#i was really expecting demo lovers to be number 1

[broughtmybullets]

yeah maybe i love bullets idk

[kim-lexie]

‘start up’: week-by-week playback

here is a week-by-week playback of events from ‘start up’ and my unfiltered feelings. hope you enjoy! if you want to see somewhat cohesive thoughts on ‘start up’ check out my official review. here :) 

*spoiler alert*

ep 1

ladies and gents it’s going to be a good one. i loved being able to see this backstory to lay all the groundwork for the future of the drama.

his story is devastating as a young individual unable to make his way into the world and then making a way to find it isn’t how he expected and lost a real thing he had with the relationship with the her grandmother. but the redemption when he goes to see her again.

her family becoming broken. her sister severing the relationship and chalking it up to being ‘oh i made the better choice’. and her father dying while getting her chicken and trying to get an investment to not let his daughter go hungry and to bring his family together.

to him making up a character that got her through hard times. and then trying to find him again. this is going to be great. and i know i’m going to be devastated bc she fell in love with the other man to begin with, and now she will see this new person.

soooooo much happened and i’m clearly not ready.

ep 2

why? why do we lie? we know nothing good will come of it. if anything this jipyeong is who she loves. but why lie? literally you can own up to it and start over boo.

disappointed in our sweet grandma for lying to dalmi for so long.

her sister is awful. and so is this ‘mother’.

this man just wanted to start up his start up but he was like nah don’t want to help you even though i need you. feel in love with the girl in the letters and showed up bc of the goodness of his heart. hope he doesn’t get lost in the fantasy of it.

their business, samsan tech, is going to be wild and great and he missed his opportunity.

ep 3

her mother saying she is the same as her dad not having a plan is so wack, and makes me want her to slap her.

aren’t you curious? why aren’t you asking why i am like this? because that is my concept the quiet good looking type. i can’t with him hahaha

i love that he asked about the music box. i wish it was really him that wrote the letters, because this will be heartbreaking when she finds out.

‘it wouldn’t be bad to sail off without a map even if we got lost, if it’s with you.’

this kid, dosan, is too funny.

i cannot believe her ‘father’ just throw her under the bus and had her oppa takes over the Korean branch of her company that she formed.

dang it. girl quits her job because he started his own company

they got first place. is that enough inkling for you?!?!?

they both like her. but only one of them will admit his feelings so he will win in the end. i’m so excited to see all of their relationships develop.

the cringe level of the edit of her winning her award. i cannot even. they’re charming everyone loves it.

ep 4

him learning how to be a hot shot ceo. i can’t. the placemats he is struggling.

his friend breaking the 3rd wall and telling us how dosan drives away all the ladies in university.

poor guy the only things she likes about him aren’t him at all but jipyeong.

she is going to be their ceo isn’t she. bc he said that he can’t be ceo. she’d kill it. what a queen.

yes boo! there it is we know who you’re going to pick. bc she wants them to recruit you not the other way around.

ep 5

this was a stellar episode. from both teams using the same data set and coming up with wildly different ideas to samsan tech almost crashing down. but setting a fire to dosan to do better and be more ambitious. i’m so excited.

our girl killed her presentation yes queen. you got this. the fact that the boys created a whole new software. these folks would be crazy to not invest.

this alex guy really believes in them i’m excited to see if there will be rivalry between the two hot shot ceo’s

the fact that her grandma doesn’t regret not sending her to college but rather regrets not meeting him earlier to support and encourage him made me cry.

ep 6

this was a great episode. so much happened in the development of their little company. disorder and disagreements led to stronger relations within the company.

i love how she picked the mentor. like yup i know alex is the biggest deal since slice bread but you’re our homie.

the fact that dosan was ready to come clean about the letters but overheard the grandmother get a sad report from the doctors and wanted to protect her and her granddaughter. so sad.

ep 7

i really need more than a second male lead for this man. i can’t stand the way he looks at her. he loves her and is trying so hard to shut off his heart to her.

i love the bickering between the two male leads. like seriously hilarious.

i love the sweet relationship that nam dosan will now have with her grandmother. and i love the idea concept he had for their business. a beautiful heart behind the machine.

dosan standing up for her and standing against this horrible man out to exploit their talent.  

this ending scene i can’t. they’re cute too. and precious.

he kept the plant and is going to give it nutrients to keep it well. please do the same with your relationship with her honey.

ep 8

i really love jipyeong and need them together.

i cannot with their ceo step dad. like isn’t this too much.

i want the boss lady at sandbox to know that dalmi is the sandbox girl!!!

ep 9

the wind turned into a heavy storm that destroyed his self esteem. he feels himself falling apart bc of his secret.

she was attacked!

‘i made a wrong turn and stumbled upon fireworks’ nam dosan.

he brought them to the beach after reading that review of wanting to see more beauty that the world has to offer. i need him to own up to his feelings and make a move.

don’t lie bro we know you like dalmi. and of course it’s raining. bc that’s how it is.

we still get a scene with them running through the rain the chul-san and yong-san.

my heart is crumbling into a million pieces. jipyeong’s there and dosan isn’t. what are we going to do. this ain’t the moment of revelation we wanted.

ep 10

jipyeong is so great. 10 out of 10.

i don’t know what it is but i really am not about dosan’s character for some reason. i really just want jipyeong to be honest from the start and he could have ended up with her.

my heart. our dalmi.

‘i wanted to be the person you wanted. but it was too hard to bear.’

‘the person i want. i don’t know who that is.’

is the sibling of the member that died in their group?

do-san can’t leave his boys!!

‘does my dream have to be success. can’t it be a person?’

he just confesses to liking her while he was mixing their noodles. i can’t with him. love that he’s finally being honest. now it’s all up to dalmi.

everyone encouraging her before she has to promote their company. she did this. she is the ceo. she’s got this.

what the even?!? jipyeong was the one that was harsh to him. and it led his brother to commit suicide. oh no. and now they’re in the elevator together what’s going to happen?!?!

now she has two plan b?!? one from the investor and one from dosan and the big tech company.

they both confessed to the nice lady at the bar. hahaha i love these epilogue moments.

ep 11

yong-san’s brother story is so sad.

his dad standing up for the present he desperately wants to keep. and being the bridge for innovation.

their software worked on alex’s scheme!!!

and they won demo day.

oh no but alex isn’t as great as we thought he was...

chul-san and sa-ha are dating. i cannot even. this is the best!!!

they’re such a good team. brainstorming after their win. they cannot disband them.

i thought our man was going to get to them

in time to stop them from signing. but he didn’t.

ep 12

bro. alex is awful i hate this man.

the moments between. hjp and mrs. choi you are brilliant and heart breaking. i really want them to continue to grow into a better person and end up with dalmi.

why y’all got to fight why is dosan doing this. bro you’re not getting any brownie points by being like this dude.

i really love this side story with chulsan and saha. they’re cute. well we can share the vanilla latte. cute!!!!  

chulsan made her a video of numbers to help her fall asleep. he’s too cute i want her to admit that she likes him. ahhhhhhhhh

the fact that they ended up going and we’ll have a three year gap errrrks me. like our boy jhp is going to finally start making moves and dosan is going to run in and save the day. like bro you’re a mess.

i hope they were able to save the app for her grandmother.

her applying to her sisters company i’m excited.

ep 13

lolol they used his cousin for the commercial and injae looks sooo cute. frozen inspired.

i love how she had /iced vanilla latte lover’ as chul-san’s contact name and the vlogs!!!

hjp our man saved her from the insurance guy.

now they all play go stop together!!!!

she tucked him in and he gets to stay

youngsil calling him out to just swing the bat and don’t hesitate or he’ll lose. is this foreshadowing our man losing dalmi?!?

they finally got to eat at the bbq restaurant that was below their original building

frick my life. why is his timing always wack.

at least chulson and saha can sail.

the whole gang is back together!

it was the twins that hacked it wasn’t it?!?

he stopped him. come on baby.

ep 14

i love his man listening to her cry. hiding her because she didn’t want her staff to see. and telling her to chill until she is ready. i love this man.

that’s right honey. don’t answer that phone move on.

their little photoshoot was faboulous, them as RGB

yes queen. she went to confront her family. and be like boo you thought i didn’t chance. honey you’re in for it.

her mother wanting to pay back her mother-in-law for raising her daughter in her steed.

dosan turned her down her offer to be their AI specialists at her company.

i love that his father saved the baseball.

me finally accepting my ship won’t sail when their girl walked 5 hours in the woods to get to dosan.

yong-san apologizing for saying that jhp killed his brother. they both are apologizing.

they all end up joining her company!!!!

ep 15

their self driving car passed the test. they’re too cute in their celebration.

she doesn’t want to lose her team again if they lose their bid.

sa ha is finally falling for chulsan. he’s so precious. him being like oh wait you’re asking me out.

of course it would be this trip getting stuck in an elevator together.

sailing off without a map. never will regret it. -dosan

injae absolved her adoption after seeing her grandmother.

he tired to out so all their memories with that one thing alone his big hands. hahah oh do san.

my hjp finally let go. he took his losses and kept the money tree and letters. it isn’t enough honey boo.

stop feeling inferior to me. work on your self esteem and look at dalmi again. then you’ll know who she really likes. with those hands alone, you beat our memories. -hjp

because it’s you. you’re the reason. that’s it. -dalmi on liking dosan

i really don’t like them together. but whatever i shall not have my way in this. it’s fine hjp is mine.

i love the sisters together. they’re precious talking about the sandbox girl.

is this article going to frick up their bid?!? but it was his hackers that did it the twins!!!

is hjp going to save the day?!?

ep 16

dalmi and dosan are a dream team. and they just served that reporter one great tell all.

i still can’t process bc i love hjp.

i feel like it hit mrs. choi when they were all talking dosan and dalmi when are finally saw dosan after a few years that her good boy would feel alone. TT

‘don’t become any lonelier jipyeong...’ their relationship makes me cry. i love that

i can’t everyone saying what they’ll do if they win. PROPOSE. say who their boyfriend is?!?!

i’m excited to see this start up to connect orphanages with a sponsor to help them in that transition. it’s a perfect fit for him. ‘i like your voice’, because it sounds like young-sil the voice of the app/help device. he’s going to personally invest and help them with their business plan. and then sponser kids!!! he is seriously a dream.

chulsan and saha are too cute. i love that she introduced him as her boyfriend. he was not expecting that. she finally found someone who she’s been looking for!

was that their goodbye? he isn’t the dosan from the letters? huh?

in jae is such a queen serving those papers to her dad at the q and a session, that no one showed up to. 

them all crying in their old rooftop office. they’re such dorks i love them

his father took the sign to replace it with the one from the math competition.

dalmi and injae’s relationship is too precious.

he’s going to invest in their company. and dosan accepted hjp’s investment.

i want to change the world. follow your dream.

i liked this one.

i wonder if they won.......oh the epilogue!!!

they got married. and they kept the baseball. chul-san and saha revealed they were a couple. chul-san shaved his hair! i loved that we saw it all though pictures on their desk!! that was a creative way to fit everything in!

shareholders meeting!!! the gang taking over the world!

