Most of us like to buy the coolest accessories for our smartphones or tablets. Some make our smartphones even smarter, others take gaming on tablets a step further. Then there are accessories to protect our smartphones and tablets. Basically, there are countless things you can buy for your favorite mobile device, but why buy them when you can make them?

Not only are some of these makeshift solutions a showcase of ingenius creativity, they are also easy to replicate and can help you save your money for other purposes. We’re expecting office supplies to go missing a lot as a result of this list but go ahead and grab and idea or two. Unleash your creativity with these DIY examples smartphone and tablet accessories.

Recommended Reading: 30 Smartphone Chargers You Have Not Seen Before

Docks & Stands

iPhone Paper Dock. Awesome origami work by Julien Madérou. Get some thick, sturdy paper, a pair of scissors and fold it like so, and you’ve got yourself a nice-looking paper dock. The best part is you can have several docks placed in strategic spots in your home or office.

Cutlery Smartphone Stand. Bend some cutlery and fasten them together to create this cool looking iPhone stand. Or you could buy it from ForkedUpArt off Etsy for $27.50.

Binder Clip Stand. Richsipe bent the ‘arm’ of one of the two binder clips needed for this project that gives you a simple smartphone stand.

Pencil & Rubber Bands. This is probably the result of a lot of tent-building or a fascination with angles and corners by Tim White. Still, it looks pretty sturdy.

Binder Clip Smartphone Holder. Two large binder clips, one unused credit card and you have yourself a holder. Nifty and simple trick by David (dkfotog).

iPhone Box Stand. Remember that piece of plastic holding your iPhone in place so that it won’t move about inside the box? Well Gorodin added some binder clips to that with some double-sided tape and made a very simple iPhone stand.

LEGO Tablet Stand. LEGO lets you create anything with endless possibilities. With a few pieces of LEGO you (or your kid) have, Brett Rowley teaches you how to create a sturdy and good-looking stand in minutes.

Ikea Tablet Stand. Ikea or similar hardware stores are great places to hunt for resources to create your own cheap tablet stands. All Stephen Wong used was an Ikea bracket and screws to make a very simple stand.

Protective Cases

Leather Envelope Case. A cool-looking smartphone case created by Kate Pruitt that looks like an envelope made out of leather. It does require some specific tools to sew together, but it sure has a classy look in the end, doesn’t it?

Leather Smartphone Sleeve. Another smartphone sleeve made out of leather. Cathe Holden has included step-by-step tutorials on the measurements, where to cut and sew the pieces together so you can easily make your own design to fit your phone measurements.

Leather Smartphone Wallet. Since you’re making your own casing, Kirstin decided to add a few pockets for your ID, driving registration or credit cards.

Felt Electronic Cases. Like the feeling of felt on your fingers? Laura does! Grab some felt in the color you like, buttons and string and start carrying your devices around in envelopes.

Gliterry Cases. Ebay is a great source for cheap and plain cases for your device. All you have to do now is to get some supplies like glue, glitter and maybe ribbons to create the most unique and sparkly cases like how Grace Bonney has created.

Quilt Fabric Case. These (ice) cool carrying cases by Straight Stitch Society can securely hold your device with space for a few identity or credit cards and a small set of keys with the metal ring.

Felt & Fabric Case. Felt is cheap, easily available and can be mixed and matched rather easily which is why Michael Ann has chosen to use it to create a case. It’s also not hard on the surface of your delicate device.

Yarn Smartphone Case. Another cute case, this time, made of yarn. Trish was able to complete it on bus rides, a fun way to pass some of those long commutes. Personally, I’d go for cookie monster blue, for effect.

Wood & Leather iPhone Case with Penholder. Some classy work by Patrick Ng was put into making the leather piece that would protect the face of the iPhone and at the same time hold a pen, or if you prefer, a stylus.

Hardcover Book Turned Into Case. Originally an idea for a laptop, Emmatennis turned this hardcover book into a case by drilling some holes and sewing the zippers to seal the book. Solid protection for those larger 10-inch tablets.

Smartphone Slip Case. Another simple DIY sew-it-up case by Laura. The tutorial shows measurements to fit a Kindle Fire but could easily be modified to fit different-sized devices.

Felt iPad Case. Felt is a very inexpensive and easy-to-find material. With felt, Stef & Erin created this simple iPad case. It does require a bit of sewing but the simple step-by-step tutorial will guide you through.

E-Reader Sleeve. Another great design put together by Jessica Kelly with some fabric that hold your tablet. The unique thing about this sleeve is the additional pocket in front for your other things.

Fabric Tablet Cover. Not fond of strings as your preferred holder? Dixie Mango used some hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro). It could work just as well too.

Cute Felt Case. The Singing Sunflower created this with felt and filled up with cotton, this case feels like a soft toy from the front but has a zipper at the back that securely holds your device.

