The Curious Art of Cracked iPhones

For most iPhone owners, it's a gadget nightmare: that smooth aluminum slips through your fingers and down to the ground goes the app marvel — onto a pointed rock. Many hope they signed up for monthly insurance, while others trust the replacement screen won't cost too much. Still, some that have met the fate of a cracked iPhone choose to make the most of the broken glass by channeling their creative side. Take a look at the #crackediphone tag on Instagram, and you'll see bright white casings turned to rainbow streams.

YouTube even has tutorials on turning a trashed iPhone into a Lisa Frank work of art. For those wondering: use markers, highlighters, or food coloring to color in the cracks, then wipe away the excess with a paper towel.

It's a bit shocking to see gadgets that cost over $600 decorated in a way that doesn't fit their minimalist nature. Is this making the best of a bad situation (and perhaps too delicate of exteriors) with the status-symbol phone? Or is it gadget abuse? Whatever side you take on the art that is cracked iPhone glass, click on for the images that make the practice seem, dare we say, fun.