[ashenpages]

Current Fic Ideas & Emoji Voting Key

Quick disclaimer that I’m a romance writer in all aspects of the term, so most of my fics will contain mature content. Engage at your own risk, you know the rules, you’re responsible for curating your own experience of the internet, blah blah blah. This post serves as a current mock up of fic ideas I’m either actively working on or considering working on next. You can drop me an ask about any of them, or just vote via the emoji combo I’ve assigned them.

Voting lets me know you’re excited about an idea and makes it more likely I’ll actually work on it. You can vote anytime, there’re no deadlines or winner announcements, just me gauging your interest by what I see in my ask box most often.

You can also ask me about the original stuff I’m working on currently. The current WIPs are Medusa centric and the emoji for them is: 🐍

- Lupin: 🤑🤠💍  These are all oneshot ideas, between 5-15K each. If you want to vote for a specific idea, send me the emojis and the number of the idea. 

Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon always play rock-paper-scissors after a big heist to decide who’ll give the group a striptease, and who will get showered with money. Based on a piece of fanart that is basically this sequence of events in a 4koma (except in their version Jigen loses and in mine, it’s Goemon). (written, just needs editing)

Zenigata cuffs Lupin four times, and Lupin steals his heart. Very NSFW conclusion. Zenigata is the most caring lover you’ll ever find. Lupin is as thirsty as usual and twice as intense. (written, just needs editing)

Jigen protects Lupin from poison darts during a treasure hunt in an Aztec temple, and Lupin nurses him back to help--forcibly, since Jigen is a horrible patient. Born from my desire to spoil Jigen and talk about what ridiculous domestic husbands these two are. (WIP)

Born from the idea that Goemon and Zenigata probably couldn’t be an item, my brain decided to come up with how I could write for them. Goemon’s teaching an ikebana class as part of his training, and Zenigata shows up as a student on forced recreational leave for his health from the ICPO. Zenigata wins the samurai’s heart through flowers. But what happens when Lupin and Jigen find out? (Only good sexy things, I promise. These beans are in a healthy polycule--be gay, do crimes)

Trans!Lupin and Trans!Jigen premise: Jigen cares for Lupin after the master thief has top surgery, since Jigen has Been There and Done That. Caring, sweet, and a little sexy. Lupin is a much better patient than Jigen.

- Sonic Vampire Novelist Coffee Shop AU: 📚☕💐 

Shadow is an immortal vampire who has seen the world change for the worse too many times. These days it feels like he only lives for his coffee dates with Rouge, another immortal who loves each new era they encounter, warts and all. He has to admit that the book series she got him into speaks to him, at least. If someone in this era can understand him without meeting him, it can’t all be bad. But he hardly expected the goofy blue barista at the new coffee place to understand him the way those books do.

This is a novel length romcom romp with some big feelings about what it means to watch as things change, grow, and die. Expect lots of Big gothic feelings from this one, emotionally charged kissing, and overly-adoring sex. But also expect shenanigans from everyone in the coffee shop, which include Rouge, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and more.

- Sonic Blazamy: 💖🌸💎

Amy Rose has been in love with Sonic for a while.

Or has she?

When the Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver are trapped as the fuel sources for Doctor Eggman’s newest evil scheme, Amy teams up with Blaze, Rouge, and Cream to save them. With Sonic out of the picture and Amy fulfilling his role, was she ever really in love with him? Or did she just want to be like him?

This is a novel length epic romance with lots of competent women and lots of romantic Blazamy content. Expect flowery hopes and dreams, badass self-actualization, and glancing hand touches that give way to cuddly and sweet sex.

- Persona 5: 🗡🍛☕

After bringing down the Metaverse twice, Ryuji didn’t think graduating high school and figuring out what to do with his life would be so hard. Akira’s back in town, and the gang’s more-or-less all in Tokyo, but everyone else seems to have a plan while Ryuji just floats. How’s he supposed to change the world when he’s not a phantom thief anymore?

This is a novel length fic that addresses how powerless one can feel being just one person in the face of all the corrupted systems and bigotry the world has to offer. It’s about holding on to what you believe in, working through the doubt, and fighting your way to a better tomorrow with the power you do have. The whole gang is queer, featured relationships being Mako x Ann, Ryuji x Akira, Futaba & Yusuke as platonic life partners. Akira is polyamorous and omnisexual, Futaba’s asexual and aromantic while Yusuke is demisexual and very romantic, Makoto’s a lesbian, Ann and Ryuji are bi, and Haru’s pansexual, demisexual, and aromantic. They’re one giant band of queer Phantom Thieves, and even if they’re not really doing the Metaverse thing anymore, they’re still gonna save the world!

Also, I’m gonna make Makoto not a cop. That super didn’t age well. Zenkichi and his boss can work on making them better/abolishing them for other better organizations.

- Hades Game: ❤️‍🔥💀

Oneshot. I just really need to elaborate on the threesome you can have with them in-game, okay? Healthy and canon poly relationships are so few and far between, so often I have to do a ton of groundwork to explain why it’s working in the fic, but NOT WITH THESE KIDS!

Get ready for Meg helping Zag and Than be better at expressing their feelings, lots of kissing, and probably pegging.

- Castlevania Animation Trevor/Sypha/Alucard: 🧛🏰🛌 

Castlevania gave Alucard a threesome last season, and I just really need S4 to give me him being taken care of by his partners. They’re probably not going to give it to me, so I’ll need to do it myself. This is just an everybody loves Alucard oneshot, with the gang’s signature banter (to an extent), Sypha being sexy, and Trever being remarkably sincere. This fic is gonna feel like that Ann Hathaway picture with Trevor kissing Alucard and Sypha holding the end of Trevor’s whip while she leans her head on Alucard’s shoulder adoringly.

- Devil May Cry Nico/Lady/Trish: 💋✨😈 

Nico’s gay, okay? Like really, really gay. And Lady’s bi and not into men who make her pay bills, but very into women who make amazing guns for her and demonesses with hearts who fight by her side. Trish is ace, but loves people and is pretty attached to Lady at this point. Plus it’s cute when Lady blushes and says nice things like they’re insults. I don’t have super solid ideas for them yet, and I envision these more like a polycule where Lady’s with Nico and with Trish but they’re not with each other more than seeing it as a threesome, but who knows what might happen. This is probably 1-2 oneshots depending on ideas, but might turn into a series of oneshots if people are interested (or I can’t control myself and inspiration strikes).

- Post FMA:B Blind Roy & No Alchemy Ed: 👀👑🙏

This is actually an old novel-length fic I wrote ages ago and didn’t post that didn’t turn out well because I was new to writing sex when I first wrote it. The plot is good, and is all about Roy learning to work with his blindness to reclaim his ambition of being Fuhrer and changing the system to something that actually cares for its people. He and Ed reconnect, fall into bed, and both set about working through their respective traumas about being “useless” having lost their sight/alchemy. They go to Xing as an ambassadorial party to offer Amestris’s collaboration on Al and May’s Alkahestry experiments--and uncover a plot that might threaten both kingdoms.

- Age of Calamity continuity Mipha x Revali: ��🐟💘

The first time Revali noticed Mipha, it was in the heat of battle. She stole his mark, taking them down with a flurry of quick blows from her spear. Violence rained from her like water--and then she healed him on her way to her next battle. No questions, no conditions, just pure kindness. The usual need to measure himself against those around him was quiet in her wake. And Revali couldn’t understand it. But how to get to know more about her? A fish and bird may fall in love, but where would they live?

This fic could be a oneshot or novel length depending on how far down the hole I fall. I need it to cover time, but it could be done in linked vignettes or with actually covering events in detail. I may elect to do a oneshot just to get it done and out of my system faster. So much fic to write, so little time.

Expect trans!Revali, polyamorous Zoras, scary competent Mipha, songbird Revali, love confessions that are made up entirely of berating Link for not loving Mipha the way she wants him to, and breaking these characters a little outside of their assigned roles in BotW and Age of Calamity. Background Link x Zelda, and Urbosa x Zelda’s Mom.

- Epic desert romance about Urbosa and Zelda’s mom: 🏜🏝⚡

I just think Urbosa should kiss women and Zelda’s mom should get more development and maybe a name or something. Also, lightning imagery/metaphors/play.

It also went way over my head that Riju wasn’t Urbosa’s daughter the first time I played BotW, so now I want to write about the Gerudo queen who refused to produce an heir. The Gerudo are fascinating and have a very interesting cutlure, but I think it could be examined from a nonbinary perspective that rejected pregnancy and wanting to find a husband. Not in like a hateful way, but in a way that examines if that’s really right for everyone. There’s that shop in town that sells Voe armor, after all. Maybe finding a husband and having children isn’t something you have to do if you don’t want to. And Urbosa really doesn’t want to.

[takemealivelh]

Battle of the Bands Pt.3

2.4k | Enemies to Lovers | Pt.1 | Pt.2 | I honestly tried to look for a better picture that would fit this but I couldn’t so 

“You have a better view.”

To Jaida, there was nothing prettier than a Vegas morning. Pale pink-colored clouds and buildings, people walking with their coffees in their hands, either talking on the phone or with someone beside them. The Eiffel Tower made her feel like she was in Paris, even though she’d never left the states. She wondered if she’d be able to, after tonight.

Ashton shrugged from his position on the bed. Shirtless, red hair pushed back with a waking yawn, swollen marks on display. “Yeah, well… We’ve been around longer.” He reached out for a glass of water he had on the nightstand. “Are you nervous about tonight?”

The Billboard Awards started at 8 pm. Soundcheck was four hours prior and then the red carpet was at 6. 

