#well i started out with other videos but ended up on tie dye youtube
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In January 2019, YouTube user Greer Jones posted a satirical video in which she explained how to become “the ultimate VSCO girl. This latter use of VSCO girl anticipates how the term evolved in 2019. (The phrase calls up similar constructions like Tumblr girl, e-girl, and Tinderella, as well as Valley girl and preppy girl before them.) Other instances use VSCO girl, likely with an ironic tone, for a young, white woman who posts perfectly-and enviably-attractive pictures online. Some of these instances apply the term to describe a young woman who is a loyal user of the app. We can find the phrase VSCO girl in 2017–2018. If you'd like help with any issues, please visit vs.co/help to submit a ticket.Since launching in 2011, the app VSCO (formerly VSCO cam) has allowed users to edit photos and videos with preset filters and other tools, which they then share on the app itself or on other social media, such as Instagram.
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ive been watching tie dye videos for FOUR (4) hours
#well i started out with other videos but ended up on tie dye youtube#which made me realize#i forgot to take my meds lmao#anyway#i feel a new obsession coming on
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Make the day better.
summary: Y/N's son turns five and Harry doesn't know what to give him.
word count: 2.5k
Based on these requests:
"could you do artemis first bday with harry or christmas??"
and
"Love your writing. I have a request please, celebrating a birthday, could be Y/N, Harry or Artemis birthday"
and
"Can you do a blurb in the single mom series where Artemis is watching videos on YouTube but he sees harry in his 1d days and watches those vids and Artemis really likes and thinks one of the 1d boys are cool and stuff so harry does stuff to make Artemis happy, like maybe call that member or something? Sorry if it's trash I don't mind if you just throw it in the bin😂"
and
“I have an idea! For my shy little boy, could you do something about the moment that makes Harry realize he wants to keep y/n and Artemis forever and decides he’s going to marry her and hopefully adopt the little boy one day? Love your writing!!”
you can find more of my shy little boy here
a/n: saw these pictures and immediately thought about our little family. enjoy!
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
December, 2018.
Artemis has discovered something new.
He has discovered old videos from Harry from when he was in the band. At first, he was confused as to why Harry wasn’t alone in the videos he watched like in the ones he was used to see. So Artemis did what always did when he was confused: ask.
Conveniently, Harry was invited to dinner at their house, and the first thing Artemis did when he crossed the door, was tell him. “Harry, I saw you on the TV!”
“You did? Did I look good?” He asked cheekily, sitting next to him on the sofa.
“Watch!” He turned on the television and pointed to it.
Harry chuckled when he saw his young self in the Best Song Ever music video along with the rest of his former band mates. “That’s you!” He said excitedly, clapping with his small hands.
“Yeah, buddy. I was in a band before.” Harry was happy Artemis seemed interested.
“What’s his name?” He asked, pointing one of the guys.
“The blonde one?” Harry questioned, receiving a nod from the small boy beside him. “That’s Niall.”
“He’s so cool.” He commented, kicking his legs back and forth on the couch. “He does music like you?” He asked.
“Yes, he does, mate.”
“He’s my favorite.” He decided.
“Oi! I am supposed to be your favorite!” He pretended to be offended, taking him in his arms and tickling him and making him let out a belly laugh.
“Stop! Stop!” He said in between giggles. “Harry, I’m gonna pee!”
“Say I’m your favorite.”
“You’re… you are… I can’t talk!” He laughed again and Harry stopped but didn’t let him go. “You’re my favorite, Harry.”
Harry smiled, pleased with himself for getting the validation from an almost five year old. “Go wash up, it's almost dinner time." Artemis ran to the bathroom in the hallway as Harry walled towards the kitchen where Y/N was.
"I was a little behind but it's ready now."
"I'd help you, but you banned me from the kitchen the second i got in." The curly-haired man wrapped his hands from behind around Y/N's waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"It was because Artemis has been wanting to tell you he saw the band on the TV all afternoon." She giggled, putting the knife down and turning around to face him. "He asked why your hair looked weird."
"Wha'?" He asked, his accent getting noticeably thicker. "What was wrong with me hair?"
"He didn't like the long haired look." She passed a hand through his now much shorter curls.
"And apparently Niall's his favorite, can you believe?" Harry asked in a fake offended tone.
"Artemis likes blondes because he has blonde hair, kid's logic."
"Should i dye mine?" Harry's tone now was playful, grabbing a couple of his curls.
"Please, no."
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
A week after dinner, Harry was scrolling down his phone desperately, trying to find the perfect gift for Artemis.
He had invited Harry to his birthday party, and although he was nervous to meet the rest of Y/N's relatives, he was more excited to spend this day with his girlfriend and her son. It would be the first time he was there to celebrate Artemis' birthday, so he wanted it to be perfect.
And a perfect day required the perfect gift.
He just didn't know what to buy. "Doesn't he like Legos? Buy him a set." Mitch said, trying to help. They were currently in a break from a writing session and almost everyone was out to get food.
"There isn't a set he doesn't have." Harry groaned, running out of options.
"What else does he like?"
"Books, robots, music..." He paused, suddenly getting an idea. "He likes music!"
"Buy him an instrument or something." Harry rolled his eyes, letting out a he's five to Mitch. "So?! Better start them young."
"Perhaps. But for now i think i have the perfect idea." Mitch looked confused, but Harry’s smile only grew bigger.
He wrapped up the session early and called a friend to see if they could catch up while having some drinks. His right leg shocked in anticipation, looking around trying to find that one familiar face he hasn’t seen in a while.
“Styles!” Harry smiled at that unmistakably Irish accent. “It’s been so long!” The pair hugged each other.
“Far too long. How have you been?” They took a seat on the table Harry was previously sitting on.
“Pretty great actually, tour ended a little while ago but stills feels very fresh.” He sighed. “What about you? Heard you’re dating someone.” Niall sent him a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.
Harry breathed a laugh, touching the bridge of his nose. “I am, met her at the beginning of the year. Her name is Y/N.”
“Look at you, you’re blushing!”
“Stop it!” Harry giggle, followed by Niall. “She has a kid, he’s great. They’re great.”
“I’m happy for you, H.” The blonde man gave him a genuine smile. “Is it serious?”
“Pretty much. So Artemis, Y/N’s son, is turning five next Saturday and I’ve been trying to get him the perfect gift.”
“Any luck so far?”
“Not really.” He shook his head. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”
“How can I help?” He readjusted himself on his seat.
“Well, I wanted to ask you a favor.” He paused. “The other day he found the band and said, for some reason, you were his favorite.”
“Ooh, and that how made you feel?” Niall teased him, knowing he didn’t like to be second in anything, especially talking about his girlfriend’s son.
“Delightful, next question.” He rolled his eyes playfully and Niall let out a big laugh.
“So want do you want me to do then?”
“Are you free next Saturday?”
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
Niall's appearance was a surprise, even for Y/N. He'd arrive later than Harry, just in time to sing happy birthday to Artemis. In the meantime Harry had to make sure everything else was perfect.
He was in charge to pick the cake up from the shop before heading to Y/N's mums' house. He already knew Ally and Ella, and they seemed to really like him so he felt a little less nervous.
Y/N told him a bunch of her friends were gonna be there, including Adam and his family so that was also nice. Harry wasn't very familiar with all of her friends but from what she always tells him, they're good people who care for her and Artemis.
Harry didn't have a key or anything so he knocked the door with one hand while holding the cake with the other. Ella opened the door, grinning at him right away. "Harry! It's so good to see you, love."
"Likewise, Ella." The woman pinched Harry's cheeks before letting him in. "Where should I put this?"
"In the kitchen! There's kids running around and we don't want them to drop the cake."
He did what she said and walked towards the kitchen, finding Ally decorating some cupcakes. "What do you think?" She took one out of the plate and showed it to him.
"Looks great. You've been practicing with the fondant." The cupcakes had a little whale on top of them, made with blue fondant.
"I made turtles, whales, crabs... Oh! Look at this little octopus!" Ally was so excited every single decoration turned out perfect, as her designated was getting the pastries done. "Y/N's changing Artemis's clothes in the guest room if you want to go upstairs with them."
He nodded, heading out of the kitchen and taking a quick look to the backyard. There were some people sitting on tables and a couple of children running around, but no one he knew so he listened to Ally and went up to look for his loves.
He knocked the door and heard Y/N say 'come in!' so that's what he did. "Harry!" Artemis exclaimed, trying to run towards him but Y/N stopped him.
"Stay still, baby. I'm trying to tie your shoes." She was knelt down in front of him, putting his shoes on. “Hi, honey.” She looked up at Harry as he bent down to give her a little peck on her lips.
“How’s the birthday boy?” Harry sat next to him on the bed and wrapped his arms around him gently.
“Did you see everyone, Harry? They’re here for me!” He said excitedly. He might be say, but he sure as hell likes the attention of his loved ones.
Harry chuckled, messing up his hair a little. “Happy birthday, mate. Couldn’t wait until it was time to open the rest of the presents, so here’s mine.” He handed him a small box wrapped nicely with a bow on the top.
Artemis took it excitedly and was about to tear the wrapping paper apart but Y/N took his hand gently. “What do we say to Harry, darling?”
“Thank you, Harry!” Artemis threw himself at the older man. “Can I open it?”
“Of course, it’s yours.” Artemis offered him a toothy smile, opening the box. Inside there was a package of professional colors, there was one in every shade. “I know how much you like your color books, and these are the best colors ever.”
“Wow, thank you, Harry. I love them.” The small boy hugged him one more time. “Look, mummy!”
“I see, they’re so pretty.”
Artemis hugged Harry once more before hopping off the bed. “Can I go with nana Ally now?”
“Yes, but leave your gift here, okay?” He nodded before handing his mum the box and running out of the room and off to find his nana. “Did you seriously buy professional colors to a five year old?” She asked with a smile, shaking her head in disbelief.
“What? He loves to paint.”
“Thank you.” Y/N said, kissing Harry’s cheek. “It was very sweet of you.”
Harry gave her a dimpled smile. “You look stunning, love.” Y/N was wearing a long, white summer dress with little sunflowers on it, paired with some heels.
“So do you.” She gave him another kiss. “Let’s go, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Going around greeting everyone, Harry had a hold on his phone all the time making sure Niall had the right address to get there in time. Y/N’s mums made a perfect job decorating the backyard, there were balloons everywhere and the tables had different marine animals on the center.
Artemis loved the ocean a lot, considering he lived in London and there wasn’t many beaches to go, he liked watching pictures and documentaries of it. So Y/N thought that instead of taking him to the ocean, she brought the ocean to him.
“Harry, sweetie, would you take the cake out of the fridge and bring it to the table?”
He nodded and went inside again. At the same time he was crossing the door, someone rang the doorbell so Harry went straight to open it, eager for Niall to arrive. “Didn’t want to show up empty handed so I bought the lad a little something. It’s a train set.” Niall said as soon as Harry opened the door.
“I’m glad you made it, mate.” They hugged and Harry closed the door behind them. “We’re about to cut the cake, he’ll be so happy to meet you.”
Harry was so excited for this surprise, ever since Artemis ‘discovered’ his band, he’s been obsessed with Niall so the curly-haired man couldn’t wait to see the look in Artemis’ face when he sees the blonde man walking into his party. He grabbed the cake before leading Niall outside where everyone was.
Y/N was the first one to notice the new man walking in, and her eyes grew wider when she recognized him. She walked towards them with a confused smile on her face. “Harry?”
“You must be Y/N.” The Irish man said with a grin. “Hope it’s okay that I’m here.”
“Uh, yeah. It’s great. Nice to meet you.” She offered him her hand for him to shake.
“I brought Niall to surprise Artemis.” Harry said proudly.
“Oh my, he’s going to be so happy, let me bring him over here.” Y/N went off to find her son. She’d never expect Harry to actually bring Niall for Artemis but it was a very sweet, thoughtful thing. “Honey, come here. There’s someone who wants to meet you.”
The five year old stopped running and walked towards his mum to take her hand and let her lead him to where Niall and Harry were. When he spotted Niall, he got all shy and hid behind her legs, like he always did when he got nervous.
Niall noticed it and crunched down to his eye level. “Hi, bud. A little bird told me you liked my music.” Artemis looked at him with big doe eyes, curious to know what was in the box Niall was holding. “Happy birthday, mate.” He handed him the gift and Artemis shyly took it from him.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Oh my god, he’s adorable.” Niall said, looking up to Y/N and Harry. “Call me Niall, okay? It’s nice to meet you, buddy.”
Artemis finally smiled at him, letting go of the hold he had on his mum’s dress. He came closer to Niall and started talking, Y/N and Harry looked at each other as she took one of his hands in hers to intertwine their fingers.
