the decals on the outside or on the inside of the case itself. I chose the inside. In the end, you get the same look but the vinyl will be better protected since it’s sandwiched between the case and the phone. If you choose to place vinyl on the outside of a case it will still look great but it will begin to peel off over time due to normal wear and tear.

Continue placing the triangles until you have a design you like!

I had fun playing around with different layouts and if at any point I didn’t like the way it looked, it was so easy to just peel the decals off and try again.

I am obsessed with how colorful and fun this case turned out. Even better, I’m stoked that I can easily change up the design if I get bored with it! Just think how awesome it would be to change up your phone case for every holiday or season. Pineapples in the summer, snowflakes in the winter, the possibilities are endless. Craftables permanant adhesive vinyl comes in 30 fabulous colors so if you can dream it up, you can easily create it.