Jaida turned to face him and leaned against the window banister. “Not really." She played with the buttons of the red shirt Ashton had left over a month ago at her place. He thought it looked stunning against her skin color. Unbuttoned, revealing the dark lingerie she had put on for him, covering just the right amount of her bare legs. “I love performing live. I prefer it,” she sighed and spun back around, resting her forehead against the condensed glass that overlooked the city.

The sun was hidden behind the clouds. She liked these kinds of days, they made her feel peaceful. The wild recklessness from the night before had already vanished, all that was left was a comfortable feeling. She could’ve gone as far as describing it as cozy. It startled her. This was the first time she didn’t feel like Ashton’s presence was a bother.

She’d surprised him the night before by knocking on the door of his hotel room, only two floors above from her and JJ’s. Ashton had a beer on his right hand when he opened the door. He didn’t get a chance to utter a word when Jaida unzipped the floor-length trenchcoat she’d bought a few days ago -for this exact reason- and revealed his half-buttoned shirt on her body. Ashton’s eyes had widened, breath caught on the back of his throat. He slipped a warm hand between the fabric of the silk outerwear and the cotton of the red shirt and grabbed her by the waist, making sure no one was around before he pulled her inside. 

“You want breakfast?”  

Ashton’s voice was husky, drenched in sleep. Throat sore from all the grunting of the previous night. “I was supposed to join my mates downstairs for the buffet, but we can order room service.” 

Jaida’s silence was longer than he expected it to be, he wondered what was going through her mind. She hadn’t left like she usually did, and he didn’t want her to go. Their hookups were consistently rough, fast and greedy, but last night had been different.

After pushing the trenchcoat off her body, Ashton had taken his time to tease her. He pressed his body against hers, pinning her against the nearest wall. His breathing had drawn out as he took the liberty to inhale the scent of her skin. He’d trailed slow, hot, suffocating kisses along her jawline. Jaida’s hands hadn’t gone immediately for the zipper of his jeans. She’d held onto his biceps, letting out small whines whenever his tongue would poke out.

“I’m craving eggs.”

Her voice snapped him out of the reminiscence. Ashton wrapped his fingers around the now empty glass of water. He took the time to explore her movements. The way two fine lines appeared between her eyebrows when she frowned. The way her frown seemed to last for only two seconds. How she brought her index finger -her fingernail, to be precise- to her right temple and tapped it four times. The way her chest and stomach seemed to rise when she took a deep breath through the nose, and the sizzling sound she made when she exhaled through the mouth.

She walked back towards him, standing close enough to feel the bed skirt on her knees. Ashton reached a hand to caress the outer side of her thigh, hoping that she’d lean down for a kiss. 

“I’m gonna take a shower, can you order?”

It wasn’t supposed to feel like a stab in the chest.

He hummed and nodded, feeling the skin of his arms bristle at the embarrassment of his train of thought. 

The water hit Jaida’s shoulderblades as she stood still. In less than 24 hours she would have to go on stage and perform. She hadn’t lied to Ashton, she really did enjoy performing, and she really did prefer that instead of playing in a studio or in a rehearsal room. The adrenaline her body experienced whenever the crowd would cheer, or when she’d catch a glimpse of a thousand people dancing, was addictive. Midnight Street had performed on live TV as well, several times, especially these past few weeks. Somehow, the Billboard Awards performance was stressing her. She didn’t like this new nerve-wracking feeling. She didn’t understand it.

Then again, it was the first time -in quite a while- that she’d have to go on stage, play and prove something to someone. 

The tabloids were divided, some of them were on her side. Most of them were on Ashton’s. Even when the Midnight Street single had been streamed well over 60,000,000 times on Spotify, the only reason the numbers were so high was because of Ashton. Her band had a good following that’d been there since the early days. EPs, demos, they were popular. 5SOS was an internationally loved and well-respected band, she was nervous she wouldn’t be able to keep up. The reputation of Midnight Street rested on her shoulders.

“Food’s here.” Ashton knocked on the bathroom door. The steam was seeping through the cracks. She had been there for a long time.

“Okay!”

Jaida turned the faucet off and pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. She hoped some kind of acupuncture would help her calm down. But she did not know acupuncture.

“Are you alright?”

The voice echoed through the tiles, travelling to her ears. 

“Yeah!” she called, wondering if the weight on her chest would be gone by the night. “Just one second.”

Ashton had put on a pair of pyjamas bottoms to answer the door. He’d texted his bandmates that he had a rough hangover and he’d see them later for soundcheck. The smell of eggs and bacon filled the hotel room. Freshly squeezed orange juice, two mugs of Arabic coffee, whole-wheat toasts, a plate of strawberries, mangoes and pineapple. It took a lot for Ashton not to sink his teeth in the mouth-watering breakfast.

His eyebrows furrowed together when Jaida stepped out in a bathrobe. She had a towel wrapped around her head and her eyes were bloodshot red. Silently, she made her way towards the bed and sat on the edge, grabbed a piece of pineapple and chewed on it like she didn’t crave it. Ashton didn’t want to push her to talk, but he knew something wasn’t right. Her posture wasn’t the same confident one that drove him insane. She looked like a defeated warrior.

They ate in silence. Maybe he should’ve gone downstairs with his bandmates.

But she looked so worried. Ashton mentally cursed himself for thinking like an insensitive ass, but also for thinking like someone who cared.

A bluesy ringtone went off on the other side of the room. “That’s my phone.”

He watched her stand up and answer, he listened to her pretend she didn’t have a million things on her mind. She’d been fine the night before. She’d been tender under his touch and aggressive on top of him. 

“I gotta go.”

Jaida huffed and quickly went to grab her stuff on the dresser. Ashton’s suit was hung above, a two-piece black suit and a striped black-and-white shirt. She had joked last night that he’d given her the only piece of color he had in his closet.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes!” She snapped. “Fuck! Yes! I’m okay, I’m-” She trailed off when she saw the concern on Ashton’s eyes. He hadn’t moved from the bed. He hadn’t moved at all.

A long sigh escaped her lips as she threw her belongings back on the dresser and stripped off the bathrobe. Ashton tried not to be hypnotized by her nakedness. It wasn’t the time.

“This is your fault. This is all your fault.” 

Her words were harsh as she put the trenchcoat back on. Fingers shaking too much to slip on the lingerie. She let her hair fall, wet, behind her back as she tossed the towel on the floor. 

“What? Jaida, what’s going on? You were fine last night, you were-”

“Well, clearly not now!”

They remained silent for a while, eyes locked. Her breathing had increased its volume and its pace. Ashton walked over to her and she shook her head, took a few steps back, the back of her legs hitting the dresser.

He noticed the dark stains on the trenchcoat, droplets of her hair. She looked pale, her lips looked chapped. “I just wanna help.”

Ashton whispered against her skin, arms hesitant to wrap around her waist and bring her closer to him. She looked up at him. “You’ve done enough. It’s your fault that I’m this freaked out about something I do for a living.”

It dawned on him. The countless interviews he had insulted her, he hadn’t thought she would take it so personally. But how couldn’t she, when he was attacking her every single day? 

“To be fair, you weren’t so nice either.”

“Yeah, but my band isn’t as established as yours. After tonight, you will still have a career no matter what. I could fucking lose everything I’ve worked for. JJ has bent over backwards for this band, Ashton. Travis and Joel have nothing else. We have nothing else, okay?”

The fast vibrato on her voice broke his heart.

“Let me go!”

But he didn’t. Ashton held her tighter until she calmed down. He felt the tears against his naked chest and he cursed himself for getting too attached to this woman. The same woman who was crying because of him.

“I’m really sorry.”

Jaida pushed him away and wiped the tears off with the sleeve of her trenchcoat. “No, you’re not,” she scoffed. 

Before he could say anything else, she picked up her things and pushed right by him, going for the door. “See you tonight, then.”

-

Jaida had to reassure her band that she was okay. They’d been exchanging looks when they noticed how her hands were shaking, or when she almost tripped on the stairs, or when she almost hit a wall.

“I’m fine! JJ, no. I’m really fine.” 

She was dragged back inside the dressing room, JJ’s hand gripping on her wrist. 

“Listen, I love you but you need to tell us, or at least tell me, what is going on, okay? Soundcheck is about to start. We can’t have you playing with shaky hands, Jaida. Tonight has to be perfect.”

-

“Ash, you’ve been staring at your phone a lot. Everything okay?”

It was just the four members of 5SOS in the dressing room. They had just done their soundcheck and were getting ready to go back to the hotel, take a shower and dress up for the red carpet. As the rest of them were putting their guitars and bass in their cases, Ashton was glued to the sofa, not engaging in whatever conversation they had going on.

“It’s about that girl, isn’t it?”

Michael’s voice seeped right through his stubborn brain. Ashton looked up at his mates. 

“She was really freaked out this morning. She-”

“This morning?” Calum raised an eyebrow as the rest of the band walked over to where Ashton was sitting. They were intrigued. “You mean, you-”

“Yes, I fucked her last night.” Ashton shrugged and kept scrolling through his phone. He didn’t know what he was looking for, or if he was waiting for a text from Jaida or anything. “Yes, I have fucked her several times since we met. We’ve kept this thing going. And now she’s worried she’s about to mess up her band’s career because of me.”

No one said anything for a while. 

“Fuck, she’s right, isn’t she?” Ashton threw his phone to the side and dropped his head between his knees in frustration. 

“I mean,” Luke cleared his throat, “you started it, Ash.”

“You’ve said over and over again that Midnight Street is not gonna be around for long because of this, because of that… you really didn’t expect her to-”

Ashton stood up and interrupted Michael. “I can’t deal with this right now, I have to find her.”

“Do you think he likes her? Like, as more as someone he’s hooking up with?” Luke wondered after Ashton left the dressing room.

Michael shook his head, “I don’t know, mate. I do know he really thinks highly of her. And he respects her as a musician.”

“He’s so fucked.”

“Yeah.”

-

Ashton tried her phone, he tried her room, no answer. She wasn’t on the BBMA’s dressing room, she wasn’t on the hotel’s lobby. He couldn’t find her or any member of her band, for that matter. He needed to tell her that all of his stupid insults were because he felt threatened. Because he thought Midnight Street was a solid band and he didn’t want them to upstage his own.

The interviewers went straight for him as soon as 5SOS stepped on the red carpet. 