It was time to cute the cake and Artemis was stood on a chair behind it with Y/N by his side and everyone around him. She motioned Harry to come stand with them and he gladly did so. They sang happy birthday to Artemis and the boy had a big, toothy smile on his face the whole time.
Eventually the guests started to leave, but Artemis didn’t let Niall go before giving him a big, tight hug before making him promise they’d see each other again. Just before all the guests left, Artemis fell asleep and Harry had to take him upstairs to the room Y/N’s mums had for him. When he came down again, everyone was gone and his girlfriend was just finishing picking up some things outside so he went out to help her.
“Did you see how happy he was the whole day?” She said.
“Yeah, he enjoyed it.”
“It was really thoughtful of you to bring Niall, you know?” Y/N walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “He was very excited for it.”
“It was my pleasure, love to see him smile.”
“Thank you.” She told him, cupping his face with her hands.
“For what?”
“Today was good, but you definitely made it better. So thank you.”
Harry smiled happily before leaning down to capture her lips on a sweet kiss, making her smile against his lips. It was good to finally feel he belonged somewhere, and slowly started to feel they were becoming his own family. He’d never deny the way his heart skipped a beat every time Artemis laughed, or when Y/N smiled. Harry found himself wanting to be forever there for the two of them, for every single birthday, anniversary, everything.
He was in love not only with Y/N but with Artemis too, and he knew that feeling was never gonna go away.
☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁
taglist!!
@myfavfanficsever @odetostep @la-cey @cock-a-doodely-doo @awkwardbullfrog @mellamolayla @moorgannn @bagtan-serendipity @awesomebooklover17 @finelineribs @sunnybusiness @beanholland @sweetenerstyle @cronias13 @vhsharry @maisley @seasidecrowbar @stylesfics-xx @autumnpauley20 @fineline-hs1 @stephaniemalvie @immajustreadwritereblog @jadert15 @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @abundanceofsoph @harrysthicccthighs
#harry styles imagine#harry styles#harry styles imagines#harry styles one shot#harry styles x y/n#harry styles x reader#harry styles x you#harry styles fluffy imagine#harry styles fanfic#harry styles fic#harry styles fanfiction#dad!harry#stepdad!harry
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2012 buzzwords and phrases
nutella
one direction video diaries
dan & phil radio show on BBC1
"rose tyler, i-"
mishapocalypse
covering things in patterned duck tape (tie dye, lime green/pink arrows, that terrible purple)
oovoo/skype video calls<33
roblox dot com "can i haz chez burger too?"
o.O xD :3 (:
frantically skipping over fucked up shit on omegle (we should Not have been able to access this site)
using twitter to tweet shit like "@NIALLHORAN I LOVE YOU!!!!" >>0 likes 0 retweets 5 followers (best friend, internet friend, internet friend, & two porn bots)
tumblr girl
#justgirlythings
unironically saying "I'm not like other girls" "EPIC" "ROFLCOPTER"
troll face rage comic
top text bottom text memes
"shut up and take my money!"
desperately wanting those mini polaroid cameras
mario galaxy 2!!!!
mindlessly playing the wii/wiiu for hours on urs or ur best friend's couch
(for americans spec:) that random obsession with british people and drinking tea???
2012 mayan calendar ending,, the end of the world!!
(spec to east coast US+) hurricane irene & hurricane sandy on halloween
hot topic thick rubber bracelets
walking around ur local mall for hours w/ like 3 friends, just to end up buying over-priced taco bell in the food court
high top converse!!!!
colored skinny jeans!! (bright red w/ suspenders & a striped t-shirt, the louis tomlinson look)
"hug me" t-shirts (ty niall horan:/)
black & white checkered studded belts, seatbelt-looking belts
the cinnamon challenge
kony 2012
starting a youtube channel on ur own and/or with ur best friend (only to forget the password & nvr come back to it)
hobbies?? outside of school?? (i.e. dance class, musical theater, gymnastics, tennis, horseback riding, baton twirling (why is it always baton twirling), etc.)
boyscouts/girlscouts (wasn't me but i Saw y'all)
the scary maze game
making cringe 4 panel memes of urself to post on this new app called instagram ("hey um.... >~<" "did you know that..." "like..." "you're really beautiful :)")
science side of tumblr
superwholockian
"you were the bravest man i ever knew, the most human... human being i ever met" (if u dont still cry ur lying)
"okay?" "okay." or,, throwing tfios when reading The Part
the green brothers!! & vidcon!!
jennamarbles (i miss her sm & i hope she's happy & safe & doing SO well) & her spiderman poster
"what boys are like" "what girls are like" YouTube videos
slenderman
the maximum ride series/reading anything by james patternson
/reading late into the night
camp, sleep-away camp, babysitting or being babysat while ur friends/ur parent(s) worked in the summer bc u couldn't stay home alone (this prob isn't 2012 specific but it is to ME)
or,, staying home alone
& listening to music so loudly????
hiding headphone wires up ur sleeve to listen to music in class
going to "the computer room" in urs or ur friends house (bonus points if it was in their basement, u had to share it with siblings, and/or ur/their dad would kick u off it to idk check his email)
divorce qkjxsjjdkd (again,, prob not 2012 specific but LMAO)
three way calls on The House Phone
calling ur friends house & saying, "hi. this is x, is y there?"
hand games, like quack dilly oso & concentration 64 (do ppl still play these ones in particular)
"IMA FYARIN MAH LAZER BLARGH!" "doctor octogonopus BLAH!" (i.e.,,, the laser collection)
the asdf movie(s)
charlie the unicorn, llamas with hats
fedoras...... unironically my beloved..........
y'all think furries are bad?? remember bronies??
i'm yours by jason mraz, someone like you by adele, hey soul sister by train being the only songs that exist
bangin' ur ankle with ur metal razor scooter,, those soft grips on the handle bars, pressin' in the lil metal buttons to twist & push out the handles for some reason
comedy central: tosh.0, its always sunny in philadephia, south park, etc.
THE GREATEST FREAKOUT EVER!!!! (vid where guy shoves remote up his ass bc his mom canceled his WOW account)
#idk why i woke up at 3:30 am with the urge to do this#maybe im back to regressing#& looking for comfort & nostalgia#in times that i know were terrifying & id never go back (lawl xD family trauma)#but these things ig were a true source of escapism#so uhh ig ty 2012#i truly peaked in 7th grade#everything since has been Too traumatic#long post#nostalgia#2000s kid#90s kid#00s kid#2012
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The Dress
A/N: The friend!reader consoling Ethan reminded me of this drabble I had in my drafts of Ethan comforting gf!reader when feeling insecure. Kinda short, but I think it’s cute :D
Warnings: Fluff, sexual references (at the end), insecure!reader
You chewed on your lower lip as you stood on line for the register. You picked up the velvet, green dress that was draped over your right arm with your left hand to pull it into view.
“Are you sure it looked good?” You asked your best friend who was standing next to you, sending a quick text.
“Yes!” She said, with a laugh. “100 times yes. I think it will look great for the red carpet.”
“It’s not really a red carpet.” You argued, your eyes still analyzing the dress. “It’s more of like a gala. Think the turn of the 20th century, where aristocrats would be invited to a new exhibit at the museum. Everyone would wear their best, strolling through the galleries with a glass of champagne in hand, occasionally nibbling on the hors d'oeuvres being passed around on delicate, silver trays.”
Your best friend paused and a little smirk formed on her lips. “Your boyfriend hired you to do the PR his event again?”
You laughed. “Is it that obvious it’s my idea?” You smiled to yourself.
The Dolan Twins were huge fans of “putting people on,” so to speak. If someone in their circle had a knack for something, they employed them to do it. It wasn’t only that Ethan trusted your creative direction, but he AND Grayson thought your ideas were a great fit for their event. Just like any other person who would organize an 100+ scale event, they paid you very well to do it. So, there was a lot of pressure to make this the best launch celebration ever.
To be honest, you knew you nailed it. You just couldn’t help, but feel like you didn’t fit your own event. You weren’t a big YouTuber or a celebrity or anything remotely famous. Your relationship with Ethan was on the DL, so you didn’t even feel pressure to keep up a certain image. Unlike the boys, you definitely had a “whenever I feel like it” work out regimen and a “whatever taste good” kind of diet. You did try to eat relatively healthy and at least move during the day, but it wasn’t enough to maintain a Instagram-worth physique.
Which brings us back to the dress in your hand that you were now about to purchase...for quite a bit of money. The dress fit the aesthetic of your event: an off the shoulder dress with a sweetheart neckline that dipped down the center of your chest, with long sleeves that started at the top of your arm and ended at your wrist. The velvet material hugged your body, leaving nothing to the imagination, and stopped just about your knees. The dress was classic, and one that you could wear again and again...if you had the confidence. Your best friend hyped you up in the dressing room, but you hated the way your stomach looked in it. But, your best friend looked so disappointed that you didn’t like it. Not because she particularly liked the dress, but because she knew your distaste for the dress was about your feelings towards you body.
“We’ll jack you up.” Your best friend said with a wink as you put the dress in the trunk. She had been watching quite a bit of “Say Yes to The Dress Atlanta” lately and often quoted Monty and Lori. “The party is tomorrow so, let’s continue our glam day where we just relax and pamper ourselves. Then tomorrow, I’ll help you get dressed.”
“Thanks, Y/F/N,” You smiled softly, getting into the passenger seat of her car and buckling your seat belt.
“Trust me, Ethan is going to love it.” Your best friend assured as she backed out of the parking spot.
But, what if I don’t.... You thought, but bit your tongue. You didn’t want to make a big deal about it anymore.
The night of the event, you were buzzing around like a bee. You loved the rush of making sure everything was going right, and the even bigger surge of energy when something was going wrong.
The setting was perfect. Each fragrance had it’s own gallery with a video clip on loop that showed the natural inspiration for the fragrance. There were testimonies from the twins about the fragrances written on plaques placed beside the display of the fragrance bottles. There were also several stations in the gallery to try the fragrance and pick up goodie bags.
You had successful ensured that all food was labeled for vegan, non-vegan, vegetarian, kosher, halal, and marked for allergies. You also did your best to inform the wait staff of who had specific dietary restrictions to know to go to them with the options they could eat first before opening it to the rest of the floor.
You had even ensured that the photographers got people when they came in through the door and let people know about the photo booth in the back.
This was going to be your event to top. Once people knew that you organized it, your office was going to be full with requests. But if there was anyone you wanted to impress, it was Ethan.
And he was. Ethan walked in, his hair styled neatly, his body clad in a black tailored suit with a white button down and a red tie. Grayson, also wore a similar tailored suit and a white button down, but he opted for a green tie. They intended to do the twin thing, and unintentionally did the Christmas color thing...but they could roll with it. When Ethan saw you, his jaw dropped. He had never seen you like this before. For one thing, everyone was running up to you with different issues. You kept a pleasant smile on your face as you calmed people down and told them what to do. You made it look easy. Then there was the dress...oof. It was like he was seeing your curves for the first time. He felt like he would need to holler at you all over again.
“Gray, quick, switch ties with me.” Ethan said, slapping his brother on the arm with the back of his hand.
“No, green is my favorite color.” Grayson said, narrowing his eyes. “I’m also not doing this in the middle of our event.”
“Green’s my favorite color now too.” Ethan said, gesturing to you talking to one of the wait staff.
The green velvet dress looked amazing on your complexion. You had taken the green elements into other parts of your outfit as well as part of your best friend’s “jacking up.” Your hair was decorated with faux emerald and cubic zirconia hair pieces (because this dress already cost you a fortune). You were wearing black pumps, but they had green bottoms that your friend helped you dye yourself. You were also wearing a mix of green and silver jewelry including dangling earrings and a bracelet. Ethan made a mental note to get you a watch for your birthday, one that could go with this dress and any other dress you decided to grace him with in the future.
“Oh wow...” Grayson said, trying not to oogle his brother’s girlfriend. “Okay, you win. Take my tie...”
Grayson removed his tie and Ethan did the same. If you had turned around and seen them, it would have been comical. It was like they were racing to see who could tie a tie the fastest and they were both losing. Finally, they both looked decent enough to mingle. Ethan walked straight towards you.
“Excuse me, miss?” Ethan said, licking his lips as he spoke to you.
You looked up from the table you were re-arranging and smiled softly. This was one of your favorite bits. When Ethan pretended to not know you and ask you out again. It was funny because Ethan was Mr. Slow and Steady when going into a relationship. He never just hollered at a girl, he always became her friend, got to know her and then finally asked her out. It made this all the more fun to act out.
“I just wanted to say that I think you are the most beautiful woman in the room.” Ethan rolled his hands and licked his lips flirtatiously. “And, if you don’t have a man, I’d be happy to apply for the position. If you do, I hope you don’t mind us doing this quietly.”
You laughed, and placed a hand on his chest. “Babe, stop.”
