Why Phone Charms Are The Accessory in 2025

With accessorization on the rise and a growing emphasis on personal style, 2025 is all about self-expression—and beaded phone charms are the perfect way to elevate your look with a cute, personalizable touch to your phone case. Phone charms are also very functional as they provide a second hand that acts as a safety net in the event that you drop your phone, but the best part? They are easy to make, highly customizable, and affordable to DIY, making them the greatest fun and quick activity to enjoy by yourself or with your loved ones on craft night! 

I have seen phone charms priced online anywhere from $10 to $100, but making them at home is not only cost-effective but also more personalized to your style. Plus, phone charms are incredibly versatile—you can use them as bag charms or water bottle accessories, and they make the perfect thoughtful and adorable presents! 

If you are ready to level up your style in 2025, keep reading for an easy, 7-step guide on how to make these phone charms at home.

1. Gather Your Materials

What you will need:

• Elastic cord or durable string

• Choose a strong yet flexible and thin material that can hold the weight of your beads and charms, and fit seamlessly on your phone case. I recommend using waxed polyester string– it comes in various colors and is easy to work with! If you want to get creative, you can also use multiple colors of a thinner string and braid them to create one charm strap! Just make sure that the braided string is thin enough to fit the beads.   

Beads and charms

• Have an assortment of beads and charms that appeals to you! You can find colorful beads in bulk on Amazon or your local craft store so that you have options to work with. You can even find unique beads or charms on retail sites such as Etsy–they have a variety of beads with cool materials such as wood, ceramic, or even glass beads that you may use! If you want to get creative, you can also create your own charms. I used seashells for one of my phone charms by puncturing small holes into the shells to thread them onto my phone strap–the possibilities are truly endless!  

Scissors

• Grab a pair of scissors to trim the cord of your phone charm strap to your desired length and to rid any frayed ends.

Clear nail polish

• Have a clear nail polish on hand to apply to the phone charm strap in order to help secure knots and prevent unraveling from loose ends. 

• Tacky Glue (optional)

• If you do not have clear polish at home, tacky glue is also a great alternative to help secure knots and prevent unraveling from loose ends. 

• Lighter (optional)

• If you want that extra layer of support, grab a lighter to seal the ends of the waxed polyester string once you have finished creating your phone charm strap. If you are underage, make sure to have an adult present if you plan to use a lighter! 

• Needle (optional)

• If you find yourself having trouble threading the beads with smaller holes, a needle may come in handy to make this process more efficient. 

Pro tip: try to gather all the materials you need beforehand–I like to lay out all the materials that I am using in front of me on a flat surface early on so that I can focus more on enjoying the process! 

2. Measure and Cut the String

Items needed: string, scissors

Once you have gathered all your materials, measure the string to your desired length and cut it using your scissors. You can use your phone to estimate the length, but be sure to leave extra space for tying knots. A typical length for the phone charm strap is around 15 inches (6–8 inches when folded in half), which will most likely fit comfortably around your wrist, but feel free to adjust as needed. Additionally, leave an extra 2–3 inches to ensure you have enough room to tie knots securely after adding your beads and charms! 

3. Create the Loop

Items needed: string

After cutting the string to your desired length, fold it in half and tie a knot 1–2 inches down from the folded end. This creates a loop that will later be used to attach the beaded phone charm strap to your phone. If you are planning to use larger beads or charms, you may want to make this loop slightly bigger so that you can easily thread the charm through the loop when attaching it to your phone later on. If you’ve completed this step correctly, you should have two long, even strands of string connected by the loop.

4. Design Your Charm Layout

Items needed: beads/charms

After you have finished measuring and cutting your string, arrange your beads and charms in your preferred order on a flat surface before stringing. Experiment around with different patterns, textures, shapes, symmetry/asymmetry, and colors. Try to choose beads and charms that reflect your personality or coordinate with your phone case! If you are having trouble with choosing a bead pattern, it may be helpful to look at existing phone charms to gain inspiration. Pinterest, Instagram, Tiktok, and other social media platforms are also great places to find ideas to build off from! Just be sure to consider the size and weight of your chosen accessories to ensure the phone charm does not cause discomfort by being too bulky or heavy.

5. String the Beads and Charms

Items needed: string, beads/charms, scissors

Once you have chosen your desired bead and charm pattern, thread your decorations onto both of the strings. If you find it difficult to add the beads, use a needle to help ease the process by attaching the string to the needle and weaving the needle through the holes of the beads. Make sure you do not fill the string completely with charms because you will need space to tie the ends together to secure your everything in place.  

As you add your beads and charms, you may notice that the ends of your string begin to fray. If you are using waxed string as the base of your phone charm cord, you should be able to smooth out the frayed ends of the string by using the warmth of your hands to reattach the ends together–just pinch and roll the string together using your fingers. Alternatively, you can trim the ends of the string off with a pair of scissors to get a sharper and cleaner edge.

6. Secure the Ends

Items needed: phone charm, nail polish or tacky glue or a lighter

Once you finish placing all the beads in your desired order on both sides of the string, tie a sturdy knot to keep the charms secure. If there are any remaining frayed ends or loose string, add a dab of clear nail polish or tacky glue to strengthen those spots along with the knot and trim the excess string if needed. If you are using a lighter, make sure to take extra precaution as you bring the flame towards the knot very slowly. Keep in mind that you should not be putting the flame directly on the string as this may create a burn through the string and break the charm. As you bring the lighter near the string, allow the flame to melt the knot and cut the excess away. If you are underage, do not try to attempt this process on your own–have an adult present to help you out during this process!

7. Attach to Your Phone

Items needed: phone charm, phone case

After you have tied the ends of the charm strap together, take your phone out of its case for easy access and feed the loop through your phone case’s lanyard hole. Once the phone charm is in, slide the charm through the loop and pull it all the way through to secure the charm in place. If your phone case does not have a designated lanyard hole, you can use the sound/mute cutout or the speaker cutout as an alternative attachment point for your phone charm strap. Once the charm is looped onto your case, gently tug on the strap to make sure that it is securely attached and will not loosen up while you use it. Keep in mind that wherever you attach your charm, that part of the case will experience extra wear, so handle your phone carefully, especially if you are holding it by the strap!

And there you have it—your very own personalized phone charm! If you post your phone charm to social media, be sure to tag @charcharms_ on Instagram or @charcharms__ on TikTok, I would love to see how your phone charm turned out! If you have any remaining materials, you can even use the same method to make matching accessories for your bags, water bottles, or even your best friend to match! Happy crafting!