Ashton, what do you expect of Midnight Street’s performance tonight? Are you going to be watching Midnight Street’s performance? Ashton?

Is Midnight Street’s performance, Ashton, something you’re looking forward to seeing tonight?

He avoided the questions. 

“I’m looking forward to everybody’s performance tonight. I think it’s going to be a good night to celebrate music and to show our fans the thought and energy we put in our shows. As a band…”

Ashton didn’t give the answers the press wanted to hear. Instead, he stuck to the ones he hadn’t delivered before, but still rang true. He thought to himself how stupid he’d been, trying to put another band down instead of building up his pride and joy.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, he directed his eyes to where Calum was gesturing with his chin. 

Midnight Street had just arrived.

“Fuck.” He mumbled under his breath.

Jaida looked like a vision. He was so accustomed to seeing her in power suits that he almost forgot how great her legs were. A fitting, thigh-length, burgundy dress

-

-

-

This was supposed to be the end of this fic but I couldn’t bring myself to write anymore, maybe one day I’ll finish this but I probably won’t. If you’re reading this, thank you. I just didn’t want to have this draft laying around and not posting it. I’m probably being impulsive and dramatic (that’s who I am) but I am not happy. It hurt to realize that so I’m either gonna take a break or just not come back. Some kind of explanation here. Thank you for reading. It has meant a lot to me.

TAG LIST

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@kingxnichole @placeoftime

[cryptoerapro]

BitIRA Review - Overview of BitIRA

Exchanging robots like the BitIRAbring in tremendous advantages for both the new and the prepared brokers.

Secure application

The BitIRAapp is extremely gotten, as expressed by the enlisted dealers on different stages. The application puts more accentuation on getting their customers' subtleties than simply making benefits, which makes the application so generally famous among crypto exchange lovers. Every one of the customers' information are put away in encoded structures. To guarantee more assurance, the application utilizes SSL endorsements, which makes hacking unthinkable by programmers.

 Digital instructive assets

The BitIRAallows its clients a chance to live exchanging through consistent learning. The stage gives a reduced computerized asset in its authority site itself, and the dealers can acquire significant understanding on crypto exchanging thusly.

The BitIRAlive exchanging programming is ostensibly straightforward, and this can be demonstrated from the way that separated from the enlistment expense, it doesn't charge any cash from the brokers, for the sake of exchange charge or commission. All the cash that the merchants procure is totally theirs, and they can pull out their cash whenever they wish to with no hustles. There are no idleness expenses charged on this stage, for accounts that stay idle past a specific timeframe; it barely matters, as lethargic records can be initiated by saving $250 whenever at the merchant's carefulness.

 Minimum fixed store

BitIRA Signup requires a base store of $250 to begin live exchanging on the stage, which is now and then confounded as the robot charges that the stage demands on its customers. Truth be told, the fixed least equilibrium is really the functioning capital that BitIRAcollects from its clients to begin live exchanging on the stage. The majority of the new brokers are pulled in to this base store, and here and there they need to attempt their online crypto exchanging abilities without losing a hefty sum; this base fixed store appears to be great. Regardless of whether they lose the whole cash, it doesn't influence a lot.

5) Leap factor

The BitIRAsoftware outputs the crypto advertise and can foresee crypto value changes (upwards and downwards) well in front of the market by 0.01 seconds, even before they have really moved. The jump factor permits the product to describe brief exchange choices that turn as fruitful ones more often than not as a result of the right forecasts. It isn't workable for a human merchant to measure such expectations and figure such exchange techniques dependent on value changes; subsequently, exchanging robots have gotten so well known.

6) No downloads required

The BitIRAreview requirements no download in that capacity. The stage can be gotten to whenever through any internet browsers. It is viable with the two work areas and tablets and can be introduced on cell phones moreover. All it needs is an incredible web association, and it tends to be gotten to from anyplace and all over the place.

7) sans emotion exchanging

The BitIRAsoftware consistently puts together its tasks with respect to insights, and in this manner there is a bad situation for human feelings. Feelings like dread or eagerness damage the dynamic capacities of human merchants. At times, human merchants regularly disregard the exchange hazard signals and keep exchanging out of covetousness, which at last finishes in awful exchange choices.

What Are the Working Procedures of the Bitcoin Rush?

BitIRAleverages on the beneficial exchanging signals dependent on the complex PC calculations to settle on the exchanging choices. These PC calculations help to examine the unpredictable digital currency markets and enormous information to get tradable bits of knowledge. Exchanging calculations are more exact than human computations inferable from their capacity to consider a huge number of basic factors that a human mind can never check, which helps in taking savvier exchanging choices. In addition, the exchanging robots like the BitIRAcan do this quickly without passing up on any exchanging openings. We discover the functioning systems of the stage from the BitIRAreview that are to sum things up underneath.

1) Registration:

In the event that you wish to turn into another individual from the stage, you should simply visit the authority site of the BitIRAplatform. There you will see an enlistment structure for a BitIRAaccount that you need to top off with a portion of your own subtleties like your complete name, substantial email address, and telephone number. You will likewise have to make an amazing secret word so the following time you sign in to your record, y

Similarly as each and every other exchange needs working capital, so is here too. To begin, the clients need to store a base measure of $250 into the BitIRAaccount. Notwithstanding, the store doesn't happen on the BitIRApage yet is recorded on the specialist's page. The merchants have the freedom to pick any method of installment for saving the cash; charge or Mastercard moves, direct bank moves, e wallets, Neteller, Skrill, MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and so on

3) Demo exchange:

Prior to beginning live exchange, it is a decent practice if the merchants get themselves engaged with the demo exchanging, gave on the BitIRAplatform. By rehearsing demo exchanging, the new dealers will find out about how the genuine live crypto exchanging is done on such exchanging stages. After they become well acquainted with the exchange rehearses, they can whenever switch on to the live exchanging mode.

4) Start exchanging:

This is the fourth and the last advance that requires the broker to tap on the "auto exchange" tab, and the exchange will quickly start on the BitIRAplatform. It is prescribed to set the exchange boundaries before the dealers click on to the "auto exchange" alternative, which will empower the BitIRAsoftware to filter the crypto markets dependent on the set exchanging boundaries.

BitIRAReview-Working Procedures

Indeed, utilizing the BitIRA Review platform is totally protected to utilize. Nonetheless, the degree of winning exchanges relies upon the measure of speculation made by the dealers and the procedures utilized by the brokers.

Is BitIRAlegit?

To consider an exchanging bot a trick, it needs a generous measure of confirmation to conflict with it. Only putting resources into an exchanging robot and losing your well deserved cash can't label an exchanging robot as a trick or ill-conceived. It is something like wagering on a lottery and losing your whole cash. Do we at any point consider that lottery a trick? Clearly not. Since we as a whole realize that the lottery is karma and there are equivalent possibilities that you lose, correspondingly, in the crypto market likewise, there are equivalent possibilities that you lose what you contribute and just, thus, we can't label the exchanging stage like Bitcoin Rush, a trick. As expressed previously, the digital money market is exceptionally unpredictable, and exchanging a particularly unstable market itself joins different dangers intrinsic to the interaction. An exchanging stage like the BitIRAclaims to radiate exchanging signals that make the programmed exchanging measures bound to have higher win rates than manual exchanging.

Another issue that the merchants frequently face while attempting to sign in to a genuine page is that many trick sites take after the first crypto exchanging stages each perspective. One can't check that the site that he has arrived on to is a trick. The best way to distinguish a trick site is to follow just the "http" interface. A large portion of the trick sites direct the merchants to a page where they are needed to store cash for enlistment. After certain days, the dealers end up in a labyrinth of disarray, and some of the time even they can't likewise follow the specialists with whom they have put away their cash. They are totally confused, and in this way, prior to putting away cash, each merchant ought to do an individual verification of the application; they should understand audits or accomplish some exploration work on the BitIRAapp.

At the point when we are making this BitIRAreview, we are fundamentally discussing a robot that can thoroughly take care of you, beginning from filtering the unstable market and searching for beneficial freedoms, and afterward setting the exchange when it sees the most productive exchanging signals.

When the broker signs up on the BitIRAplatform and makes a record, he next necessities to set his inclinations concerning what rewards he hopes to acquire, and once he taps on auto-exchange "ON," the robot will deal with the rest. When any models set by the broker matches, the robot consequently triggers exchange without investigating whatever else. The dealer's job is to open and close exchanging meetings, yet it is prescribed to focus on market news to get a knowledge on when to open or close the exchanges. With Bitcoin Rush, it is additionally critical to screen the exchanging robot, regardless of whether it is performing exchanges according to your inclinations. On the off chance that you are not happy with the results, you can turn on to the manual mode whenever.

1: What is the Bitcoin Rush?

Ans: BitIRAis an auto exchanging stage that utilizations progressed bitcoin calculations that assists it with acting in both major and specialized investigations.

2: How much does the BitIRAcost?

Ans: The surge bitcoin application doesn't charge anything for live exchanging and is totally free. Aside from the base store of $250, which is fixed, there are additionally no secret expenses or specialist commissions charged on the stage.

3: How much cash would i be able to make on Bitcoin Rush?

Ans: The benefits are limitless on the BitIRA platform, and it relies upon the measure of venture made by the brokers on the BitIRAlive exchanging stage. A few individuals have begun to have acquired their initial million inside only 61 days, which is astounding.

4: what number hours in a day do I have to chip away at Bitcoin Rush?

Ans: The normal time is 20 minutes that you need to spend day by day. With Bitcoin Rush, there is no compelling reason to screen the exchange continually.

5: How much least store needs to make on Bitcoin Rush?

Ans: You can store at least $250 to begin exchanging on this exchanging framework. In any case, financial backers can store more in the event that they feel and increment their odds of winning more benefits. Interestingly dealers, it is smarter to begin with the base stores, and afterward slowly increment their stakes as they progress in learning the exchange strategies.

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[ericvick]

Covid is revving up, Walsh and Baker alert

Mayor Walsh is urging Bostonians to get tested for the condition that stays a key community health and fitness hazard, specially in Dorchester and Mattapan, and Gov. Baker is warning of an ominous surge in situations to appear, even as hope emerged this 7 days in the variety of a likely vaccine that could be completely ready to administer extensively future yr.