Your hand ran along his tie and you smiled. You loved how you two always unintentionally matched...completely unaware of how much effort Ethan put in to do it.
“Alright, I’ll control myself.” He hugged you tightly, kissing your cheek.
“Ethan...” You blushed. “People are staring.”
“They already were.” He leaned back and smiled at you. “Got to let them know you’re mine.”
Ethan gave your side a squeeze, resisting from giving your butt a little slap, before stepping back. “This event looks amazing, Y/N. I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m proud of you!” You exclaimed. “Your product lent itself to this design. I am even wearing one of your scents now.”
“I know...” He grinned. “...it’s one of my favorites because I made it with you in mind.”
You were about to say something cheesy when someone walked up to Ethan. He introduced them as someone from their management team. You waved, at them, and then paused, suddenly remembering what you were wearing. Your hands danced between covering your stomach and your chest, and you constantly looked at your reflection in one of the dark windows behind them. Your focus on your appearance made it hard to join the conversation. You answered most questions curtly and in a quiet voice.
When you interacted with the catering staff and your team, you weren’t nervous. They had seen you come into the office in sweatpants and coffee stains on your shirt on multiple occasions. You didn’t have to pretend for them. They knew you were good at your job and what you wore didn’t matter.
For Ethan’s colleagues, you felt more pressure. Although the public didn’t know about your relationship, most people in the twins’ circle knew he was dating someone. Eventually, someone would tell someone else that the girl in the green dress was Ethan’s girlfriend, and you couldn’t help, but worry about how that would reflect on Ethan.
Ethan was surprised to see you clam up like this. This wasn’t like you normally, and it definitely wasn’t like you a few moments earlier. At first he thought it was just because you were caught off guard. It wasn’t until the third person he introduced you to did he notice that something was up.
“Baby,” Ethan whispered in your ear as the person excused themself. “Come with me for a second.”
Ethan laced his fingers in yours and pulled you to the back of the galleria where there was a back room used to house the extra supplies like toilet paper and tools.
“Is everything okay?” Ethan asked, once he was sure you were both alone and the door was closed.
“Yeah!” You smiled, thinking he was the one worried. “Everyone loves the launch, Ethan! It’s going well.”
“Not the event,” Ethan said, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you toward him. “I mean you. You’re not acting like yourself.”
“What do you mean?” You asked, putting your hands on his shoulders. “I’m fine.”
“You’re acting all shy and awkward.” He rested his forehead on yours. “You only do that when something is bothering you.”
“No I don’t.” You argued in a monotone voice.
The silence was awkward and bone chilling. Ethan just stared at you until you cracked.
“It’s the dress...” You admitted with a sigh. “I look like a whale.”
“Wait what?” Ethan asked, almost yelling.” Are you nuts? Y/N, baby, you look amazing. I’ve been planning to pull you in here and plow you in this dress. I am holding back everything inside of me right now...how could you say that?”
You blushed. “It’s my stomach.” You backed up so you could show him the outline of your stomach. Your hands then went to the neckline of the dress. “And this is cut in such a weird spot.”
“Your stomach looks fine, I didn’t even notice it. And your tits look amazing in that weird spot.” Ethan used air quotes when he said weird spot. His hands then immediately went to your lower back to pull you closer to him.
“I just don’t feel like this dress is right for me.” You sighed again.
“Why?” Ethan asked, running hands up your sides. “Because this dress looks so amazing on you, I almost don’t want to take it off. Almost...”
You smiled softly. “I dunno...it just doesn’t look right. Maybe I should work out or something....”
“I mean if you want.” Ethan kissed your forehead. “Or you can change what you see in your mind. Everyone here is impressed with you. They want to hear more about you and book you for their events. I’m sure they’d ask if you didn’t seem so...out of it.”
You seemed unsure so Ethan continued, “Hey, I’ve even heard compliments on your dress. I can’t change what you think of yourself, but I want to help you to love yourself the way I love you.”
“I love you too, E.” You sighed, “You really think it looks good?”
“Yes.” Ethan nodded so quickly you thought his head would roll off.
“Thank you.” You said, looking down at yourself. Suddenly, your stomach didn’t look that big and your boobs did look pretty nice. You realized, it wasn’t the dress. It was the whole being Ethan’s girlfriend thing that threw you off.
“I guess, I just felt like this was the kind of dress that someone like you would like to see your girlfriend in.” You said, still looking down.
Ethan narrowed his eyes. “Yes, hence why I like seeing you, my girlfriend, in this dress.”
“I know, it’s just sometimes I feel like there is Ethan Dolan’s girlfriend...this image i have in my head.” You paused. “And then there’s me. Which sometimes is a different image.”
“Well guess what...” Ethan kissed your cheek. “That image in my head is always you. So, whatever we have to do to match up the images in your head, I’m ready to do it together.”
“Aww, E...” You kissed him softly and he deepened the kiss.
His hands roamed from your shoulders to your backside, giving your body little squeezes. As the kiss got sloppier, you realized that Ethan wasn’t going to be satisfied by a little frenching.
“Quickie before we go back out?” You suggested, breaking the kiss.
You walked over to one of the shelves and put your hands on top of it. You turned so your butt was up and facing Ethan, one of his favorite positions.
“Yes ma’am,” He smirked, unbuckling his belt as he walked over.
“But make sure you don’t ruin my dress.” You said, looking back at him with a wink.
“Yes, ma’am.”
#holy candy canes#I went on wakeheart to research for this fic#I almost fell out my chair when the music hit me#reminds me of my old school tumblr when I used to have a music bar#at least people could pause it like damn#dolan twins#ethan dolan#ethan dolan blurb#ethan dolan imagine#ethan dolan scenario#ethan dolan x reader#ethan dolan x you#r-writes-fic
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‘Leaf’ Pouch, full Build along.
Hi guys, This week I’ve been busy with lots of little projects, all of which I will show on here all in good time. Also busy right now trying to go Self Employed with this which takes forever to sort out here in the uk because there ‘is’ help...but not much and what there is takes a long time to get, anyhoooo, moving on to the fun stuff. Some of you may have seen a few W.i.P’s added to keep you all up to date on whats actually going on, I hope you are enjoying the short snap shots through out the week, I thought it might grab your interest and also just to give you a quick taster of the coming blog. So here it is, the ‘Leaf’ pouch build. This build is ok to try if you are a beginner...but probably more suits people wo have had some experience with stitching, dying, cutting with a swivel knife and tooling. I am now four years into my Journey into this amazing craft but still learning new stuff all the time, so although there will be projects that may seem a bit advanced for Beginners, I will still be alternating between the ‘Beginner’ projects, intermediate and advanced ( As I learn more I will share.) So , lets get on. I First Purchased for about £3.50 (Uk) from a great Lady goes by the name of ‘Downtoearthcreations’ you can find her on Youtube she is a prolific maker and sells some great patterns and has build along tutorials I’d advise you to go have a look, I then down loaded the Pattern.
First go to Downtoearthcreations on youtube, find the Leaf bag tutorial video and the purchase this pattern, it’s not expensive and is very easy to follow.
I then cut all the pieces out as shown here and stuck them together where needed with decorators paper tape....why?...coz that’s what I had, no other reason. then Transfer the pattern shapes to the leather of your choice, I used a 2-3 mm veg tan, it takes tooling well, but just be careful, it’s not very thick, don’t press the swivell knife too hard or else it will go right through, how do I know this...guess. Well that’s not hard to guess, Yes I cut through my first one, I’ve always said I will mention successes and failures on here, it’s the only way to learn I think.
For any really ‘New’ people who maybe don’t know yet what ‘Casing’ means I’ll quickly explain, it just means ‘wetting’ the leather to a ‘certain’ point of saturation..NOT..completely saturated as you might do for wet molding, but that’s a whole other thing. so for now just wet it evenly, whenever I wet leather I usually wet it all over , even the areas that I won’t be tooling, I have learned from other more experienced folk that if you only wet the area you need, you can end up with a ‘tide’ line and the water actually does darken the leather so when you come to dye it the will be a difference in shade between the area that was wetted and the one that wasn’t. some people don’t mind it...but personally, I wet it all over, your choice. Then you have to leave it until it almost looks dry again, then it’s ready for cutting and tooling. First you need to draw your veins on the leaf, you can free hand this part if you are confident enough or trace the given pattern with a ball point stylus tool or similar to get the pattern on the leather, then, use the swivell knife to cut in your design, adding any extra veins or cuts you might like. Take a Pear shader tool as shown above and using the bigger edge..’smash’...in a controlled way...the edges of the leaf as shown above..
Here you can see how I’ve gone all around the edges and basically flattened them, also here the ‘veins’ have been cut into the leather it’s now ready to tool it. You can leave it exactly like this as it will still look great but for a little extra ‘depth’ to the design I’m tooling mine.
Here I’ve decided after several ‘Coats of Looking at’..that I wanted the veins to really stand out so made a second cut as seen here,
Once the veins are all tooled with the beveler (Number B802) I dampened it a bit more..not a lot as before because it still retains some moisture and I just want to mould it a bit not soak it. (This molding is completely different to ‘Wet Molding’ as such, as with wet moulding you are shaping pouches and bags etc...this is just a thin leaf. If you do think you have over watered it, just leave it to dry off for a while at room temprature, don’t try putting it in the oven or under the grill or using a heat gun..as you will make it solid and brittle...again..yes..I know because I’ve done just that in the past, luckily..I do learn from my mistakes. I then manipulates the leaf into a more acceptable shape, I did this several times before getting a shape that pleased me.
Look closely you will notice I added some small ‘cuts’, just my own preference, you decide what you want if making one of these yourself.
I Layed down lots of paper, got myself gloved up, had some paper towels and old cloths handy, a small tub of water and a sponge, then I got out the Gel Antique dye, made by Eco-Flo. I decided on a Dark Brown. Couple of things here if you’ve never used Gel Antique dyes...firstly get some gloves on because this stuff will dye you and take weeks of hard scrubbing to get off. secondly, this is expensive stuff..for a reason, it actually works. I love it, but you have to get a whole bunch of it on your sponge to then spread it on your piece in circular motion as fast as you can..because then you need to get off the eccess with your towels, the reason is because the antique dyes go darker the longer its on, so get it on...get it off, if not dark enough for you then repeat until it is. this stuff also buffs up really nice. A good video on YT to watch is by a guy called Chuck Dorset at Weaver Leather Craft , go watch him first if you’ve never done this before. If it all looks a bit dark when you’ve finished don’t worry, antique gel dyes can be toned down by wiping with a ‘Damp’ cloth or sponge until it is a shade you like. You also don’t want this stuff on your clothes or furniture...you have been warned ( hahahaha ). Good luck...the results are worth it.
See how it’s getting lighter as it dries out.
I Like to use a piece of Canvas cloth to buff up my projects, it almost Burnishes them as seen here. note how I’ve twisted some of the ends of the leaf points, the Lady at Backtoearthcreations taught me that neat little trick on her YT video...once again..I advise you go have a look you’ll enjoy it.
So now we need to think about the stitch holes, I’ve used quite a wide gapped stitch iron as you can see on the following pic’, this is so that when it’s stitched we get the ‘style’ that I want. keep going you’ll see at the end. First I put stitch holes in the front piece, then laid that in position and made the first four holes just to give me the opposite position. I did use a Divider to draw a line to keep my stitch holes straight if you zoom in on the next pic you can see the line, this will be hidden by the thread when finished.
I have also made a strap loop which comes with the pattern, my advice...make it slightly longer so that a 2″ belt will fit through it. it’s ok as is...if you just rivit it ‘flat’ but if you want the extra ‘look’ you get from bending the strap over as shown here it can get a bit tight...your choice. I used a couple antique brass rivits top and bottom to hold it in place. Oh..nearly forgot, by this stage I had already coated with resolene to ‘fix’ the dye, but I guess you can do it at the end too. I dyed the flap side of the pouch on the inside dark because if you twist the leaf points you can see the ‘flesh’ color, didn’t want that, but I left the inside of the front peace ‘flesh’ colored and untouched so that when searching in the pouch in bad light it helps to light the inside of the pouch a little, just another little tip I got from someone far more experienced which I’m happy to pass on to you. I would have left it all flesh colored if not for the leaf points.
I decided to use an antique brass snap stud as a fastener for this pouch, so punch the hole BEFORE you start putting it all together...it’s just easier. ( guess how I know ???...hahahaha...yup you guessed it..what can I say..I didn’t have people pointing this stuff out to me, but hopefully by sharing my mistakes it will save you from doing the same thing..)
Not everyone has a snap stud fitting machine but the hand tools are easy to learn.
Starting to look like a pouch a bit more now.
