Are you constantly getting your ear buds tangled up in knots? Wish you had an easy way to keep them handy? Here is how to make a cheap and easy DIY ear bud case – and you get candy to boot! What’s not to love about this project?

If you are like my kids, your original ear bud case was lost or crushed in the bottom of your backpack or purse ages ago.  So, I made new cases for each kid for Christmas because we seemed to be replacing ear buds every week and it was making that “mom” tic in my eye worse each time we had to shell out money for new ones. Because ear buds tangled up in tight knots or crushed under everything else in a backpack, not surprisingly, tend to not work! Amazing, huh?

Anyway, for a just a few dollars they got sturdy new cases personalized with their favorite colors. And better yet, these cases have a clip so they can hang on a strap and don’t end up being crushed.

I saw a video on how to do it here, and decided to make my own.  It was easy-peasy!!! Honest.

Here are the items you need to make an easy DIY ear bud case:

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• Container of Icebreakers sours (your color choice)
• Washi tape (your color choice)
• Key ring
• Drill with small bit.

How to make an easy DIY ear bud case.

First, the disclaimer.  As I mentioned, these were Christmas presents for my kids, so I hid in my bedroom to make these. So excuse the icky green background.  I was using my ironing board as my work table! 🙂  Please tell me you sometimes hide in your room to do projects, too…

Remove the front and back labels from the container.

Mine peeled right off with no residue. If there is some sticky residue left, wipe it off with a cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover.

Here it is, label-less.

You can decorate it however you want, but I decided to just use the washi tape as an accent. If you haven’t used washi tape before, it is basically decorated masking tape, so it is easy to use and cut.

Apply the washi tape so it completely covers the tops of both the big and small pop up lids.

Use scissors to trim the excess tape as close to the edge of each lid as possible.

Here is what it looked like when I was done trimming the tape.

Be creative! You can also use the washi tape to make a design on the back as well. I stuck with just the pop up lids for mine because these were last-minute Christmas presents and I was in a hurry.  🙂

Next you want to drill 2 holes at the top edge (the side AWAY from the large pop up lid).

Hold the key ring against the side of the container to judge where you need to drill and how far apart you need to make the holes. Drill the holes at an angle, not straight down.  Doing it this way will make it much easier to thread the key ring through later.

(And, yes, the hubs did drill out the holes standing in our bedroom! Lol! Ah, the things we do for our kids, right?)

Thread the key ring through the holes.

This is the hardest part of the whole project! After several tries, my hubby and I found the best way was to hold the key ring open with the point of the scissors to get it started in the hole. Then you simply push it through into the other hole and keep turning it until the whole ring goes through the holes and the ring is securely fastened. Be patient, it can take a couple of tries to get it to thread into the second hole.

Wind up the ear buds and pop them in the case.  Close the snap lid and you’re done!

Now you have a custom-made easy DIY ear bud case that will be the envy of your cool friends! 🙂

Same kind of container, three different looks!

I have 2 kids that both love blue, so the other 2 cases were both in shades of blue, but I used the same washi tape on both.  They are different enough that they can tell whose is whose. I apologize.  I forgot to take a picture of all 3 of the completed ones when it was still light, and only remembered when I was getting ready to wrap them, so the lighting is not so great. But you get the idea of how they turned out.

So, what ways have you tried to store your ear buds in the past? I think you’ll really like this sturdy case, so give it a try!

Want some other fun teen gift ideas?

Check these out: 14 DIY gifts to make for teens.

Happy crafting!

~ Pam

P. S. I love doing this kind of quick and simple project.  Be on the lookout – I’ll be sharing some more soon!