The encouraging news about a vaccine breakthrough was checked some by the realities of a second surge of Covid-19 bacterial infections underneath way in Massachusetts. Baker and clinic officials on Tuesday outlined the steps they are setting up to take care of the rising number of people today with the sickness, which includes programs for the re-institution of unexpected emergency field hospitals.

Due to the fact Labor Working day, coronavirus situations are up virtually 300 percent and hospitalizations are up about 200 percent, Baker stated, which has driven occupancy at Massachusetts hospitals to 67 % general and 50 p.c at the intense care unit stage. The state’s developments are headed in the “wrong course and exhibit no symptoms of switching,” he mentioned.

“Covid-19 has now been with us for the greater aspect of a year and we have acquired a lot about how to handle this terrible virus. In addition to building a massive tests and tracing infrastructure, we have also executed on designs to much better manage our wellness treatment techniques through a pandemic,” Baker said, including:

“Our expertise from previous spring demonstrates that generating more than enough area to safely deal with Covid clients and other sufferers through our health care process is the single most vital part we have in navigating the pandemic as securely as possible, and becoming ready for each circumstance is vital.”

Baker was joined Tuesday by Jody White, CEO of Lowell Typical Healthcare facility, and Kate Walsh, president and CEO of Boston Medical Heart, in outlining actions the overall health care globe is making ready to take as extra coronavirus people are admitted. Baker stated his administration is preparing for the return of field hospitals like the kinds established this spring in Worcester, Boston, on Cape Cod, and somewhere else.

Extra facts on the place of the new hospitals will appear later on this 7 days, the governor reported. He also mentioned that Massachusetts hospitals will be capable to transform 400 acute care beds into ICU beds if essential.

Wellbeing and Human Companies Secretary Marylou Sudders mentioned the administration and the healthcare facility group are making an attempt to steer clear of having to terminate elective techniques and want individuals to really feel at ease having care for one thing other than Covid at a medical center. There have been less than 3,500 people today taken care of for some thing other than the virus at Massachusetts hospitals in the 3rd week of April and that right now the hospitals are managing 7,000 folks for some thing other than that, she explained.

In accordance to info tracked by the Boston Public Health and fitness Commission (BPHC) for the week of Oct. 25-31, Dorchester is continue to primary the town with the maximum constructive costs. Zip codes 02122 and 02124 have a 12 p.c beneficial fee and 02121 and 02125 are at 11.6 p.c positivity. Mattapan and East Boston posted beneficial premiums of 10.1 and 10 %, respectively. The city’s general optimistic charge is at 7.2 percent, down from 8 percent in the earlier 7 days.

Walsh reported on Friday that an maximize in tests will assistance city officers identify exactly where infections are occurring and guideline the reaction.

“We’ve amplified testing and at the identical time we saw less constructive exams. We want to be able to get a far more exact selection of where by Covid-19 is in the town,” stated Walsh. “There was an 8 % raise in the number of people today remaining analyzed final week. I want to continue on to urge everybody to get tested.”

When requested about the probable for a multi-7 days pause on indoor dining, Walsh replied: “Everything is on the desk but we’re hoping that we are in a position to get the numbers down… if we do not, then we could have to just take further motion.”

Marty Martinez, chief of Health and Human Companies for the metropolis, claimed that circumstance investigations and contact tracing demonstrate that the an infection is spreading in several distinct means.

“Infections are not coming from just 1 location or state of affairs,” he explained. “There are a ton of situations which consist of people today nevertheless going to do the job and coming again to their multi-era properties we see individuals owning compact gatherings in their homes and we see people acquiring it from staying out and about. The information is we have to have everybody to keep on to imagine about confront coverings, social distancing, and not staying all over a large amount of folks at just one time.”

The information of the Pfizer analyze was announced Monday immediately after the firm and its lover, BioNTech, gathered the needed median of two months of safety details subsequent the second and closing dose of the vaccine prospect.

“We are reaching this important milestone in our vaccine development system at a time when the earth desires it most, with an infection fees location new records, hospitals nearing around-ability and economies struggling to reopen,” claimed Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer chairman and CEO.

The medical demo, which began July 27 and has enrolled 43,538 members to day, is continuing. Centered on present projections, the corporations mentioned they be expecting to produce up to 50 million vaccine doses globally in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.

“The first interim investigation of our world Stage 3 examine delivers proof that a vaccine may perhaps properly reduce Covid-19. This is a victory for innovation, science, and a international collaborative hard work,” reported Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech. “We will proceed to obtain further more knowledge as the demo carries on to enroll for a remaining examination planned when a total of 164 confirmed scenarios have accrued. I would like to thank every person who has contributed to make this vital achievement attainable.”

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[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 22nd September 2019

Our episode of REVIEWING THE CHARTS today seems to be particularly focused on British hip hop as we have the fall-out from a busy week amongst five new arrivals, a good majority of them being from UK trap artists... as well as Ariana Grande, clearly my favourite grime MC. Without further ado, let’s review the charts.

Top 10

For a fourth week, “Take Me Back to London” by Ed Sheeran featuring Stormzy, and remixed by Sir Spyro, Jaykae and Aitch, has a stronghold on the charts and honestly I haven’t bothered to listen to the song or its remix since it debuted; if it weren’t for the team-up of Ed and Stormzy this would be pretty unremarkable.

At our runner-up spot is the massive collaborative single, “Don’t Call Me Angel”, from three of 2019’s most interesting pop girls, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey (All of which have released albums of varying quality this past year), for the soundtrack of the blockbuster reboot for Charlie’s Angels, debuting at number-two, just shy of Sheeran. Bear with me as there are a lot of arbitrary figures here: This is Grande’s 23rd UK Top 40 hit and her 15th Top 10, Cyrus’ 17th UK Top 40 hit and her fifth Top 10 as well as Lana Del Rey’s tenth UK Top 40 hit and fourth UK Top 10 hit – in fact, it’s Lana’s highest-peaking song ever, and first song to hit the Top 10 here in the UK since the remix of “Summertime Sadness” peaked at number-four in 2013. The UK loves these three, it’s a movie soundtrack single with a video, I’m not surprised it’s reached these heights of success – I’m just shocked it couldn’t hit the top spot, if I’m honest.

Now we can run through the rest of the top 10 pretty quickly: First of all, we have three consecutive songs with identical falls on this week’s chart. Down one space to number-three is “Taste (Make it Shake)” by Aitch.

Also down a single position at number-four is “Higher Love” by Kygo and Whitney Houston.

At number-five, similarly down one spot this week, is “Ladbroke Grave” by AJ Tracey.

Standing still since last week is the non-mover of “Sorry” by Joel Corry, featuring uncredited vocals from Hayley May, which at this point has probably surpassed initial Love Island fame at number-six.

Also not moving this week is “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike at number-seven.

At number-eight, down three spots thanks to alleviating hype for the Hollywood’s Bleeding album with impacted last week, is “Circles” by Post Malone, although this definitely won’t be the last we see of him this week.

At number-nine, down a spot from last week yet not down soon enough, is “RAN$OM” by Lil Tecca.

Also down one position, finally, we round off the top 10 with “Strike a Pose” by Young T & Bugsey and Aitch.

Climbers

There is one notable climber this week, and that is “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I up five positions to #14, very quickly gaining from its debut three weeks ago. “Outnumbered” by Dermot Kennedy is only up three spaces so wouldn’t be all that notable if it weren’t Kennedy’s first ever entry into the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. Otherwise, there’s nothing to speak of here.

Fallers

This category is a lot more plentiful. In reverse order of where they stand on the chart, we have “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus making its way out down six spots to #38, “Ritual” by Tiesto, Jonas Blue and Rita Ora perhaps prematurely making an exit down eight to #36, “Buss Down” by Aitch featuring ZieZie dropping down 14 spaces off of the debut to #35, “Sounds of the Skeng” by Stormzy also taking a hit immediately after debuting high up as it’s down 11 spots to #31, “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello slowly winding down five spots to #19, and finally, also down five spaces to #15, we have “Goodbyes” by Post Malone featuring Young Thug, taking less of a hit than I expected off of the album impact last week.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

First of all, we have quite a few drop-outs considering there are five new songs debuting, the highest being “Hollywood’s Bleeding” by Post Malone off of the debut at #11. This is due to an arbitrary UK chart rule that only allows three songs by one artist on the chart at one time, and these have to be the highest-performing singles, hence, since the title track got trumped by another single in terms of popularity, it’s gone and probably won’t ever for another week as the debut from Post this week is already showing more longevity. Our drop-outs here are actually mostly massive smash hits that have been losing steam for a while and have just now dropped out after weeks on weeks of high performance. The first anomaly to this rule is “Lover” by Taylor Swift, after only five weeks on the chart, dropping out from #31 but it’ll probably be back soon enough. Otherwise, we have “So High” by MIST and Fredo out from #35, “You Need to Calm Down” by Taylor Swift out from #36, “bad guy” by Billie Eilish out from #37 and “Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi out from #39... as well as “Slide Away” by Miley Cyrus off of the debut last week, not picking up any steam at all which has me worried.

Uncommon for the UK Top 40, we have two returning entries. The first is “Lalala” by Y2K and bbno$ as I predicted, back to #40 after a particularly busy week pushed it out off of the debut. The second is “Panini” by Lil Nas X, propelled by both a futuristic, wonderfully cheesy video set in space as well as a remix with a feature from DaBaby, which honestly adds so much to the song and with the benefit of hindsight, his verse should have been there from the beginning. There’s also an “Official” music video for the remix featuring characters from Chowder which may or may not be legal but it’s hilarious.

Oh, and I feel I should add that Hypersonic Missiles by Sam Fender, the #1 album on the UK Albums Chart this week, has three songs outside of the Top 40 similarly to Lana’s last week, with “Will We Talk” up 15 spaces to #43, the title track re-entering the chart at #48, and a debut for “The Borders” at #59. Anyways, onwards with the show.