So, all the pieces are almost ready, just the Gusset to make now, I chose a soft leather in Maroon color as seen here, again I drew a line about a quarter inch in as a stitch hole guide. The gusset section is deliberately cut a bit longer than needed and will be trimmed once done.
Finally it’s time to stitch it all together, I chose a veg tan flesh colored Lace and I had to stitch it all by hand with nothing more than a scratch awl to widen the holes. ( As I didn’t have the necessary Flat Lacing needle at the time ) but I personally enjoy stitching without a needle. so, I lined up the gusset, at this point you may do well to have the ‘Down to earth’ Leaf Bag Tutorial on as she demonstrates quite well how to begin the stitch which is a little difficult for me to explain on here. Ok, so once you’ve watched how she starts the stitch off you are basically ‘away’ and just keep going to the end and tie off as shown on the YT instructional video.
Here you can see the scratch awl in my hand whilst I’m ‘gently’ pulling the Lacing tight. Use good quality lace as there’s nothing more annoying than it keep snapping when you tighten it.
Really starting to come together now, the contrast between the Maroon and the antique colors is amazing...well, to me at least. Here now you can see why I used a wide gap stitching iron for the holes, it leaves a nice gap between each stitch which adds to the over all look of the project.
Here I’m trying to show how I finished off the stitching on this side of the gusset. as I came through with the last four stitches I pulled extra thread through so I could widen them on the inside allowing me to back thread the lace as shown here, I then pulled it through and snipped it off.
Then I went back and pulled all of the four stitched tight to hold the cut off end tightly. there are more than four widened here but as you saw I threaded it through four, you can do two if you like but I felt that four would hold better.
I then just snipped the end .
I slotted it in place and ‘snapped it closed just to get an idea how it was looking and have to say I was very happy at this point.
Then it was on to side two.
Annnnd..’Voila’ one really nice Leaf Bag / Pouch suitable for every day wear if you are into that sort of thing, or Renaissance / Larping / fancy Dress / medievel / basically any kind of costume event even Steam Punk if you just added some Steam punky bits to it. Well guys there you have it another little project from our new workshop, many more still to come, I’ll keep showing little snap shots through out the week to give a taste of whats going on in the w/shop just to show what I’m getting up to. Hope you have enjoyed this build along set, also hope you have a go yourself and as always I’m free to answer any questions and always happy to receive constructive advice. I’m still not professional, still learning and still sharing it all after nearly four years...yes my little Blog will be four years old next month. Till next time then, Stay crafty and watch this space.
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rainbow hair!
prompt for day 23 of tua pride month, which I reblogged on this blog and on my main (@itstrulyastrangerthing). look, I don’t...I don’t know. just some Hargreeves sibling bonding and being queer but not really that explicitly bc it’s mostly bonding. this is my first time writing for TUA and I’m not really happy with my characterization but I wanted to get something out for the pride month (challenge? prompt list?).
***
For as long as Vanya could remember, her hair had been falling into her face.
Reginald had often made her tie it up, so she could assist him better; Mom would stand with her by the mirror in the mornings and tuck her hair back into their pins or a hair tie with a precision and comforting smile only Grace could really manage. Those were the few times Vanya could count on with Mom, since she spent the rest of the day running around to treat wounds and comfort her siblings when Reginald’s training went too far.
After she moved out, her hair was the least of her worries. She felt nothing and everything at once, and twisting her hair back reminded her too much of the home she left behind. She was gray, just like the pavement and the sky and the strings of her bow. Looking back on it, she was sure it didn’t help that she was drugged and sedated. But once she was free of that, it was like life had color again. She felt, and she saw, and she did. She loved and she knew, and she knew herself. She saw a rainbow for the first time outside of her window, and somehow, she felt it right in her heart.
Being back at home was always tough, but she tried to come back more. Five and Klaus were there almost all of the time, and Allison and Diego were back enough that it was worth it. At some point she began to pass her time in the living room, sometimes with company and sometimes by herself. It was odd, for her, to make herself comfortable in a space she’d only ever felt attacked in. There was something... bright in it.
After a few weeks of this, Klaus seemed to catch on to when Vanya was in the living room. He started staying there with her, mostly just sitting in silence, but occasionally talking. He liked to watch her practice for violin concerts-as a kid, he, along with Five, been one of the only ones to ever listen to her play. As she paused to shift her hair behind her ears, Klaus spoke up suddenly from where he lay sprawled on the couch in one of Allison’s skirts she’d left in her room.
“Ever dyed your hair?”
Vanya looked up at him, lightly startled, but shook her head slightly. She wasn’t she if she liked the smirk on his face.
“Do you want to?”
“Depends. What color?”
“All of them?” Klaus said, quite helpfully, before coughing a little. “Rainbow. For your new rainbow awakening. It’s pride month and all.”
“I was sedated and brainwashed.”
“Fact still stands. I think your artsy, musician friends would like it. And it’s a nice ‘fuck you’ to Reginald.”
A voice piped up from behind Vanya. She turned to see Five, in all of his 58-year-old-trapped-in-13-year-old-body, stalkerish glory. “Have you ever dyed hair?”
“Oh, yeah, plenty of times.” At Vanya’s stare, he relented. “Once or twice. You’re in, Five?”
“I want to see this so that I can say I was there before the great disaster.”
“Perfect. Vanya?”
Vanya shook her head a little again to clear her thoughts, moving one hand to run through her hair. It might be nice. “Fine.”
***
One trip to the beauty supply store and minimal arguing later, Vanya, Klaus, and Five found themselves crammed into one of the bathrooms of the Academy. She had changed into an old t-shirt and wrapped a towel around her shoulders, although Klaus had started grabbing and sectioning her hair before she could apply Vaseline to her neck so that she didn’t get chemical burns everywhere. Five had been (begrudgingly) tasked with mixing the dyes while Klaus readied and applied the bleach. Five was also at the ready with a phone to take pictures of the inevitable future blackmail.
“I’m gonna warn you,” Klaus began, before he was cut off by Five.
“Always reassuring.”
Klaus ignored him. “I’ve mostly learned from Jenna Marbles.”
“Wait, no-”
“Who is this?”
“She’s a YouTuber,” Vanya supplied to Five, trying to get back to Klaus. “Please don’t mess me up that badly.”
“Her last name is marbles? Has she lost hers?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t. Jenna never used bleach on her hair, it’ll be fine.”
Vanya took a deep breath. “Fine. Just do it before I change my mind.”
Admittedly, Klaus was much better at this than Jenna was. He had some regard for actually parting hair and brushing the bleach onto it. It was almost scary how quickly he did it all, too, and knew just when to wash the bleach out.
“Maybe I should dye a strand of my hair,” Klaus said, eyeing his hair in the mirror. “Or Five’s.”
“Absolutely not,” Five spat, although it lacked his normal Five venom. “I did my job.”
“We’ll see,” Klaus drawled, brushing bleach onto a strand of his hair. “You’ll want to join the celebration with us soon enough. Can’t let anyone think you’re straight.” He turned back to Vanya. “Are we thinking colors by section or in a gradient?”
“Gradient?”
“Like,” Klaus gestured with the clean brush from the top of her head to the end of her hair. “Red to orange to yellow and so on.”
“I’m not sure if I trust you with that.”
“I can do sections, but it’s boring.”
“I’m boring.”
Five piped up again. “No, you were sedated for twenty years.”
Vanya looked at her hair in the mirror, now bleach-blonde instead of the brown she’d had for her whole life. “Gradient, then, I guess.”
“Yes!” Klaus said, voice pitching up slightly. He reached a hand out to Five for a high five. He reacted after only a moment’s hesitation.
***
From there, Vanya really tried not to look. It felt like Klaus knew what he was doing, but she had no frame of reference. Aside from Jenna Marbles videos, of course.
While they waited for her color to lift, Klaus somehow convinced Five to bleach a strip of his hair. While Five’s bleached, Klaus painstakingly created a rainbow on his strand of bleached hair, recreated on Five’s head a few minutes later. Five pretended to be annoyed by it, but Vanya could tell he enjoyed it.
“I’ve killed people. Why am I here?”
“I’ve seen the people you killed, cupcake. That’s nothing.”
Five glared at Klaus, and he actually froze for a second. It was easy to forget how intimidating Five could be, since he looked like a scrawny thirteen year old. “Don’t call me cupcake. Ever.”
Vanya interjected a little desperately. “I think my color is lifting?”
“Great,” Klaus said, turning away from Five after a few final touches to his new pride rainbow hair strand. “We should rinse it out in twenty minutes, probably.”
Five spoke up suddenly, voice uncertain. “Are we gonna be... sibling goals?”
“Twinsies?” Vanya deadpanned into the mirror. “Or triplet-ies?”
Klaus dropped his head into his hands before lifting it back up again as he realized there was still dye on them. “Please never say that again.”
***
Vanya continued not to look at her hair. She didn’t want to see, because she was worried. Mostly she didn’t want to get her hopes up. She’d spent so much of her life not even aware of the parts of her she couldn’t see, and even though she wasn’t entirely sure she now wanted it on display to anyone who saw her, she strangely wanted it to turn out well. She’d been quiet for so long; she just wanted to be loud.
Klaus washed out both his and Five’s hair before hers as they lifted more quickly. She had to say, Klaus had done well. Their hair (or parts of it) was clearly rainbow-colored.
As Klaus rinsed and dried her hair, she felt more apprehension than she could remember feeling. When he turned her towards the mirror, however, she felt that apprehension melt away as she muted a hand to her hair. “Oh my God.”
“Oh my God is right,” Klaus said, stepping back to admire his work.
Vanya was glad he’d convinced her to do the gradient. Her hair started red at the roots, fading into every other color of the rainbow the further down it went. It was unnatural, but it felt good. It felt right.
She turned to Klaus, who looked a bit shocked himself. “You did an amazing job.”
“Yeah. Yeah I did.” Five hit him lightly on the shoulder.
***
Turns out, Diego and Allison were both home and waiting for them in the living room.
“What the hell happened to your hair? I mean, it looks good, but-”
“Do you two match? Wait, three, no, did-”
“-did Five dye his hair too?”
Klaus flashed a grin, looking back at Vanya. “Hey, is the any dye left?”
Diego’s eyes widened. “No.”
#the umbrella academy#ua#tua#umbrella academy#tuapridemonth#vanya hargreeves#klaus hargreeves#five hargreeves#umbrella academy klaus#tua klaus#number five#hargreeves siblings#allison hargreeves#diego hargreeves#hargreeves children#grace hargreeves#hargreeves family#reginald hargreeves#tua vanya#umbrella academy vanya#jenna marbles
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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 24 2020
Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the early May report, although some may be older than that. Due to a need to get my taxes filed, and a continued busy jewellery business, I don’t expect to be able to do another update for a few weeks. You can follow me on Twitter for important breaking news, though!
Have any topics you would like to see me cover in more detail? Drop me a line here on Tumblr, or email me through my website.
TOP NEWS & ARTICLES
Small businesses can survive the pandemic and beyond, if they learn to provide what customers are now looking for. From desks to 3-D printed face shields, to including toilet paper on your takeout menu, to moving online, acting quickly has given these businesses hope. ABC also did a piece on this topic. [text & video; mentions Etsy & masks] Here’s another article discussing adapting to pandemic ecommerce “new normal”, with interviews with staff from Etsy, TechStyle and Zulily.
Ecommerce is about to get way more competitive (it probably is already), & arguably the retailers who will succeed are the ones who already put plans in action, including advertising plans. (mentions Shopify, Google Shopping & Etsy.)
Facebook and Instagram will now have “Facebook Shops”, which are free to set up. Sounds like it will be a slow rollout, though. Many take this as direct competition for marketplace sites such as Etsy, but it will probably also have a large impact on small website builder sites such as Indiemade.
ETSY NEWS
Etsy’s first quarter for 2020 was good, but April was astonishing by any standards; I covered it all here.
Etsy Payments will soon be available to sellers in Turkey, Malaysia, & Mexico. This will likely be welcome news to sellers in Turkey in particular, who haven’t had an easy way to accept payment for Etsy orders since PayPal left Turkey a few years back. It looks like this move will be optional at the moment for those 3 countries, unlike those of us who are forced to use EP if it is available in our countries.
Etsy gave some listing credits and ad credits to shops who had substantially lower than normal sales in late March through April; the credits don’t kick in until July, though.
Etsy is beta-testing a new listing video tool. You can join here; if you want more info first, here are some details. Note that the videos must be quite short, and will not include sound.
Etsy is still getting some good traction from the face mask initiative: “I would argue they were just in the right place at the right time," says Kodali. "When you think of who is able to consolidate the power of a million sewers in the country, the only answer is Etsy."
However, they are also getting some criticism for masks taking forever to arrive, if at all. The slow customer support is also annoying many of these new customers that the CEO was so happy to attract, with little to no response from Etsy.
