Clip-on Case for IPod Nano, IPod Touch, Camcorder, and Much, Much More!!!!!!!

You've seen the new iPod touch, and you've seen the iPod Nano. You've admired the cases with Velcro® straps to attach to your arm. All these amazing inventions from Apple. But have you seen a normal clip-to-your-belt iPod holster? Don't get me wrong I love Apple. But no matter how hard I looked for it, I couldn't find an inexpensive clip-on case. I mean, do you truly want your IPod Touch hanging off a band on your arm? If you only use it to listen to your music, then that's great. But even then, if you want to take it out of the case, unless you're the Twistable Turnable Man (Shel Silverstein), you can only use one hand. No, I decided to make something better. And I made it out of duct tape!

There are a lot of steps but each step is short.

Step 1: What Do You Need?

You will need A small, normal phone holster from the dollar store, or some kind of money clip. Anything that you can clip onto your pants. It will have to be able to get removed from the source, and still clip onto your pants all on its own. It can't be that you pry it off of your source, and all you get is a flat, useless piece of plastic. Otherwise, it will not work. All this in addition to whatever you need to remove the clip from whatever source you picked up. It is better to have something with stronger adhesive than normal duct tape (like aluminum tape) for the last part of the case though. Fortunately, all but two of the things you need are commonplace household objects. You may be wondering why I didn't just buy an already made phone case that was the right size, and the answer is that those phone cases are more expensive than my personalized duct tape case (Mine was about 3-4 dollars). And I can customize the case if I make it myself. For instance, a Blackberry® case may fit your device, but has no headphone hole at the bottom.

Step 2: Making the Measurements #1

You'll need to measure your device to make it fit. First measure the width of your device, and mark it off in the center of your piece of paper in two places  (Like pictures 2-6). You should now have four points on the piece of paper. They should form the four corners of a rectangle (Picture 7).

Step 3: Making the Measurements #2

Now you can draw vertical lines (not horizontal yet) using the two points as a guide:

#1. Line the ruler up with the two points at the right hand side of your paper.
#2. Keeping the ruler steady with your other hand, draw a line on the paper along the ruler.
#3 Do steps 1-2 on the other two points.

This method ensures that you will make the straightest line possible. You should now have two parallel lines.

Step 4: Making the Measurements #3

Now you have to draw a line at the top of your two lines as shown in pictures 1-2.

Step 5: Making the Measurements #4

Measure the height of your device and make a mark from the line at the top of your diagram that you just drew in step 4. Now do the same thing again a little to the left of the first mark (pictures 5-7) Then draw a line along the two marks, using the technique in step 3 (picture 8-9).

Step 6: More Drawing and Measuring.

So now that you have a square the right size to fit your whole device inside. you need to re-size it to make it so that you can take it out of the case without trouble. Take your ruler, find the half inch mark, and mark it from the bottom of your rectangle in two places. Then draw a line along them.

Step 7: The Bottom Strip

Now to make the bottom strip. You must make it so that the strip is touching the bottom of the original rectangle. The length of the bottom strip is equal to the width of your device plus a half an inch. The width of the bottom strip is equal to the width of your device, minus about a half an inch. Draw it out connected to the bottom of the original rectangle.

Step 8: The Front Flap

Now for the front of the case. The front is exactly the same size as the rectangle you drew in steps 2-6. It should be touching the bottom flap that you made in the last step.

Step 9: The Top Flap

OK, so now you have to make the top flap(the flap that's going to fold over the top of the case, and onto the Velcro® strips. The width of the top flap is the length of the bottom strip. To find the length of this strip, find the width of your Velcro® strips (picture 1). Then, add that measurement to the width (The measurement from the top of the front strip to the bottom of the back strip) of the bottom strip (picture 2). And finally, add one fourth of an inch more to get the final measurement. As an example, my measurements were:

Velcro® strips = .75 inches wide
Bottom strip = 1.6 inches wide
One fourth of an inch = .25 inches (To put it numerically)

All of them added together is:

.75 + 1.6 + .25 = 2.6

So that means that the length of my top strip is around two and a half inches. Which is what I'll make it even though that's not exactly what it is.

Step 10: Cutting It Out!

Carefully cut out the finished piece and you are ready to start taping!

Step 11: Taping It Up!

Now comes the part where we actually use duct tape! It is quite impossible to show you how with just pictures, so I will coach you through it via these videos I made:

P.S. It is very important that you watch the whole tutorial from front to back once BEFORE you start to tape your own case. Then watch it along with your taping. A lot of important things are revealed along the video, and I wouldn't want you to make any unfixable mistakes. (I know how that feels!)

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr8R1L2QQoc

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARu-VuJQOhQ

Step 12: Attaching the Velcro!

Sticking on the Velcro® is the easiest part because the strips come with adhesives. All you have to do is cut a strip of the scratchy Velcro® long enough to fit the width of the top flap. Then cut the soft Velcro® exactly the same size as the scratchy. Peel the plastic off the sticky side of one of your strips and stick it onto the highest part of the top flap (The part that will touch the front flap.). Now fold your case so that it looks the way it will when it's finished. Put your device into the theoretically finished case, fold the top flap over the part of the device that is sticking out, and mark where the scratchy Velcro® touches. Now stick the soft Velcro® onto the spot that you marked. Take your stapler, and staple the Velcro® strips on so that they don't come off easily. Then cover the part of the staples that stick inside (Where the device will be), so that the staples don't scratch your device. And now that's done!

Step 13: Closing It Up!

Now to close it up. First take two strips of tape the same length (maybe a little smaller) as the side flaps. Then stick one on each side flap, sticky side facing out. Put the device in the spot it will be when the case is finished (picture 2). Fold the flaps of tape that you just put on so that they're covering the device and the side flaps are standing up covering the sides of your device (picture 3). Then fold the front flap over so that it sticks to the new tape, and use the device as a flat surface to press on, as it is usually difficult to get your fingers in there(picture 4). Now just tape the flaps to the outside of the case, and you are done.

Step 14: Putting the Clip On!

Now is the time for you to use the stronger tape. I recommend aluminum tape for this because if you use normal duct tape it'll slowly slide off over time, especially if you run around a lot (I know because it happened to me). Take a strip of aluminum tape longer than the width of your clip. Slide the aluminum tape in between the prongs of the clip with the sticky side facing in the direction of the flattest part of the clip. Now if you want to you can put some glue or hot glue on the flat part of the clip. Stick the clip onto the middle section of the back flap, and press the tape down. Feel free to add as much tape to reinforce it as you want. When you're done, cover the silvery aluminum duct tape with normal duct tape to make it match the rest of the case.

Step 15: Finishing It Up!

Now one last thing. It's rather ceremonial because it's the last step to your case! Take a sticker or some kind of special insignia that you love, and tape/stick it on the front flap for everyone to see. I used an Apple sticker, as you can see in the first pictures of the introduction. You are done! You should be very proud! I hope that you enjoy making this case as much as I did. Have a nice day!