More DIY Accessories

Cheap Homemade Stylus. Collin Cunningham made a stylus out of sponge, wire, tape and an old pen. Seriously, you could do this yourself too.

Homemade Projector For Tablets. Here’s a projector for your tablet, made out of a magnifying lens (Fresnel lens), a box and some duct tape. An awesome and creative project by Grant Thompson.

Smartphone Macro Lens. If you have an old lense from a disposable camera lying around, try turning it into a macro lens for your smartphone, with some wires. RVogel sure has put something meant to be thrown away to great use.

Car Mount with Binder Clips. No phone holder in your car, no problem! Repeet13 Used two clip binders, did some slight modifications and voila!

Battery Power USB Charger. Ladyada built this battery powered USB charger. The link provides everything you need to create your own and where to buy parts; definitely a great weekend project.

Smartphone Speaker Amplifier Did you know putting your smartphone into a paper cup instantly amplifies the sound from your speakers? You can thank Sam Stephenson for the great tip!

Editor’s note: This article is contributed by Stelian Subotin. Stelian is an enthusiast and design fan who is working on his new design-related blog called Rocket Graphics.

What is the best part about being a freelancer and actually working? Getting paid of course. Money will not buy you happiness but they sure will bring a smile or at least some satisfaction. In this article we will be talking about financing for freelancers, how to price your services and how to properly manage your money.

While enjoying money is a nice feeling, many times this process is not that smooth and some are even having a hard time with it. We will be discussing several problems that many freelancers face, such as: not getting paid on time, dilemmas on whether to charge per hour or project, ways of getting paid and more.

Recommended Reading: 10 Tips To Invoice Your Freelance Clients Professionally

Settle on a Pricing System: Hour vs Project

There have been several debates and discussion on which system works better for freelancers, hourly or by project. The answer as you can probably guess is neither. There isn’t and there will never be one answer about why you should only charge per hour or only per project because every work/project has got its own "personality" and details you need to take into account before deciding how to charge.

Charging per Hour

Some designers simply follow their own principles and only charge per hour no matter the type of project they are working on. They have found their perfect hourly rate and only rate by it, turning down any project that doesn’t comply with it.

It may seem logical to do so, but this kind of charging has a few Pros and Cons:

Pros

1. It is straight-forward, no messing around with estimations for various projects.
2. Making your client rate public will help you save some time, clients who contact you have basically agreed to your asking price.
3. You can calculate the rate that fits you best, so that you will properly utilize each working hour.

Cons

1. Clients who have no idea how long it takes to work on their project may not approach you.
2. There is a slight chance that you are over-pricing or under-pricing your services this way.
3. Clients with smaller projects may think that your rate is too high for them

Charging per Project

The other side of the card, is charging per project. If you are not satisfied with the "pay per hour" system then you definitely have to consider this one. Here are the Pros and Cons of this method:

Pros

1. You can tell exactly what is the amount you would like to get paid for doing the specific job.
2. It will be easier to get "small leads" because high hourly rates usually frighten clients with smaller projects in their hands

Cons

1. A wrong estimation will make you work more, because often times the agreed rate can’t be changed.
2. There is no constant pricing when it comes to projects, which might be considered as a scam by some clients.

Dealing with Pricing Issues

There are several issues freelancers are dealing with constantly. Here are just a few of them.

Getting Paid Late

One of the most common issues is getting your clients to pay you on time. Of course we mustn’t generalise and say that all clients don’t pay on time, but freelancers will more than once have to send reminders to their clients to clear their invoices.

Settle on a Contract

The best way to avoid clients delaying payments is by settling on a proper contract. There are several reasons for doing that. After signing the contract, both of you will have legal obligations, and as long as you do your job correctly and follow the contract terms, you will be fine. You’ll be protected by law against clients that don’t pay their bills on time.

It’s also common to set a late-payment fee which requires your clients to pay more if they made you wait for their payment. It’s a sign of a partial neglect of the contract.

Recommended Reading: 8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without

Communication

Another important factor is the communication between clients and freelancers. As you might have heard, communication is the key, and that’s true! It’s always okay to send friendly reminders and updates to your clients and asking them politely to pay their invoices.

You shouldn’t think of the worst, and you never know how easily someone can forget something in the midst of a busy schedule. The delay may not be intentional so don’t treat it like it is.

Invoice Them

One very good thing about invoices, no matter the service you are using is that most of them allow you to send a "friendly" reminder to your client that it is time to clear payments. That’s very simple to do and only takes the click of a button.

Taxes

Freelancing can be considered a business, and you have to take much care of the way you handle your taxes. Just in case you are new to freelancing, know that the way you handle your taxes as a freelancer is different from when you are pulling paychecks. There are different forms and documents to file and you will need to have good bookkeeping skills or get a freelance accountant to advice you accordingly.

