The utilitarian smartphone cover has been elevated to a style statement. Your choice of case — well-worn leather or neon plastic, super slim or rubberized and rugged — says as much about you as the clothes you wear or the way you decorate your home. Here are some DIY phone case projects that say "I love crafting and being thrifty."

Melissa of the craft blog Look What Melissa Made seems to love dressing up her iPhone. And her projects are easy and inexpensive enough that your phone could change outfits almost as often as you do.

To get started, grab an old iPhone case (Melissa gets them cheaply on Canal Street), then add…

• Lace iPhone case: Spraypaint, applied through a lace "stencil."
• Embroidered iPhone case: Start with one of those perforated cases, then add colored embroidery floss in a great pattern, like chevron. (This is a great DIY take on this $18 cross-stitch case kit.)
• Glitter iPhone case: Glue and glitter, duh!
• Studded iPhone case: A few packs of craft-store studs.

Each of these DIY projects could work to jazz up almost any cell phone case — iPhone, Android, Blackberry… or even be sized up to an iPad, tablet or laptop case. The world is your gliter-painted oyster!

(Images: Look What Melissa Made. Via Stylelist Home)