NEW ARRIVALS

#37 – “Wiley Flow” – Stormzy

Produced by EY, AdotSkitz and Illmind

Stormzy is releasing a fourth single from the still unnamed and unannounced album, the week after “Sounds of the Skeng”, with a second throwback-type single, which has me worried for the album in all honesty as it’s looking somewhat rushed so far and I loved Gang Signs & Prayer but it did suffer some filler, which “Wiley Flow” may just be an example of. Regardless, it’s his 18th UK Top 40 hit, and don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad at all, but it does feel like a re-tread of “Vossi Bop”. It starts with a menacing synth loop that may be a sample, but it has a pitch stretch at the end of the loop which seems like a cop-out as it does not add to the beat really, it doesn’t work as hypnotic as Stormzy’s stilted flow here isn’t exactly catchy, relaxed or even smooth, relying on more typical Western trap flows while the loop cuts out for more bass-rattling trap but... the ”hook” of sorts is boring and repetitive, doesn’t end properly but sounds really off rather than effective. The second verse is slightly better, I mean—

If you ain’t got more than five top tens, then I don’t want to hear no chat about charting

Uh... Well, then. I think I’ll skip this one, I mean, this isn’t a great song but Stormzy’s still pretty intimidating, I mean, damn, I better shut up. Please don’t kill me Stor—

We here at Sudnay Salad have received a statement from cactus’ estate announcing her untimely murder at age withheld. Rumours say she was the victim of a secret hitman order placed by famous British rapper Michael Owuo Jr., more well known as Stormzy.

#24 – “Professor X” – Dave

Produced by Dave

Now, there was an album bomb of sorts this week that wasn’t Sam Fender, yet neither Fender or this bomb had any impact on the Top 40. That album bomb was for the soundtrack to gritty street drama Top Boy, rebooted and continued by Netflix... and soundtracked by Drake leeching off of British hip hop as he’s been doing for the past few years, with his only contribution being a freestyle from 2018 on Link Up TV, with a tad more reverb. It’s a lazy compilation on Drake’s part, but he didn’t choose awful rappers at all, I mean, there are songs with Fredo and Little Simz, who had an amazing album you should check out that was released this year, GREY AREA, as well as AJ Tracey, Headie One, Nafe Smallz and two songs by Dave. The Drake freestyle, “Behind Barz”, debuted second-highest at #51, Fredo’s “Freddy” debuted at #53 and since technically this isn’t a singular artist’s album, it’s not affected by the chart rule restricting the songs debuting to the three biggest, meaning “Elastic” by AJ Tracey also debuted at #63. One of two singles by Dave from the soundtrack, the other being “God’s Eye”, landed at the Top 40 despite being the seventh song on the album and having no single push whatsoever. Anyway, it’s Dave’s 13th UK Top 40, and it sure is... okay? The strummed guitar is actually pretty intimidating but the lyrics aren’t at all so that doesn’t work. The trap percussion with the intense sub-bass kicking in during the first verse as well as the sweet vocal samples and strings makes for a pretty cool beat, actually, but Dave doesn’t say much of interest or include some cool wordplay... and all of this seems more like a demo for “Streatham” from Psychodrama – the flow is exactly the same for most of it, although this is the typical “Dave flow”... but then at the end of the first verse, he has the exact same flow switch that worked so well into the bass launching in the middle of the second verse on that song, but here it just leads to a half-chorus and a brief interlude from what I’m assuming is Top Boy. It kind of cheapens “Streatham”, which is still a fantastic song, although the second verse is better and I’m not going to lie and say the hook isn’t pretty catchy. Otherwise, this is one of the worst songs I’ve heard from Dave in a while, and is relatively uninteresting in all factors.

#22 – “Take What You Want” – Post Malone featuring Travis Scott and Ozzy Osbourne

Produced by watt and Louis Bell – Peaked at #6 in Hungary and #8 in the US

Yeah, I did a double-take the first time I saw that listed on Spotify too. Since “Hollywood’s Bleeding” debuted last week, it has faltered in popularity, meaning arbitrary UK chart rules let this song chart, and oh, my God, I wish it charted sooner because this is easily one of the best songs on that Hollywood’s Bleeding album, right next to “Sunflower”, my personal favourite “Goodbyes” and what I think is the best deep cut, “Allergic” (Although that seems to be one of the least popular efforts from Post here). I’m not even sure what to say about it, to be honest, everything just meshes perfectly into place. This is Post Malone’s 13th UK Top 40 hit and Travis Scott’s eighth, as well as being Ozzy Osbourne’s ninth (Not counting Black Sabbath), and first UK hit since “Changes” with his daughter Kelly Osbourne hit #1 in 2001, more than 18 years ago – although in the US, Ozzy had a 20+ year lack of charting singles until “Take What You Want”. I feel I’m going to ramble on about this song but, God, it is near-perfect. It starts with a slick, processed, slightly downtuned acoustic guitar amidst creepy harmonised ad-libs from Post and Ozzy, before the sub-bass kicks in and Ozzy Osbourne sounds fantastic over looming 808s with his ominous, trembling voice, which sounds quite delicate and melodic here, a sharp contrast from the early metal sound of Black Sabbath but not unfound territory for the singer. The poetic lyrics are brutal and are a knee-jerk reaction to a break-up, where Ozzy and Post feel lost and clueless, like they’ve been sucked dry, and Post comes in with a pretty subdued flow initially, but then starts belting against a peaking mix, distorted bass and some low electric guitar (That’ll come back again, much more forward in the mix however...). Post’s warbling in the chorus arguably sounds better than Ozzy, especially when that crash of the kick drum comes in and the intensity is amped up to 100%... only for it to collapse, to make space for Travis Scott. Now, remember when I said this song was near-perfect? Well, I initially really didn’t like Travis’ verse here but it has grown on me immensely. Even if his content is nonexistent, Travis’ sour bitterness is lethal, talking about using the power given to him by his ex’s insults to make chains as well as almost threatening her at the end of the verse, saying that no matter where he goes, he’ll never be alone, but this woman is just completely isolated without him. It’s almost like he lives in some sort of primitive patriarchal society within his mind, and that’s completely fair, as not only would someone suffering from a brutal break-up be this self-indulgent but also he sounds fantastic saying it, with the distorted Auto-Tune drenched in reverb hitting in a similar way to Kanye on 808s & Heartbreak. The pre-chorus, also delivered by Travis, is just a bunch of manic thoughts vaguely resembling “rapper activities” collected into somewhat of a rhythmic pattern, and that’s how Travis feels - he is a bunch of words compiled with no rhyme or reason as he’s left fragmented and sour about the relationship. The final chorus is an awesome harmony from Ozzy and Post – they sound surprisingly great together, but slowly and slowly you hear those guitar riffs in the midst of trap percussion... which cuts out for an excellent guitar solo, with surprisingly technical skill and it works astonishingly well on the trap beat, especially when it elevates with repetitive ad-libs from both singers amplifying the chaos, just to slow down and end abruptly... much like the relationship. Funny how that works out. This is a fantastic song, everyone kills it from Post to Ozzy to Travis to uncredited producer-guitar man (that’s Andrew Watt, by the way), and that’s all I can say really.

#16 – “Nookie” – D-Block Europe featuring Lil Baby

Produced by Nathaniel London

So, funny story, I saw this song blow up in real time because for some reason “#LilBaby” was trending on Twitter in the UK and I was so confused because Lil Baby isn’t that big here. Turns out he had a feature on a D-Block Europe song... but so did Offset, and that track completely flopped so I didn’t expect this to go anywhere. Now I see the chart and it’s D-Block Europe’s fourth UK Top 40 hit and their third Top 20 hit, tied for their highest peaking song ever with “Kitchen Kings” from a couple months ago and Lil Baby’s highest-peaking song and first ever Top 20 here in the UK (“Drip Too Hard” with Gunna did chart at like #26 last year, however). I guess that’s just how awful I am at speculating. Most of the Tweets I saw with that hashtag were about how Lil Baby bodied the song and outshone Young Adz, the breakout star of the group, who ends up sharing a verse with the other member, Dirtbike LB. Dirtbike doesn’t handle the chorus or even most of his verse, so essentially this is a song by Young Adz and Lil Baby from the upcoming D-Block album PTSD and... it’s not as bad as it usually is from these guys, but that’s mostly because Lil Baby kills it here. I never liked the guy and I still don’t think I’ll like him in the future, but I have seen improvements. He tried to hold his own on “Baby” with DaBaby, had a pretty good verse on Young Thug’s “Bad Bad Bad” from So Much Fun and his verse here is not the first set of bars that I’ve heard from him I’d consider actually pretty good, although I’ll always personally prefer Gunna. Does he have interesting content in all his gunplay and shallow flexing? Not exactly, but he has some relatively funny punchlines here and there, referencing Lil Keed and mostly sticking out for how odd they are, we’ll get to funny lyrics in a second (We always do with these dudes). His flow is outstanding, especially for Lil Baby standards and picks up the pace and momentum of the song immensely, which had only been a Young Adz hook at this point, to the point where when he’s not on the song, it’s a pretty empty song, because it’s just a vaguely rural flute and guitar-lead trap beat with some ugly snares, 808s and farting synths behind a cheap trap skitter, as well as the awful Auto-Tune added to Young Adz that sounds awful as always, but Lil Baby actually has some energy for once, and the cheap, ear-ringing hi-hats being so monotonous when they rapidly skitter during his verse is pretty clever, and his climax of the verse as he slowly gets angrier would work if this was a competent beat. As for lyrics, well, sorry for expanding this song review for more it’s worth, but as with all D-Block Europe songs... we have a showcase for you.

Treat the p***y right, that’s good nookie (That’s good nookie) / Keep killers ‘round me, that’s how it should be (That’s how it should be, yea)

I think I’ve said this before but Young Adz is not very convincing when he’s talking about sex and violence because his delivery is so naive and childish... and sometimes his lyrics are too.

Should-a, would-a, could-a, [gnarly dude] just could be (Just could be)

Or they’re complete word salad. It’s always one of the two.

Yeah, you know the vibe

Not at all.

Yeah, just spoke to my Imam and he said I can get five wives

Okay, if you don’t know, an Imam is basically fulfilling the job of a Christian reverend in a mosque, and apparently the Quran accepts monogamy and polygamy. The more you know, but 1.) that could be wildly disrespectful, I wouldn’t know how to feel as a Muslim in response to that for obvious reasons and 2.) this is also wildly irrelevant.

Onto Lil Baby’s verse and honestly, his punchlines are a lot better because he just has a bunch of non-sequiturs and they seem intentionally funny rather than just missing the mark, like these lines:

Rolls Royce truck come through, that’s anus / Audemars Piguet, Rolex, both stainless

It’s almost like a comedy skit as he says something random or nonsensical then just completely switches topic to something more straightforward and this happens bar after bar.