The Wall Street Journal did a well-received article on people buying food (mostly baked goods) on Etsy [paywall]. Other sources have picked it up, although some are a bit skeptical about safety.
More trend info directly from Etsy: first, summer at-home ideas with Dayna Isom Johnson [podcast links with transcript]. It also covers what to do for socially-distanced celebrations. “[P]eople are taking what they would typically do for a birthday, but then doing it virtually. So many people love paint night parties and I've actually seen quite a few paint kits that Etsy sellers are creating. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday and still have that experience of expressing your creativity and having fun with your friends, but just through a screen.” Also, “tie-dye is blazing hot right now.”
Second, craft supply sellers get their own trend article for a change. Supply searches close to doubled in April, with “346% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “diy”. Many buyers are making their own masks with supplies from Etsy; “2,089% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “elastic”. Do read the whole article if you want to spin your shop in this direction, as there is a lot of good info included.
SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES
Google pushed out a core algorithm update starting May 4, which finished rolling out on May 18. It seems fairly large, maybe the biggest in some time, and may have hit more areas than other recent core updates. They did take some criticism for releasing it during a pandemic. Possible targets aren’t agreed on yet by the people tracking it, but could include cryptocurrency, travel, real estate, health, tech, finance & dating. Or maybe we shouldn’t rush to pick winners & losers so quickly? News media changes may be affected by the regular algorithm reaction to people reading a lot more news these days, and some ecommerce companies had a boom that could affect their rankings. This article discusses Etsy among other companies, who might have benefitted from the update. [I’m not sure on the Etsy complaints, as I have been seeing multiple links for some searches for well over a year now.]
Link building is generally the hardest part of Google SEO, in part because you aren’t allowed to do any of the obvious things that might get you easy links. Anyone confused about the rules & the benefits should check out this guide for 2020.
While you can learn a lot from general SEO guides, if you have a Shopify site, this guide provides some specific SEO tips.
LinkedIn managed to de-index itself from Google on May 6, at least for the United States. Here’s one theory. Well-paid webmasters for major internet companies can still screw up, it turns out.
(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)
If you are one of those organized marketers who plans their campaigns ahead of time, here are 5 content marketing ideas for June.
With so many people not working as much as usual, this might be a good time to start a podcast. Gizmodo has compiled instructions on doing it cheaply.
The best time to send an email depends on the purpose of the email. For example, “General site traffic emails have always been most effective mid-week — mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Mondays and Fridays tend not to perform as well” while “A general awareness campaign can be sent almost any time to be effective.”
Refreshing your evergreen content can be more productive than producing new content. That has some really good ideas for many types of businesses produce
Facebook bought Giphy, and while it will still be available to people without Facebook-owned accounts, it will be integrated directly with Instagram.
Instagram is testing new fonts in its Stories feature.
Twitter is enabling users to see how many people quoted a tweet, but so far only on IOS. They also have a new test where you control who can reply to your tweets.
LinkedIn is rolling out both video events and polls, but maybe it is too late to get a big bump from either change?
ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)
Online advertising can be expensive; here are some stats on the cost of various search engine ad clicks as well as a bit on social media.
Google Merchant accounts now let you compare your prices to other sites and also look at trends in clicks.
Here is a good brief overview of the new free Google Shopping listings, including the 3 main reasons the author believes Google made this change. Here is another much longer overview, with screenshots for those not in the US, and info on how to set this up for your website. The PayPal integration is now available.
Online advertising clicks seem to be bouncing back from the worst of the pandemic, according to several sources, including this one. It is still far too early to tell if this will last, however.
YouTube has re-conceived its premium ad program, now called YouTube Select.
If you have ads that slow down people’s computers or drain batteries by being too “resource-heavy”, note that Chrome is going to begin blocking those in August. “Chrome will filter ads based on the following thresholds: 4MB of network data or 15 seconds of CPU usage in any 30 second period, or 60 seconds of total CPU usage.”
STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING
Seeing all hits to one page in Google Analytics is a lot easier if you exclude the URL query parameters (but note that sometimes they are useful, such as for various pages on Etsy.) If you like the idea of filtering your GA results in general, here is another tutorial on that.
If you want to do A/B testing on your website, here is a fairly straightforward introduction to Google Optimize, which is free to use.
ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS
Many online companies had a good first quarter despite the pandemic, including Shopify, which beat income estimates and saw its stock rise 5% after its first quarter report. “New stores created on the company’s online platform jumped 62% between March 13 and April 24 as many brick-and-mortar businesses migrated online.”
Shopify rolled out software that allows its users to more easily do curbside pickup orders. “...Shopify was already in the process of redesigning its POS before the coronavirus, but decided to accelerate the development of a few new features, namely fulfilling curbside pick-up orders and home delivery. Shopify said that by the end of April, 26% of its merchants with a brick-and-mortar presence were offering local delivery or buy online, pickup in-store, compared to 2% in February.”
Rolling out for the US first, Shopify is also getting into financial products, offering a new debit card which you can use to receive your sales income on the same day you earn it. Shopify Balance can be described as “a merchant account with no fees and no minimum balances.” It’s also setting up an instalment plan feature for customers.
Also new with Shopify: a Pinterest app for turning all your products into shoppable pins.
An Amazon VP quit - very publicly - over the company firing several whistleblowers and labour organizers. “Amazon declined to comment.” The company is taking heat for those issues as well as poor management of and information about how many employees have tested positive at various warehouses. Several employees are known to have died of COVID-19 so far.
Amazon has extended its order performance suspension exceptions for the pandemic to May 31. Which is a good thing, because it seems that buyers are leaving more bad feedback than ever before [soft paywall] “More than 11 percent of reviews left for sellers in the past 30 days are negative. That’s nearly twice the level of frustration vented by shoppers regarding Amazon’s third-party sellers during the holidays, when customer anxieties spike over not getting presents on time”.
eBay extended some seller protection changes until July 19. [note: if you sell on these platforms outside of the US, lease check for your own country’s rules, as some of them are different.]
Amazon Handmade sellers from the US got a boost from a new local makers page and the accompanying blog post. [I was unable to find any similar promotions for other countries; seems like a missed opportunity]
Buyers in Canada and the US are trying to get class-action lawsuits certified against Amazon for their policy preventing/discouraging its vendors from offering lower prices elsewhere. This article includes the US class action complaint paperwork.
If you are wondering about Prime Day, Amazon is apparently going to try for September, but there is no official announcement yet.
eBay will be changing the fee structure for sellers using managed payments, including charging one fee on the entire transaction instead of separate commission & processing fees.
USPS, complaining of deficits and being pressured by Trump, is reportedly reviewing its package delivery contracts with large companies such as Amazon. “According to the Washington Post, over the last few weeks the USPS has been seeking bids from consulting firms to reexamine what the agency charges companies like Amazon, UPS, and FedEx. Contracts are generally reviewed on a yearly basis, and analysts have repeated warned that suddenly raising package prices that drastically would cause more bad than good, not just for the USPS or Amazon, but for small businesses and individuals too.”
Square has created an easy online checkout option that works without being connected to a website/shop. (US only)
BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE
Google has introduced a new Trends-like tool that covers recent top product searches by the amount of growth. Yes, it is free!
Gen Z wants to see “fun and exciting advertising” during the pandemic, because they are bored. They are apparently not really fond of “things are different now” ads. Also: “A survey taken seven weeks ago indicated that younger consumers were more likely than older adults to say they wanted to see purpose-driven advertising that showed how companies were helping others.” Actually, Gen Z isn’t alone in wanting something different from commercials right now
Consumers want to see companies taking positive action and supporting their employees during the pandemic - and claim they will remember who did a good job, so they know who to support with purchases.
Not surprisingly, mobile usage is up during the day time since the pandemic was declared, and people are also staying online later during the week. Web browser usage is up, and more serious news and information is getting attention.
There will likely be many more bankruptcies as the effects of COVID-19 ripple through the economy, but some businesses don’t have enough cash flow to go bankrupt. [text & video]
Canadian retail sales were down 10% in March compared to 2019, but many things went up, including general merchandise stores (6.4%) and online retailers (40%). Note that the online numbers didn’t include sales made from Amazon.com or Amazon.ca and delivered in Canada, so ecommerce was actually higher than that. In the US, March retail sales were down 8.7%, but April looks like it turned around for many ecommerce sites.
MISCELLANEOUS
So-called “cookie walls” are not enough to comply with the EU’s privacy laws. “[I]n order for consent to be legally valid under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) there are specific standards to meet: It must be clear and informed, specific and freely given. Hence cookie walls that demand ‘consent’ as the price for getting inside the club are not only an oxymoron but run into a legal brick wall.”
Website layouts (and even other elements) are starting to look like each other more & more.
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2002-2008
Before I dive into the shows I’ve covered on this site, I’ll give you a ittle background on the events that led up to it. I grew up in Indiana, about an hour from Chicago, and the first concert I ever attended was at Chicago’s Vic Theatre (capacity 1,000) to see House of Pain (don’t judge). My friends and I got there early and secured a spot close to the stage. The opening band soon came out, and to our surprise, they absolutely killed it. That unknown band was Rage Against the Machine. In hindsight, I was likely chasing the high of that first show by attending so many concerts over the years. I actually put together a short post on that show a while back, which you can read here.
During the 90′s, I would attend a handful of shows each year, and managed to see bands like Radiohead, Blur, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Mould, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, several Lollapaloozas, U2, Beastie Boys, Oasis, etc. I successfully managed to save about 90% of my concert stubs, which makes it a bit easier to remember.
I moved to Boston in the fall of ‘02 (by way of New Jersey), and found myself in a city with no shortage of music venues and concerts, as Boston is an incredible concert market due to all the colleges. This was also a great time for music, especially indie rock, which I became partial to, and went to several shows at the Paradise, Great Scott, Middle East, and TT the Bear’s Place.
I saw plenty of shows during this 2002-’08 era, both, big and small, but the larger ones (Neil Young, Billy Joel, Elton John, Oasis, Springsteen, Tom Petty, Phish, Peter Gabriel, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.) didn’t quite have the same feeling as the smaller, more intimate shows. The bands that played the smaller, sweatier clubs had something to prove and played their hearts out, leaving the audience with a lasting impression, so they could hopefully make it to the next level. It was no surprise that I liked those shows the best.
In 2007, I was armed with a nice little Canon SD1000 Powershot point & shoot camera that took fairly decent photos for the time. Luckily the audio wasn’t too bad either, as many of the other digital cameras seemed to struggle with recording bass, but this little camera actually worked well for recording live concert videos.
In October of ‘07, I recorded and uploaded my first video to YouTube. It was The National singing “Fake Empire” at an extremely tiny Boston bar. Throughout the years, I managed to record over 600 videos in less than ten years, and they often became a staple of my reviews, and was something most of the other music blogs weren’t doing at the time.
For General Admission shows, I would always arrive early for a spot against the stage, so it just kind of made sense to film a song or two, as nobody was in front of me. I also enjoyed recording because of the challenge; I only had one shot at recording the song. I made no edits and needed to have a steady hand.
You can view all of my videos at my YouTube channel here.
Below are a few shows from ‘02-’08 (prior to my music blog) that stuck with me, and ultimately inspired me to start mu music site in ‘09.
Bright Eyes at the Harvard Sanders Theatre (’05) - This was during the I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning tour. The show was sold out, but I managed to score a last minute ticket on Craigslist. The Sanders Theatre is an incredible venue, and the show was just as beautiful. I found a recording of the D.C show at the 9:30 Club (a few days later) via NPR here.
Ryan Adams the Hampton Beach Casino (’05) - I’d been a huge fan of Ryan Adams since his ‘01 debut solo album, Gold, which really seemed to connect with me, but I wouldn’t see him live until two years later in ‘03 at the Paradise Rock Club. His shows were notoriously hit or miss due to drugs and alcohol, and in ‘05 he released the jam heavy album Cold Roses with The Cardinals.
I actually ended up meeting Ryan before this Hampton Beach show, which was kind of a big deal for me because he was my favorite artist at the time. I just happened to be strolling around Hampton Beach earlier in the day, and stumbled upon him at a tie-dye shirt store (he actually bought one and wore it at the show).
Ryan, who often plays improv songs, played an incredible song to close the show. “Beachfront Town” is a sad, yet beautiful, ballad about how Hampton Beach reminded him of back home (Jacksonville NC). Here are a few posts I made about this show.
Small review and a few photos
"Beachfront Town”
A recording of the entire show can be heard here.
Ryan Adams at the Somerville Theatre (’07) - As I said before, Ryan Adams shows were kind of hit or miss due to drugs and alcohol, and I walked into this show with such expectations. However, this night was different, and would be the best Ryan Adams show I would ever see.