Tools & Services

There are actually several very useful tools out there which will definitely make your life easier. Considering how many things are involved in dealing with a project, tools like time trackers and automatic invoice services are definitely lifesavers.

FreshBooks

Probably one of the most popular online services for invoicing is FreshBooks. They have a very flexible pricing system and a 30-day free trial for their service. You can also track your work with their iOS app for iPhone and iPad and when in trouble, contact their great support team via email and phone assist. Paid packages range between $19.95 to $39.95. So far the system boasts 5 million users already.

Less Accounting

Less Accounting is a very good web application that promises to save about 80% of your time. They have an easy-to-use accounting software which is supposed to help you with your bookkeeping, no matter your level of expertise in this domain. The UI is also real easy to use no matter how much of a novice you are. Plus, they have a pretty good sense of humor about things.

Make Some Time

Here’s a free alternative to FreshBooks that works to track your time online. It offers a few invoicing and reports features but no support for mobile apps, although you can still run it on browser view from your smartphone.

Conclusion

Money management is a tough job particularly when crunching numbers isn’t exactly your thing. But you can always fall back on these tools to help make things easier. When worse comes to worst, just hire an expert number-cruncher to help you manage your earnings for a fee.

Which do you prefer? Tell us.

Playing games is one of the ways to relax, to hone reaction time, critical thinking, improve our creativity and of course, to have fun. Brain teasers test us with a series of questions and puzzles to check where our problem-solving skills lie. Sometimes you need to think out of the box to find the right answers.

We have here 10 free brain teasers you can play on your iPhone. Swap texting, social networking or mindless repeatable games for these mind-sharpening puzzles instead. It will make that wait or queue a lot bearable and now, you get one (or maybe ten) more options to better spend your time with.

Recommended Reading: 20 Retro Video Games You Can Play on iPhone

1. Clockwork Brain

In Clockwork Brain, players will be tested through a mini series of games with time limits. It’s a great app to have for those Sudoku lovers who want to play with more than just numbers.

You’ll need some memory work, logical reasoning, a good eye and a love for puzzles. There is a good range of games in this free version but if you want more, go premium for $2.99.

2. Move The Box

Move The Box is a puzzle game where you need to move the boxes into groups of three, either horizontally or vertically. The catch is, there is a limited number of moves. Gameplay allows for swapping, moving and dropping of the box and if you have made a wrong move, just click the undo button.

There are over 600 levels for you to beat and hints are actually available for purchase.

3. What’s My IQ

What’s My IQ is a game that will ask a series of questions which may seem straightforward or silly at first but most actually have pretty creative answers. The graphics are family-friendly and parents and kids will probably have a blast trying to outsmart each other (we adults do have a tendency to overthink things).

4. Stupidness 2

Stupidness 2 is a puzzle game that will make you think out of the box. Some of the solutions or answers to the puzzles are funny and unique, like this one you see below. The progress bar near the top will deplete the longer you take to get the question right. The bar reflects your IQ level as seen on the left. And if things get too hard, just use a hint (points will be deducted).

5. The Room Pocket

The Room Pocket is a first-person POV quiz/puzzle adventure game where you’re presented with series of boxes you need to crack open to move on to the next level. It is a mystery puzzle game and you will be swiping around, tapping, zooming in and out and clicking on items to solve the puzzle.

If you’re stuck on certain levels, there is this tool called ‘eyeglass’ that you can use to help you reveal the way to the next level.

6. 77 Logic Games

77 logic games deals with boxes and putting the right things in the right box. Play by the rules and trump the puzzle to get to the next stage. There are hints in the game if you get stuck or you can just restart the game. With 77 different types of puzzles you have more than 2000 levels to keep you occupied.

7. 100 Doors 2013

You’ll either love it or hate it. That’s 100 Doors for you. This one is the 2013 version and the idea of the game is to figure out how to open the door based on clues you see around the door. In some levels, you have to even tilt or turn your smartphone upside down. Open a door, and advance to the next level. Living up to its name, there are 100 doors for you to unlock, so start guessing!

8. Knowledge Trainer

Knowledge trainer is like your personal Jeopardy show. It challenges you on various topics such as history, sports, science, film, arts and much more. When you answered correctly and your performance is good, the questions will get tougher. Players can view their statistics to see the category they are weaker in. Fun for the know-it-all in class.

9. 7 Little Words

7 Little Words is a puzzle word game where you’re given 7 different clues. Based on the clues you need to find the right word to describe them. If you get stuck you can use hints to help you reveal the first letter or tile of the correct answer, but the hints are limited, so you need to use it wisely.

10. 4 Pics 1 Word

4 Pics 1 Word is a game where you are given 4 different pictures with one common theme, guess that theme in a word and you win! If you’re stuck you can always ask for help from your friends over in Facebook or you could use the hint given at 60 points a pop.