Steering ‘round the way, I forgot that I’m famous

How? There’s one line here that is actually really clever, where he interpolates “No Guidance” by Chris Brown as if he’s going to start serenading or flowing more melodically, but then cancels himself out completely, interrupting himself so it almost sounds off-beat even, and it was pretty funny on first listen thanks to his delivery.

You got it, girl—I ain’t givin’ her my last name

Lamborghini truck, it got me speeding ‘round the fast lane / Thinking ‘bout the time I hid my bottle in the trash can

...I can’t find a single explanation for what that second line means and I love that.

I’m from South London... Hit a [gnarly dude] up, night-night, now it’s Church somethin’

You’re praying for him after you kill him, right? So you can just have a harsh rhyme with “now I’m prayin’ for him” instead of “Church somethin’”... but surely, Young Adz cares dearly about how his rhymes connect, I mean, he has an internal rhyme in the chorus rhyming “blending” with “blender”.

I’ll eat that p***y in Mayfair

To be fair, saying you’ll desecrate the most expensive property square on London Monopoly is a pretty big flex. Sigh, after re-listening to pick up these lines, the beat is just really incompetent and everything sounds so disjointed. Even Lil Baby’s verse, which I quite liked, suffers from the same issues and Lord forbid these guys have chemistry. Good Lil Baby verse, but this really isn’t worth yourtime.

#2 – “Don’t Call Me Angel” – Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey

Produced by Max Martin and Ilya – Peaked at #1 in Greece, Hungary and Scotland, and #13 in the US

Now the song that probably deserves more of my attention, the new blockbuster soundtrack single, blah-blah-blah. We went through this already in the Top 10/pre-amble, so there are no reasons to cobble on here as well, let’s get to the song and yeah, put everything else about it aside, this is a pretty decent song. The tribal yet almost melody-box sing-songy melody not having a build-up at all and instead just dropping immediately into the hard bass-heavy trap beat is a pretty good idea and I enjoy the concept of having Ariana, Miley and Lana, three powerful women in the music industry, rejecting purity and asking for men not to call them “angels”, as these are Charlie’s angels, violent, athletic spies in pretty casual clothing, baring weapons at all times; it’s actually pretty impressive how all three singers here emulate the characters from the soundtrack as you’d figure with enough starpower this would be pretty disconnected from the film. All three stick in their little niche realms as well, with Ariana cooing on the chorus with some background belting and pretty Heavenly backing (Pun very intended), as well as subdued Auto-Tuned ad-libs during her verse. You’ve got Miley rapping in a country twang and I’m not going to lie, her verse is really disjointed and could have just not been there, but I do appreciate what it adds to the aggressiveness to the song. The way the beat just drops out entirely and switches to a more atmospheric synth soundscape with a ticking EQ’d out of existence drum beat for Lana Del Rey’s passive-aggressive bridge is great, although I’d like Lana to be a bit more involved, although her sole verse and involvement is probably for the best as her lines are the most powerful and striking here, with the line “I fell from Heaven, now I’m living like a devil” particularly standing out. In conclusion, this is a pretty genuinely great collaboration from the three girls, although Miley’s contributions I’m still unsure on and I feel there’s some empty space in the verses overall, but that chorus is killer, so it’s a pretty cool song and I’m not complaining it’s this high (Even though it’s probably not for long).

Conclusion

The Best of the Week is easily going to Post Malone, Travis Scott, Ozzy Osbourne and watt for “Take What You Want” and it’s not even close, but I’ll give Honourable Mention to Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey’s “Don’t Call Me Angel”. There’s nothing that is exactly all that bad here other than the trainwreck that is D-Block Europe and Lil Baby’s “Nookie”, which makes them the recipients of Worst of the Week. I regret saying this because I do like Dave but he’s getting the Dishonourable Mention for “Professor X” and that’s all for now. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more musical ramblings and I’ll see you next week!

[michaelfallcon]

DeLonghi ESAM 4200 Review – My Week with the Magnifica Bean To Cup Coffee Machine.

A while ago, I wrote my best bean to cup coffee machines post, and the De’Longhi ESAM 4200 featured in this post, this wasn’t a review as such, as I’d not used the machine at this point, I’d simply researched a number of different bean to cup machines including studying the reviews to gain an opinion of each machine that featured, which is what I do with these kinds of articles. 

While doing this research, I gained the opinion that the ESAM 4200 was a great machine for the money, and this opinion was strengthened by emails I received by readers, who have this machine, and who couldn’t sing its praises highly enough.

In fact, one reader told me that they had an ESAM for years, then “upgraded” to a much more expensive bean to cup machine, only to be disappointed to discover that (in their opinion) the much more expensive machine wasn’t a patch on their old faithful DeLonghi Esam.

So the ESAM 4200 Magnifica bean to cup coffee machine was high on my list of coffee machines to use, and to review. But until now, the only material I had written about this bean to cup Espresso machine

Just to give you a bit of info about the way my reviews work, if you’re new to coffee blog.

When it comes to “best…” posts, where I discuss the best of a certain product, such as best budget electric coffee grinders, best manual coffee grinders, best bean to cup coffee machines & so on, I don’t just do a list of popular products. I spend days or even weeks in some cases, researching each product in order to put these kinds of posts together, attempting to give the best indication as possible regarding which might be the best product for the reader. 

When It comes to individual product reviews, I don’t take these lightly either, I don’t review a product after having had a quick look at it, or having had a demo or a quick trial – I do my best to write detailed user reviews, written over a period of at least a week, if not longer. This makes my reviews proper “user reviews”, which I hope give readers a good insight into the machine, so they can decide whether or not this machine may be right for them. 

Anyway, I was keen to do a full user review of the Esam 4200, so I got in touch with De’Longhi, who very kindly sent me a loan unit, to use for the review. 

This isn’t a “freebie review” whereby manufacturers send products to bloggers free in return for a review, and it isn’t any kind of a paid review, De’Longhi have simply sent me a loan model of the Magnifica ESAM 4200 to be returned after I’ve finished using it for the review.

So, without any further waffle lets get to it…

DeLonghi ESAM 4200 Review – My Week and a bit with the Magnifica Bean To Cup Coffee Machine.

Unboxing and initial impressions.

I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and simple this part was. Got it straight out of the box, onto the kitchen worktop, removed a couple of packing protective bits, installed the water tank and the coffee puck collector & drip tray, and turned it on. So far, so good.

It’s a nice looking machine, and is fairly compact for a bean to cup Espresso machine, 30cm deep at the top, approx 38cm deep measured to the middle of the drip tray, 28cm wide, 35cm tall. Just keep in mind when measuring the height of your cupboards etc., that you need just under another 10cm to open the grinder hopper cover in order to load beans and adjust the grind.

I could see straight away how much thought has gone into the design of this machine, they really have done a good job of making it a very convenient machine for the average coffee lover to use.

For instance, the water tank is front loading. You just pull it straight out like an ink cartridge, fill it up, and slot it straight back in. This is a great feature for most users, who I assume will be slotting it into an already cramped kitchen worktop space, if they’re anything like me, and this feature means you don’t need to pull the machine out and turn it around to get to the water tank. 

The group head, where the coffee comes from, can be slid up or down to bring it closer to the cup you’re using, and to allow taller cups to be used, which again, I think is very clever.

The drip tray is nice & big, makes use of all the possible space under the machine, and the way the front opens in order to access the coffee puck collector tray which simply slots in next to the drip tray, again I think is very well designed. 

Setting it up

I followed what I thought was the quick 5 step setup guide, which lead me to getting stuck temporarily until I realised that what I thought was a quick start guide, is actually  “How to prepare an espresso in 5 easy steps” once you’ve already setup the machine – and the full setup instructions need to be read when it comes to the first use of the machine. Doh…

So, on page 10 of the proper instruction manual, I discovered that when you use the machine for the first time, you need to turn the steam on, all the way anti-clockwise, and then wait for the water flow to stop, and for all the lights to flash, to indicate that you now need to turn off the steam. Once I did this, all was well :-).

So just keep in mind that the single A4 glossy 5 step guide isn’t a setup guide, it’s a guide to making Espresso once you have set up the machine as per the instruction manual – which I have to say is really straightforward.

First use

This is a very easy machine to use, it’s all really straightforward. I turned it on, filled the hopper with coffee beans, turned the strength to Max (of course), set the volume/quantity to just under the half position, left the grind setting at the factory setting, pressed the single cup button, and hey presto, or should we say Hey Espresso? ;-).

The first espresso flowed far too quickly, I got about 50g of coffee in about 15 seconds, which is definitely what we would call a “sink shot” rather than a “drink shot”, but I expected this, it is going to take some dialling in, and also in terms of the volume/quantity setting (which I’ll get into later).

I then adjusted the grind finer, tried a couple of shots at this, and it was definitely going in the right direction. After a few more trials, I got the flow about right, extracting around 30-32g in around 30 seconds. 

General observations after regular use

The first thing I want to say about the De’Longhi ESAM 4200, after some regular use, is that I think this is a brilliant all-around bean to cup Espresso machine, and I reckon its a great choice for most coffee lovers who want to be able to make Espresso at home. 

It’s so simple to use, it’s really quick to heat up and to be ready to roll, it’s just such a good machine generally speaking, that I think it’s a great solution for most people – given that it’s probably the cheapest bean to cup Espresso machine on the market. 

If all you wanted to know was is this a good bean to cup coffee machine for the money, then in my humble the answer is, definitely.You can certainly spend more than this on a bean to cup machine if you really want to, for things like touchscreen controls and fully automated coffee & milk, but if you’re not bothered about stuff like that, and you don’t want to spend more than you have to, then I think this is a great choice. 

That being said, I’ll now get into more detail. Starting off with:

The good stuff:

Fast coffee – quick warm-up time. 

Great coffee is something worth waiting for, and some of the best commercial and prosumer espresso machines take quite a while to be ready to use. When it comes to machines that are intended for the consumer market, though, convenience is important.

Nespresso machines, the ultimate in convenience when it comes to coffee, usually have 25 second warm-up times, the Sage Creatista plus has an incredible 3 second warm up time. Domestic Espresso machines don’t tend to be ready to use quite as quickly as Nespresso, but the Esam 4200 is very quick for an Espresso machine. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find this bean to cup Espresso machine is ready to produce Espresso after a quick cleaning/priming cycle, under a minute. 