I had a 4th row center seat, and remember seeing a suit-wearing Ryan Adams walk on stage. His singing and playing were flawless that night, and when he changed the lyrics of “Peaceful Valley” from “Up there in heaven with a bottle of wine” to “bottle of diet Sprite”, I just couldn’t help but smile. He appeared to be sober, and he and the band never sounded better. I was truly proud of him.
Someone actually recorded the show, which you can listen to here.
Josh Ritter at Club Passim (’07) - I fist saw Josh back in ‘06 at the intimate Narrows Center in Fall River. I quickly became a fan after hearing his newly released album, The Animal Years.
He played two shows at Club Passim in ‘07 to benefit a friend that was ill with cancer, and I ended up recording four videos that night.
”Good Man”
“Monster Ballads”
“Empty Hearts”
“Bandits”
Bon Iver at the MFA (’08) - I remember listening to their debut album For Emma, Forever Ago in February of ‘08 and was blown away by how incredible it sounded. I checked to see if they were playing and live shows, and indeed they were. They were playing the Middle East (upstairs) in Cambridge, but it was very sold out, and many people were posting on Craigslist looking for one.
However, it wasn’t long before I got to see them live, and in July of ‘08, they put on an amazing display of music at the MFA. They basically played For Emma, Forever Ago in full since it was their only album at the time, and they sounded flawless.
I’d see them one more time in December of ‘08 at the Wilbur Theatre. You can watch “Wolves” and “Skinny Love” from that show. Fun fact, and unknown (even to me) Tallest Man On Earth opened.
MGMT at Great Scott (’08) - I actually recorded a couple videos at this show. Feel free to check out “Time To Pretend” and “Kids”. During “Time To Pretend”, I’m holding the camera very still, but the footage appears to be slightly bouncy. That’s because the floor is giving ever so slightly, due to everyone bouncing up and down. It was crazy. Fun fact - Yeasayer opened.
Wolf Parade at the Paradise Rock Club (’08) - This was actually my second time seeing the band (first time in ‘06, same venue), and their album Apologies To the Queen Mary is an absolute favorite of mine. I ended up recording six videos at this show, and my favorite was “This Heart’s On Fire”, which is crazy intense. 100% Rock & Roll.
Langhore Slim at Middle East Upstairs (2008) - I always looked forward to his shows. They were intimate, intense, and genuinely good times. Not many people heard of him at the time, and I recall two guys I’d see at every early Langhore Slim show. These dudes were super fans. They knew all the songs and cheered louder than anyone. I recorded a couple videos from this show - “In the Midnight” and “Restless”. Notice The band was a trio back then, with Paul was on bass.
The National at Paddy O’s Pub (’08) - The album Boxer had just come out, and I believe Miller Light sponsored this show at the very small Faneuil Hall pub. It doesn’t get much more intimate than this, and I shot my first video ever that night, “Fake Empire”
The one that got away - I’l share a little story about the time I headed to the Orpheum Theatre in ‘02 in search of a ticket to a sold out show. I had good success scoring single tickets way below face value outside of large venues close to showtime. I recall seeing Simon & Garfunkel at the Garden in ‘02 for $10 ($100 face value), and Peter Gabriel for $20 (also $100 face). For some stupid reason, I thought I’d have the same luck for David Bowie who was playing the Orpheum that night. I managed to find someone selling a single ticket for face value, which was $75, but I has no idea tickets were that much before I headed down to the theater. I recently moved to Boston and didn’t have much money, so $75 was a lot, and I unfortunately had to pass. I told myself, no big deal, I’ll catch him next time. Sadly, there was no next time.
While living in Boston, it seemed each year I’d attend more shows than the last, and by 2009, I felt the need to create a music website. In the days to come, I’ll share some of the most memorable shows I saw, with a post for each year (’09-’16).
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I feel like shit today
I'm lethargic, slow, crying, and insecure. So yep ~depression~ has come to rear its ugly head once again.
But since I'm not into the whole anti-recovery thing, I'll give you some useful tips on how to maybe help YOUR depression that doesn't seem like a generic twitter self help thread. (Though I'll mention some things I found helpful and give explainations as to why.)
Talk to your therapist/counselor/mental health expert if available. Not everyone has the luxury of seeking professional help, but if you have the opportunity, PLEASE go to a professional. However be noted that it's often an experience to go through many different experts to find the one that matches your specific needs/ you like the most. Also keep in mind there are also online therapists ready to help if you're not big on one-on-one contact like myself, though often insurance is tricky. I put this one first because it might be the most beneficial for some, though not readily available for others.
If you have the strength, shower. Showering/cleaning yourself is a blessing in itself as it gives you a sense of detox. Though if you don’t have the strength or motivation, try some of this instead-
Utilize facewash and lotion. Particularly facewash that makes your face feel all chill and tingly, it makes you feel more refreshed. Lotions and cream will help you keep skin smooth.
Simply get wet with water, a quick 5 minute rinse in hot water is less of a chore than a full shower.
Dry shampoo will help with hair oiliness. Though if you don't have access just brush your hair and pull it/part it so it's out of your face.
Baby wipes. Baby wipes will cure yo soul. But seriously use baby wipes and rub them on your face, underarms, and genitals. A good rub down will help prevent you from feeling gross.
Splashing your face with cold water, it makes your pores tighten up and as a bonus it'll wake you up.
Utilize deodorant and vaseline. I haven't tried it out for myself, though if you put down deodorant and then vaseline on top it should trap the nice fragrant smell. And while you're at it you can put on cologne / perfume if you think you're getting a lil ripe, but if you want to smell like a fresh shower use ones that are labeled "shower fresh" or "baby powder."
If your lips are chapped, put on some balm shisters. (I don't trust the brand chapstick, I'm a conspiracy theorist okay I'm soRRy)
Change into some cleaner clothes. They don't have to be normal everyday clothes but at least change into new clothes, especially underwear.
Clean your fingernails/toenails. Clean under them, since random junk can get stuck up in there. Also clip them if they're too long for your liking.
Brush your teeth. But if you can't, use mints, gum, mouthwash, mouthspray, etc, or a combination of those. Anything minty will make your mouth tingle and feel fresh and clean.
Clean yo ears! Since probably nobody uses an ear vacuum (like you're supposedly supposed to idk I'm too broke for that shit anyways) just be careful using Q-tips.
If you don’t have any deodorant, try hand sanitizer! I'm not kidding. Put a dollop under each underarm, and let dry. Smells are caused by bacteria, so if you get hand sanitizer, it should greatly reduce smell.
Try to get some sun. Using the natural sunlight will help you absorb vitamin D. So open up the blinds and photosynthesize binches. Though it also helps to open up the window if you can, a breeze/fresh air blowing in with the smell of outside might even raise your mood. Though if it's currently shitty weather outside, try turning on your lights to match your circadian rhythm, so keep lights on during the day and dim it at night so it'll help with letting you be on a decent sleep schedule.
Feeling like there's no hope or that your future is going to be shit? Highkey me too, but here's what I do to combat that feeling.
It's corny, but I write a whole idealized future for myself. I write about my dream job, I write about my dream s/o, I even imagine the type of house I want to live in, the kids I'll have, what kind of pets I want to own. Etc. Although the economy is shit and no future is guaranteed, it's nice to put some positivity into light and show what I really want in life. I don't want to be some millionaire, I just want to be comfortably well off with a family and people that love me. And in all honesty a future like that isn't hard to obtain.
Even if you can't imagine a good future for yourself, imagine being a part of your friends or loved one's futures. For example, you know your friend who's dating this really cute person that you totally ship them with? Imagine being a part of the bridesmaids/groomsmen for their wedding when they tie the knot! Imagine your really smart friend finally graduating from college and you're at their graduation party giving them a speech! For me this really helps since I aspire to be drinking buddies with my best friend's future husband. (I'm rlly goofy ik lmao)
Feeling stressed about not doing anything? We've all been there. Try:
Doing work if you're due for assignments, though don't do it alone, if you can, arrange a group text/tutoring session/Skype call. If everyone is focused on getting something done then you'll be motivated to do it with them.
Though if you don’t absolutely have to do anything but want to do ~s o m e t h i n g~ I also got your back on this too.
Organize your inbox for your email. (Ik I'm lame)
Tidy/clean your room/any room if that gives you something to do.
Make your bed.
Cuddle someone/something.
Rearranging your stuff in your room, makes it feel like a whole remodel tbh.
Burn candles/incense. Don't ask just...trust me on this it can change the aura.
If you're religious, practice!
Take aesthetic photos of things in your room. Download VSCO and experiment with it. I also recommend Huji Cam and Afterlight. All are available for IOS and Android.
If you appreciate music- use YouTube and find some Playlists, or if you can, spotify premium will save yo mortal soul.
Like video games? Play some! Or if you're a brokeass like me, let's plays and walk throughs work well too.
If you got pets, pet them. Do it. Snuggle. Or if you love animals in general go and watch some vids on YouTube.
Build a fort.
If you're an artist or appreciate art- draw! Or you can watch animatics, animation memes, art channels, or follow artists on here or on Instagram and Twitter if you want to be inspired, or just observe.
Have a certain series you keep putting off? Watch! It! Netflix/Hulu that shit. Or cable TV works too.
Go on Wikipedia and just go on an adventure. Click from link to link and see where it takes you. Learn some weird new facts!
Read a new book.
Read the news/watch the news.
Write about a certain topic that you're absolutely fascinated about.
Watch movies!
Join a club/interest group. You can do this online too and it'll help meet people with similar interests as you. You can make new friends this way.
Give your friends a call/text. Having conversations will keep you occupied.
Self love aka masturbate. Or have (safe) sex with someone you trust!
Workout
Do some makeup/skincare routine. Even if you think you look bad just commit to practicing.
Sometimes it's just funny to go through and read some Reddit threads so be safe when surfing on there.
Stretch and move around! Dance if you wanna!
Do your hair/experiment in some new styles, maybe even dye it if you feel daring.
Have an icon you stan? Stan HARDER.
Watch iconic vine/rare vine compilations until you can memorize them.
Clean out your phone contacts of people that are irrelevant/toxic!! Out of sight out of mind! Don't hang on to them if they did you wrong. All the text conversations will just make you feel worse!
Actually cook your favorite food, cooking it will make you more dedicated to eating it and give you more of an appreciation for it.
Organize your closet.
Organize anything in your room/closet. Throw away things that you don't need or are too old to use.
Start collecting things, stuffed animals, pins, snowglobes, you name it.
Pinterest is addictive lowkey so try that if you're into that kind of stuff.
Write! Write a new story, write poetry, write about your feelings, write a letter, write fanfiction, express yourself.
Use Duolingo to try and study a new language to learn. (The owl will harass tf outta your email though but as long as you do like 5 minutes a day he won't bother.)
That's about all I can think of but feel free to add more for activities to dedicate your time to.
If you need to, because of your self image, don't go and stand in front of mirrors. If I stand in front of a mirror too long I'll end up scrutinizing myself and find a flaw after flaw. If you are specifically insecure about something with your body, look up models who have the same thing! Like if you're insecure about having vitiligo, look up Winnie Harlow! She's gorgeous! If you're insecure about being chubby, look up plus sized models! If you have a tooth gap, there's plenty of people like you! You don't have to feel ugly because of that when you have these awesome models rocking what they got.
Vent. You can vent to your friends, family, or even online. There are apps that allow you to vent anonymously to others without the fear of judgement. But if you can't do that, take a pen/pencil and write something down in your notebook. Though don't reread it to keep drowning in the negativity, once you write it, shut it. You can do the same on Google Docs online, once you write down everything, delete it. Don't keep trying to fuel your negative thoughts and bitterness, get your rant over with and be done. It's like a fresh start. (Plus on my Instagram spam account I always feel really silly looking at my old rant posts, so I usually delete stuff afterwards when I'm not feeling so in my feelings).
Don't expect recovery to be in a straight line. You'll have amazing days and also have extremely shitty days. Recovery isn't hoping to never experience shitty days, recovery is being able to feel the strength on those shitty days and know that they'll pass, and with each storm you'll be stronger than before. Don't push yourself to be flawless, because shit happens. But you'll make it through. And that's what matters.
And last but not least, seek emergency help if you feel like you're dangerously close to ending your life due to pain. Call the suicide hotline for support, because the pain can ease soon if you ask for the help that you need and deserve.
Not everyone that reads this is going to be like "wow this really helped me cope with my depression/mental illness!" But my goal was to at least try. It may not work for everyone unfortunately, but I hope that anyone dealing with a mental illness is on the road to recovering. Because I know how it feels. It feels sucky as fuck. But if this helps even just one person, then that's enough. I hope everyone has at least a decent day, and I hope that everyone's pain eases soon.
