I just got the defender series from otter box for my iPhone 11, but I can’t for my life put it on. The videos online mention arrows on my hard case, but that’s nowhere to be found, and they also mention a silicone part, which I don’t have.

This case was entirely black, and I wanted the durability of the case but also for it to be more colorful. Before decorating it, I put my iPhone 11 Pro into the case to ensure it fits (and it did). I used POSCA paint markers to make the rainbow look on the rubber case, and then sealed the acrylic paint using an acrylic matte spray fixative. I sprayed about 5 or 6 layers of the fixative outside and left the case out to dry in between sprays. This process was done over a span of 4 weeks.

Fast forward a month after the final layer of spray fixative settled (to let the strong smell dissipate before putting my phone in it), I just tried to put my phone into the new case… and it now is too large for it. Online research leads me to believe that the case may have stretched out over time while I was decorating it because I was leaving it outside in the warmth (but I never let it sit under direct sunlight). I imagine that Otterbox’s lifetime warranty will not cover a phone case that has been painted on, so now I’m curious if someone has a suggestion for how this phone case could be brought back to its original size while it has acrylic paint on the majority of the backside?