Great Espresso

Obviously, the quality of the Espresso is important for an Espresso machine review – and I’m very impressed with the quality of the Espresso produced by the ESAM 4200. I think the majority of coffee lovers will be very happy with the quality of the Espresso that this bean to cup Espresso machine will produce, as long as they’re using great coffee beans of course!

Do I think you could get better Espresso from a prosumer setup with a separate grinder, costing around a thousand pounds or upwards? Well, yes – once you’ve gone through the learning curve and developed the necessary skills. 

As I’ve said in other posts, there are two types of people who make Espresso at home – the “average coffee lover” who likes coffee but just wants to press a button – and the “home Barista” who is happy to invest a significant amount of time, money and effort in continually increasing their Espresso making skills, along with developing their coffee palate, which will better enable them to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Bean to cup machines are for the average coffee lover, and if this is you – then I think the ESAM 4200 is a great choice if you want to steam and pour your own milk.

Capable of proper microfoam for Latte art!

I wasn’t expecting to be writing this about a domestic bean to cup espresso machine! The popular option with domestic Espresso machines are panarello wands, a sheath which covers the steam pipe and introduces steam to the milk via holes on the side. These kinds of steam wands are, in my humble opinion, about as much use as chocolate fireguards. They produce only large bubbled froth, to be spooned into cappuccino – which is fine if that’s what you like. 

If, however, you’re wanting to produce lovely, shiny microfoam, with much smaller bubbles, for making delicious velvety flat whites, cortado/piccolo, macchiato, latte or cappuccino, and to have a go at pouring latte art, then panarello isn’t going to work for you. 

De’Longhi have recognized this, and they have made it very easy to simply pull off the panarello to reveal the plastic steam pipe, which is essentially a single hole steam tip steam wand, or at least works in a similar fashion. 

The photos bove are of the latte art I poured with milk steamed with the ESAM 4200, with the Panarello wand removed.

This is the best angle to hold the milk jug when using the steam wand without the panarello.

Just one thing I have to say here is that I’ve cheated slightly, as I’ve used my Espro torrid 2 milk jug, as I talk about in my latte art hack post. This jug is designed to help single hole steam tips to get the milk spinning, I found it a great help with the Gaggia classic, and it worked brilliantly with this De’Longhi bean to cup espresso machine. 

Quiet grinding – enjoy your morning coffee without waking up the street.

The integrated grinder is fairly quiet, it makes a higher pitch sound than my Sage Smart Grinder Pro, but it’s not overly loud, I’d say a similar volume to a boiling kettle, maybe slightly louder but not much. I’ve read some complaints about budget coffeee grinders re the noise levels, but I don’t think you’ll have an issue with the integrated grinder on the ESAM 4200.

Big water tank & easy to fill

The water tank is 1.8l, which is a fair sized water tank for an Espresso machine. What I really like about this water tank though, is it is so easy to access and to fill. As I mentioned earlier in the introduction, it pulls straight out from the front, so you don’t need to access the side or the bank of the machine, you just pull out the tank, stick it under the tap, and slide it back in, perfect!

Big drip tray

I like the fact that the drip tray uses all of the available space at the bottom of the machine, to produce a decent sized drip tray, meaning that you don’t have to constantly be emptying it. This may seem like a little thing, but little things can make a big difference. 

Easy maintenance

The front of the machine opens, allowing you to pull out the drip tray, which brings the coffee puck collector with it. Inside this you’ll find your used pucks of grounds, to be put in the compost. Empty the drip tray and the puck collector, give it a rinse, stick it back in. You will want to wipe the inside of the front, when you open it up you’ll see some coffee splashes onto parts of the inside of the front, so giving it a wipe down while you’re in there is good practise. Other than this, there’s an auto maintenance cycle that happens each time you turn the machine on – and running the descale cycle etc., all seems straightforward. The machine comes with a pack of descaler solution.

The bad stuff:

I have to say that none of these are deal breakers, they wouldn’t stop me from choosing the ESAM 4200 if I was going to buy a bean to cup coffee machine, they’re fairly small things really, you might think I’m nitpicking, but I don’t think it would be a balanced review if I didn’t include these observations. 

Small grind adjustment range. 

There are 14 grind settings, from 1-7 with .5 increments. In practice, with the beans I used with this machine, I didn’t have any problem, although with one of them I did have to go down to only one half step higher than the very lowest setting, and the highest setting I found dialled in at with any of the beans I tried was about the halfway point at 3.5. This didn’t cause me any problems with any of the beans I used with the machine, so I’m probably moaning about nothing ;-).

Hopper not detachable. 

Again, this isn’t a deal breaker at all, in fact you’ll probably think I’m nitpicking, and I suppose I am, but with the hopper being integrated, it means you have to use any beans you put in there. There’s no easy way to get the beans out once you’ve put them in,  because of the finger guard – so if you were wanting to try another bean, you’d have to go through the beans that are in there already. 

I don’t think that this wouldn’t be a problem at all for the vast majority of people, as most people will want to use all the beans they have before opening the next bag. The only reason I found this a bit of a pain is I was testing the machine with different beans. The hopper capacity is only a couple of hundred grams anyway, so it’s not like you’d have to waste a load of beans, and in theory you could get a lot of them out by taking out the water tank, emptying the waste collector and drip tray, and tipping up the machine.

No references for volume settings. 

The dial for the amount of coffee desired has no reference points around it to refer back to. 

For instance, I found that for double Espresso, I needed to turn the dial to about twenty to (imagining a clock face around the dial), it took me a few wasted shots to figure that out. It’s no big deal, you could always put a mark on there yourself if you wanted to, but I just can’t understand why they haven’t put a numbered dial around it, so the user at least has a reference to go back to.

They could put images around the dial to show the approx range for a single Espresso, double Espresso, Lungo etc., – I just think this would make it a lot more convenient for the user, keeping in mind that bean to cup machines are all about convenience. 

Like I say, not a huge deal, but I’m just not sure why they don’t put a handy face around this dial to help the user.

By the way, a quick tip re making Amercano & long black with Espresso machines.

First of all, a Lungo, or “long black” isn’t the same as an Americano. 

Americano is espresso poured into hot water (not the other way around, by the way. You can do it that way if you like, if you’re a Neanderthal ;-), but as far as I’m concerned the “right way” is water first, Espresso on top), whereas a long black or lungo is basically a longer shot, rather than a mix of Espresso and hot water.

Yes they’re both a mix of water and Espresso, but with Lungo you’re continuing to extract coffee – as the water is still flowing through the puck of grounds, whereas with Americano you’re pulling the shot into fresh hot water, or pulling the shot into an espresso cup/glass and dumping this into the hot water.

So technically speaking, if you use the bean to cup machine to dispense a bigger cup of coffee, you’re making a Lungo or long black, and if you pull your shot into hot water you’re making an Americano. 

I prefer the taste of Americano to Lungo, but each to their own, so try it both ways and see what you prefer.

Price

£420 on the De’Longhi website, currently £299 on Amazon UK, also £299 at coop online, and from £289 new on eBay,  and used on eBay from about £120-£200 (although I’d be cautious personally about buying a used bean to cup machine without warranty).

To the uninitiated, a few hundred quid for a coffee machine probably seems like a lot – but actually, this is a really low price for a bean to cup Espresso machine, especially given that it’s a very well known brand, and I think it’s great value for money at this price. 

Conclusion.

I’m really impressed with the Esam 4200, it’s easy to see why it’s the best selling bean to cup Espresso machine on Amazon UK. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a bean to cup Espresso machine, who doesn’t want to pay more than they have to, and who wants to steam and pour their own milk rather than just pressing a button. 

There are one touch machines, which froth the milk for you automatically meaning all you do is select what coffee you want, and then walk away with it. These kinds of machines tend to cost between double, to about six or seven times the price of the ESAM 4200, and some of them don’t have anywhere near the same kind of average review scores (the Esam 4200 has 4.4/5 stars from over 1700 reviews – which is difficult to beat). 

Life is like a box of chocolates, so follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook and that’s all I have to say about that. 

DeLonghi ESAM 4200 Review – My Week with the Magnifica Bean To Cup Coffee Machine. published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

[endlessarchite]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you�� thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

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.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); });

The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter published first on http://ift.tt/2qxZz2j

[chocdono]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

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Lots of Sneak Peeks: Riding the Buildathon Wave

The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from mix1 http://ift.tt/2mesqe5 via with this info

[sherlocklexa]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

You'll Also Love

25 Great Gift Ideas for the Craft Beer Lover

DIY Wooden Couch Sleeve

It’s Pronounced “Damn Good Cookie̶...

Lots of Sneak Peeks: Riding the Buildathon Wave

The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from car2 http://ift.tt/2mesqe5 via as shown a lot

[winstonsalempainting]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

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.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); });

The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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Read more http://ift.tt/2mesqe5 Areas served: Winston-Salem, High Point, Yadkinville, Mocksville, Advance, Clemmons, Kernersville, Greensboro, Walnut Cove, Statesville, NC, North Carolina Services: House painting, roofing, deck building, landscaping, Carpentry, Flooring, tile, hardwood, remodeling, home improvement, interior, exterior

[darwinbigelow]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

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The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from Home Improvement https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/wood-inlay-ornament-german-glass-glitter/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[bespokekitchesldn]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

You'll Also Love

25 Great Gift Ideas for the Craft Beer Lover

DIY Wooden Couch Sleeve

It’s Pronounced “Damn Good Cookie̶...

Lots of Sneak Peeks: Riding the Buildathon Wave

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); });

The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from The Ugly Duckling House https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/wood-inlay-ornament-german-glass-glitter/

[garagedoorsbrighton]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

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The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from The Ugly Duckling House https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/wood-inlay-ornament-german-glass-glitter/

[darensmurray]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

You'll Also Love

25 Great Gift Ideas for the Craft Beer Lover

DIY Wooden Couch Sleeve

It’s Pronounced “Damn Good Cookie̶...

Lots of Sneak Peeks: Riding the Buildathon Wave

.yuzo_related_post img{width:170px !important; height:170px !important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{line-height:14px;background:#ffffff !important;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover{background:#ffffff !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a{color:#102a3b!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover{ color:#113f5e}!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo__text--title{ color:#113f5e!important;} .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text, .yuzo_related_post:hover .yuzo_views_post {color:#454747!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb{ margin: 0px 6px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ){ jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer({ columns : '> div' }); });

The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+