#depression#mental health#mental disorder#positive mental attitude#mentally ill#trigger warning#tw#anxitey#strategies & tips#tips#self love#self care#personal growth and development#road to recovery#recovery#remission#illness#i love you
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How does pandemic alter the lifestyle and mindset of the teens; and how do they cope u?
INTRODUCTION
Adolescence is a time of big changes. We easily get overwhelmed when facing traumatic events like this pandemic.
Are you a parent of a teenager or are you a teenager yourself? It's now nearly the end of 2021 yet we're still facing and dealing with the pandemic. In my first blog, I will be sharing my firsthand experience on the effects on my lifestyle and mindset that this pandemic brought about. Being an adolescent is hard enough as it is, and then we had to struggle mid-March of last year until the present. There are ways to cope though. I hope you'll like my sharing below.
HOW I WAS BEFORE THE PANDEMIC
I had a fairly good social life in school before March 16, 2021. I had my own troop, I am the typical teenager who loved chatting with friends. I got along with all of my classmates. I remember fondly our Bonchon food trips after every exam. I excelled in class. I even went out of my comfort zone and joined a school beauty & brains pageant where I won the grand prize. I had struggles but who doesn't, but I coped well.
HOW IT AFFECTED ME
Then, the news of a lockdown came. It was a confusing time for us. Prom was cancelled and our upcoming Glamping. Suddenly, we had to study from home and do all our school works at home too. People stayed in their houses. Mankind suddenly felt scared of getting infected, and even worst, dying! I felt my balance slowly dissipating. But again, I still thrived during the first year of the pandemic.
For a year in the house 24/7, I practiced self-care. I was still an honor student although it started to get a bit difficult. I kept myself occupied by doing tons of coloring books and posters for my room, I re-decorated my room, I did around 17 YouTube video vlogging, we made tie dye shirts, I cleaned and organized the house- I did everything to keep me busy and well. I kept constant open communications with my mother & my brother. We were one another's support system. I also watched a lot of TV series, some of my favorites are: Grey’s Anatomy and Brooklyn Nine Nine! Name it and I did it - just to keep my peace and maintain my equilibrium. I also have Additional responsibilities at home as we're home 24/7. I take charge of laundry. I also cook from time to time. But then, the disrupted normal routine got tiresome for me.
HOW IT CHANGED ME
2021 came and I felt things tumbling down. I didn't have the escape of the outside world any longer. I started to gain an awful lot of weight. I felt lethargic. I had to face how uncaring my father is to us. A lot started to hurt. I started to reflect on every aspect of my life. I began feeling the fatigue from online classes. I've been eating unhealthily. I need more sleep than usual.
I ignored the books I bought, I put down the musical instruments we bought to self-learn. Now the electric piano, guitar and ukulele just stare at me as I do my learning packets in my new school. Income of our family has spiraled too, my father stopped all business trips and this has affected our "for wants" budget.
Nowadays, I avoid too much social media. There is toxicity in scrolling up too much. I sometimes compare myself to others. I question why they're all thriving and doing so well. I realized that I just have to live my own life without comparison to others. I also keep my chat box to a minimum. Too much small talk isn't healthy for me. I'd rather talk to my best friends and have open and transparent how are you's. I choose quality conversations over quantity now. I can say that I've matured and grown up-- I guess I can say well thank you pandemic? Or not, haha!
Saying all these, I want to reassure you that you are not alone, for I am here with you (grins), kidding aside, we are all in this together. We have just got to find ways to cope and get through this. We also have to start preparing for a life after this pandemic. It'll be a new struggle I suppose but we will definitely win this.
HOW TO COPE DURING PANDEMIC
There are ways to cope better that I've been trying these past few days:
Eat healthily and mindfully, consume Lots of water as water is God's gift and has natural healing capacity, get
Quality deep sleep and wake up refreshed, get some sun because vitamin D is key, and lastly, Exercise or do any physical activity that will make you break a sweat.
THE THINGS SAID IN ARTICLES
Here are some of the things that sticked to me on the articles I’ve read:
Citing Dr. Damour of UNICEF How teenagers can protect their mental health during COVID-19 | UNICEF saying that psychologists have long recognized that anxiety is a normal and healthy function that alerts us to threats and helps us take measures to protect ourselves. I believe that this is a positive way in how to perceive anxiety to be. As Koplewicz said in Time magazine Teens Shoulder Adult Responsibilities Amid COVID-19 Pandemic | Time, "This becomes an endless marathon, and what we worry about is hopelessness." Article in CNN online Teen stress has been heightened by a year of pandemic. Here's how to help them (cnnphilippines.com) caught my attention. It says that thoughtful problem solving under stress is an invaluable lifelong skill. New York Times, Filipino teens languish as pandemic drags on - BusinessWorld Online (bworldonline.com) said that a lot of young kids and teenagers are languishing, not really depressed but not thriving and this may be due to the feelings of alienation and Stagnation and emptiness.
CONCLUSION
There are still so much to be thankful about. There's my cute dog - my bestie. I have my family. All my needs are provided for. I have a good school (adviser) that understands my mental health, the list can go on and on. I still worry about my future. I worry about my loved ones getting sick but I learned to raise all my concerns & fears to God. There are some things that we cannot control. We have to do what we can and then let go and let God take the reins.
Congratulations as you're reading this now. This is a Once in a century pandemic and you and I have been Proven to be competent and resilient! We are surviving! Let’s keep on holding on and I know that we can do this together!
RESOURCES (HYPERLINKS)
How teenagers can protect their mental health during COVID-19 | UNICEF
COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit – Adolescence (cdc.gov)
Teens Shoulder Adult Responsibilities Amid COVID-19 Pandemic | Time
Teen stress has been heightened by a year of pandemic. Here's how to help them (cnnphilippines.com)
Filipino teens languish as pandemic drags on - BusinessWorld Online (bworldonline.com)
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CDP VIS3001 project. Evaluation.
I have enjoyed collage making because it gave me the sense of freedom to create from my imagination, whilst keeping in mind what the aim is. Future fictions was a fun and interesting idea, that progressed into multiple creations such as my cushion making, illustrations, digital media and 3D making.
I would like to do more tutorials with our animation tutor Koray as well as watching YouTube videos on photoshop because I find them very useful as I’m hoping to do graphic design and illustration more in the future. I find animation quite fun but also time consuming. I would like to do more tutorials with koray in understanding how to animate and use after effects in Adobe because I found it interesting and its useful to know for my future degree course, however I did think it was slightly confusing and time consuming but the outcomes are always valued, I would like to do more of it in the future however I will need a lot more practise and getting used to the animation process. I would say the whole project has aided me in creativity, I never thought I’d turn a shoe box into a water tank and 3D monsters. It has definitely brought a sense of imagination and life to my work and also a weird sense to it. Creating future fictions on Procreate using my imagination wasn’t as easy as I thought. The digging deeper task has also helped me to be more creative in my research by going into detail and using all forms of research whether that be media based or written based. It has also allowed me to go further with my ideas and progress them into something else.
At first I was suprised I struggled, because I thought I would have had everything planned out but I actually didn’t because I had no clue where to start and at the beginning of the module. My ideas kept changing until I was realistic about them and discarded of the ones I thought had no possibility of progressing. So that was a minor setback. Another thing I struggled with was organising my work, there was so much of it I did not know where to start that I started to stress a bit. After having more 1-1 tutorials with Joe and Jo I finally began to make sense of where to start and grow my creativity and planning skills from there.
I feel more confident knowing that there are a lot of resources I can use, I have learnt new skills within adobe after effects and adobe premier. I also know what to do for my future modules for being more organised.
My Procreate digital illustrations were what I was most happy about. I was also pleased with my tie dye shirt because the spiral effect came out well and the colours were vibrant. Extending Lee’s, studio workshop at home has been a successful progress, because the transition to what it started from has improved massively. Exploring other methods of recreating my 3D jellyfish, such as using materials to represent the 3D jellyfish.
To change my approach for the next module I will make sure to plan ahead so I know what to create and why. I will be more realistic will be more realistic when planning and use critical thinking techniques in it, so I know what I’m aiming for. I will also change my negative thoughts into positive ones by not over thinking and to not think I have to achieve everything all at once. Along the way I’ve learned to do everything bit by bit and I’ve realised that a little goes a long way that way. For future modules, I will make sure to be more visually organised by noting down tasks on my calendar for each day, which will activate the new skills I have learned along the way and to actually put it into my work.
I will make room for improvement as there is no ending to it, I will be more aware of my work as I go along by noting down any mistakes I would have made, so I can go back and reflect on it and do things differently, and I can always reflect on my notes to avoid the same mistakes. I will also question why I’m doing a certain thing so its easier when referring back to it and would allow me to use critical thinking and analysing skills within my work. When making a statement about a practitioner, I have learned to support it with a statement to show whether its true or not, I will always try to ask myself what message the artist is trying to send out and look at it from all angles and ask myself why they done things the way they did.
Overall I feel slightly overwhelmed but at the same time I feel proud because I have improved from last time. I haven’t left things too late as normally I would procrastinate due to stress. The 3D modelling is not something I’d normally have an interest in because I struggled with it but on a positive note it has allowed me to view my work from another perspective, since I want to do graphics I can combine them together, there is no limit I feel I can have fun whilst using other skills in different areas of work. I liked the collage making because it was a fun task to do as I could create various creatures made from paper. I want the audience to find my work unusual and question it, I want to show awareness to the audience to suggest what could happen to the creatures in the sea.
I have learned to not be a perfectionist and to just try that way i have actually had got something done instead of procrastinating. In my work I have included using moving image, digital techniques, traditional techniques and working in 3D which can all link to graphics. I have learned to work from different perspectives and to use all the skills I have picked up, 3D modelling, Its not something I’d usually try but I’m expanding my creative palate as the more skills I have the more better my work will be.
I feel I have learn’t so much more about myself in this module, I know what my weaknesses and strengths are, and I know what to work on. I found that 1-1 tutorials have been to my advantage because they helped me visualise my ideas. Critical thinking skills is something I struggle with but I enjoyed getting into it and I would like to learn more on how to use it throughout my life as it allows me to assess everything. Another reason why it is useful, is so that I can use this skill in my degree course to help me in essays, therefore I decided to purchase a book on it. I also want to improve my grammar so I can write academically at university level. I attended online workshops hosted by SAS graduates to help and also had a 1-1 session with Alice who specifies in grammar and academic writing.
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How influencer-approved Wildflower iPhone cases came to dominate Instagram
Butterflies or plaid? Leopard print or flames? Cherries or angels or tie-dye or puppies? These might not be questions you ask yourself most days, but for teen girls everywhere, they can be topics of real concern when you’re about to drop $35 on an iPhone case from Wildflower, a Los Angeles-based company born out of a chance encounter with singer Miley Cyrus.
On Wildflower’s official Instagram page, pictures of teen models, professional and amateur, are interspersed with celebrities, all clutching hold of their iPhones with acrylic nails in endless mirror-selfies.
YouTube is flooded with videos of Wildflower case unboxings, reviews or girls simply talking through their case collections. Meanwhile on Amazon, parents leave reviews, sometimes niggling over the price but ultimately saying their daughters are thrilled with their cases, which are all the rage at school right now.
From middle schoolers to celebrities, a Wildflower case is a status symbol and the perfect Instagram-friendly accessory to be sporting at all times. But don’t let what may sound like a lot of hype lead you to believe their popularity is transient. Wildflower cases are no flash in the pan.
In fact, the company has been growing steadily since 2012, when the Carlson family (mum Michelle, dad Dave and teenagers Devon and Sydney) bumped into Miley Cyrus in an LA restaurant and their lives changed forever.
At the time, Michelle made phone cases by hand for her daughters, which Cyrus spotted when the girls stopped to take a photo with her. She complimented Michelle on the designs and told her she should start selling them. Sydney and Devon gladly handed over the first cases Michelle had made to the first ever Wildflower fan.
Things escalated quickly. On the way home from the restaurant in the car, Devon’s phone started blowing up. Cyrus had tagged her in a tweet with a picture of the cases, and people wanted to know where they could buy them.
“I remember all of us asking, should we create a business because Miley said we should, or should we just pass?” Dave Carlson tells me over the phone from the Wildflower warehouse in LA. Together, they decided to go for it, and from that very first day, they haven’t looked back. They stayed up until 5 a.m. that night to get the Wildflower website up and running, and the orders began rolling in.
At first, the family continued making the cases at home out of fabric, clear plastic shells and decorative studs. They roped in friends and family to help, but it quickly got to the point where their “fingers were literally cracked peeling and bleeding,” says Dave. Next he found a company locally to fulfill the orders, before outsourcing them to a facility in Mexico. Now the cases are made by a team of people in a factory in Shenzhen, China, who he describes as being “like family to us.”
How to win friends and influencers
The company has grown largely organically on a fairly smooth upward trajectory from the beginning. But aside from the fortuitous Miley Cyrus encounter, Dave recalls one other “critical moment” when Wildflower experienced a huge boost. He noticed the site was getting a significant amount of traffic from YouTube. When he investigated, he discovered that a beauty vlogger called Maddi Bragg had been buying and reviewing Wildflower cases and posting videos on her channel.
It was a turning point. The YouTuber quickly developed a friendship with Devon and Sydney, and in 2015 proposed what would be the first of Wildflower’s many influencer collaborations. “We have collaborations lined up through the end of this year,” says Dave. “It’s now just become part of our DNA.”
Big brands famously court the web’s biggest influencers. But while they’re armed with well-funded marketing departments, smaller firms like Wildflower have to use more-personal connections. For the Carlsons, the relationships they have with collaborators nearly always emerge as a result of Sydney and Devon’s friendship network. These days, many influencers approach the company with their own ideas for designs.
As a result, over the past few years Wildflower has partnered with some of the internet’s most influential young women, including model Bella Hadid and YouTubers Tana Mongeau and Hannah Meloche. Perhaps none has had quite the same impact, though, as the collaboration with 18-year-old YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, whom Time included on its 2019 list of the 25 most influential people on the internet, alongside the duke and duchess of Sussex, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Donald Trump.
“Her first collab was two years ago maybe, and her case just keeps selling and selling,” says Carlson. “It’s been a very successful one and she already wants to do a new design, so we’re probably going to be doing another collab with her.”
Chamberlain’s design continues to make regular appearances in her own Instagram mirror selfies, and there’s a sense that for influencers, the relationship with the company is authentic in a way that paid-per-post collaborations with other brands often aren’t.
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heres selfie and im gonna regret it
A post shared by ☆ emma chamberlain ☆ (@emmachamberlain) on Sep 19, 2019 at 12:16pm PDT
Since day one, Cyrus has continued to support Wildflower, and the cases have also been spotted adorning the phone of many a pop girl (Dua Lipa, Halsey and Lana Del Rey are all fans). Last year they were even featured on HBO’s dark teen drama of the moment, Euphoria.
In spite of the number of famous faces spotted with the cases, Sydney tells me via email that she always feels surprised when she sees them in the wild, regardless of who’s carrying them. “Usually when I’m out and about in public and see people with our cases is when I get most excited,” she says. “It always catches me off guard and is so rewarding to see people with our phone cases, whoever they are.”
Mirror-selfies and niche memes
Having a phone case you can show off is great for making your iPhone stand out when they almost all look the same, but the cases became increasingly important during the rise of the Instagram mirror-selfie of 2017. Around the same time, Wildflower cases started to feature heavily in niche memes — an Instagram post format that’s popular among teen girls and that was described by Taylor Lorenz in a 2017 Daily Beast article as “a unique, hyper-specific collage about the creator.”
In the world of Instagram aesthetics, the cases are more than just a status symbol. The frequency with which they feature suggests they’re an integral part of Instagram’s visual language, with the wide array of design options meaning they can be used to contribute to an equally wide array of aesthetics. Examples include Wildflower’s green flame case being featured in a niche meme about being a Billie Eilish fan, or the cherry case (in our header art) being incorporated in a post titled “she always tries impressing her crush.”
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send this to a friend 😊 follow me (@niches.v1) for more 💘 via: @holytortilla.s
A post shared by niche memes 💘 (@niches.v1) on Nov 18, 2019 at 1:15pm PST
Wildflower has a curious relationship with meme culture, in that as much as the brand feeds into it, the designs of the cases often also feel deeply inspired by it. “Devon and I are very into the internet world and can definitely say meme culture has influenced our ideas,” Sydney says. This feedback loop could well explain the continued popularity of the brand, which over the past eight years has appeared to seamlessly evolve and kept pace with Instagram aesthetics and trends.
It also helps that every single Wildflower case is limited edition, according to Dave. Only a specific number of each design iteration is made, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. “That mentality has always created a sense of scarcity,” he says. “We try to tell everyone, get it while you can. And if Michelle decides to discontinue a style, then it’s discontinued and we’ll probably move on to the next trend.”
Michelle, who’s the company’s CEO, still continues to have the final say over designs. She works closely with Devon and Sydney, who have said in their own YouTube videos that they take inspiration from their friends and from fashion trends they observe around LA as well as on Instagram and YouTube. “Our customers have become our muses when designing, and it all comes full circle,” Devon recently told Forbes in an interview.
According to 16-year-old Californian model and TikTok star Nicole Sahebi, who’s been featured on Wildflower’s Instagram page, the biggest appeal of the cases remains the designs, which she says “are perfect to mix and match with different outfits.”
“Coupled with their unique color schemes, each Wildflower case is so beautiful and sleek that I feel the need to have all of them,” Sahebi tells me. “And I almost do.”
Keeping it in the family
The next year holds some exciting developments for Wildflower, with yet-to-be-announced collaborations branching out beyond the influencer world. Already the company has been working with Urban Outfitters, and more partnerships with household names are yet to be announced.
Previously there were also efforts to make cases for Samsung Galaxyphones, but this was dropped after they failed to sell in great enough numbers, according to Dave. The company has added Apple Watch bands and laptop clutches to its stable of products, but otherwise it’s sticking to the core business of iPhone cases.
“One of the things we’ve tried just with a company ethos is to just keep things simple,” says Dave. This includes keeping the business family-run (there are 23 employees in total now), something he says works well for all of them.
When Wildflower started, Sydney and Devon were still teenagers, answering phones, responding to emails, packing up cases. Now as adults, they’re social media manager and brand manager of the company respectively, as well as named co-founders, and they’re used to working alongside their parents on a daily basis.
This story, of a business built by a mother-daughter (and father) team, plucked from obscurity by a global superstar after a chance encounter, is the thing that’s always propelled the company forward, featuring on every leaflet for every single phone case sold.
“We love to share the story in the hope that it inspires other young girls — or anybody, actually — that wants to pursue something and turn it into a business,” says Dave. “I think there are especially a lot of young girls out there that will probably look up to Devon and Sydney and really take a lot away from that.”
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Making slime! Oh my goodness… Where do I even begin? Making slime has taken over our lives this summer. Each year as summer break approaches, I have an idea in my head of how it’s going to be.
We’ll all sleep in, pack a cooler and walk to the pool, play for a bit, come home for an afternoon rest, and then all hang out in the media room and watch a movie.
Mark will come home from work with dinner from somewhere yummy, we’ll get our PJs on, and head to bed around 9:30. Then it all begins again the next day. But…it never seems to work out that way.
Various reasons cause us to have to get up early, or run lots of errands, etc… This summer, however, the reason causing my summer not to work out how I have it all imagined in my head, is SLIME!
Slime! Ugh… “Mom, can we make some slime?” “Mom, I need some more glue!” “Mom, you don’t have anymore Tupperware that I can store my slime in.”
Sometimes, we decide not to follow a recipe at all, and just make a bowl of slimy goop! Gross…
“Mom, I really wish you would get some ‘glow in the dark glue’ for my slime.” “Mom, mom, mom…” It’s July, and I can tell you that this mom is all slimed out.
I’m having flashbacks to the summer when bottle flipping was the “thing”! Remember that? Bottle flipping? Oh goodness…I’m pretty sure that bottle flipping was much more annoying, but the jury is still out…
And I don’t think this slime thing is going anywhere. They’re just putting all new spins on it – – edible slime, slime with glitter, tie-dye slime, etc… So many different versions of slime. When will it all end?
We reached a new record a few weeks ago, when my daughter and her friend made about 30 containers of slime. All kinds of slime… They made rainbow slime, glittery slime, glow-in-the-dark slime, slime with little toys in it, messed up totally gross slime, and more…
They used up an industrial sized container of glue, about 10 bottles of “special” glue, as well as all of my Tupperware. Why didn’t I have them use baggies, you might be asking.
Well…I tried that, but according to my daughter, “Mom, baggies don’t work. Air gets in, and the slime gets old. Then we have to make it all over again. Can you just get some more Tupperware please?” Make it all over again? OMG…no!! So I gave her all my Tupperware.
You have to be patient, because for some reason, some batches don’t turn out the way you want them to…
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then count your blessings. And then answer this… “What rock have you been living under?” Slime is everywhere. Just today, as I was walking through the aisles of Target for my weekly therapy session, I noticed all sorts of Slime Kits.
There is a Nickelodeon Slime Kit, an Elmer’s Rainbow Slime Starter Pack, Slime DIY, Deluxe Slime Kit, Crystal Slime Kit, and the list goes on… I stood at the end of the aisle looking at all of these ready made kits, and I’m thinking to myself “Why didn’t I think of this?”
I have spent the last couple of months of my life making slime of all different kinds in my kitchen. I could’ve set up and sold the PERFECT slime kit! If only I’d thought of it first…I’d be retired by now.
I was so buried in cleaning my mixing bowls and searching through kitchen cabinets looking for more Tupperware, that I didn’t have time to create a toy to sell to other moms who are caught in this same slime hole I’m stuck in…
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After I posted a few photos of my daughter destroying my kitchen, I mean a few pictures of my daughter conducting slime science experiments in my kitchen, she sent me a link to many other “better” kinds of slime. After seeing all of these, I was feeling quite inadequate..
She suggested that I try some of these with my daughter, and I suggested to her that since it was her great idea, that she should invite my daughter over and they could make these recipes for slime together!
This video came from the Rainy Days Facebook page. They have SO many fun craft ideas on their page. Be sure to check them out, if you make all their slime suggestions and are looking for something else to do…
At this point, over half-way through the summer, we have making slime down to an art in our house, so it is not such a huge mess like it was in the beginning. The recipe we use is a very simple one, and it is never the same recipe two times in a row.
It seems that my daughter changes the recipe just a bit each time depending on how much slime she wants and how much glue she has left. But, basically, follow the steps below, and you’ll end up with something slime-like…
Squeeze glue into one of your good mixing bowls. You know…the one you use to cook dinner in, or a nice salad bowl. My daughter chose to use my best salad bowl for her slime…
Get a cup of warm water, and add about a teaspoon of Borax and mix it in. Slowly add this solution to your glue.
Add your food coloring, if desired. However, my daughter has decided that white slime is pretty cool too, so sometimes she doesn’t add any food coloring. And don’t forget about the colored glue. Some of it is already a pretty color now, so food coloring isn’t necessary.
Stir in the Borax solution until the slime starts to come together. For us, it seems to work better to work it with your hands once the Borax solution is mixed in. You can add more Borax solution as needed if it’s too sticky.
And just like that, you should have SLIME! Hooray! Now go find some Tupperware to store it in, and start the process all over again. Because you know, one batch of slime is never enough!
Okay…for those of you visual learners out there, below is a YouTube video of a little girl making slime. She is so cute. She goes through each step very carefully, measures everything out perfectly, and keeps her work space so clean.
Well…that’s not at all what it looks like in my kitchen, but wouldn’t that be nice if it really worked like that…
Maybe I should show this video to my daughter. This sweet little girl in the video has only one bottle of glue, and doesn’t make a mess at all.
And…at the end, she shares her slime with her brother. The end result is the same, however, and everyone has a batch of slime, so I guess I shouldn’t worry so much.
And I’m sure you noticed that my steps are a bit different from those in the video. Well…that’s mostly because I told my daughter to skip a few steps so she doesn’t use so many bowls! Whatever works for you, right?
Because you can never have enough glue, right?
After making many batches of slime using Borax, water, and glue, my little budding scientist wanted to try the recipe using saline solution, because “this is a better recipe” according to her.
So…off we went to Wal-mart to get the needed supplies. I hate to admit it, but I think she was right. These batches of slime seemed to be “better.”
If you are talked in to trying various recipes, let me know which one you like better. The saline solution recipe is below…
Pour glue into a container you want to use to mix your slime. In my house, the amount varies each time. The recipe calls for 12 ounces.
Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda and mix with the glue.
Add glitter, food coloring, or like we do, add pearls or beads with letters!
Add 2 tablespoons of saline solution.
Mix/stir the solution until the slime starts to form. In our house, it is much more fun to mix it all with your hands, but a spoon will work!
So there you have it… Making slime 101! If you haven’t yet, you will soon enough, and if you have, I feel your pain! I guess it’s better than sitting in front of the TV all day. It counts as science, right? In our house, we’re counting it as science.
Same thing with “Inventing Gatorade Flavors” by mixing Gatorade with various other juices and sodas in our house. Science! At least that’s what I’m going to be calling it…
Have fun and good luck with your slime. If you have a fun recipe, please share. Always looking for a new twist to our slime recipes. Until next time…
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In case you need/want some more slime, click this link to Little Bins for Little Hands Website. It shares yet another recipe for slime, as well as some of the science behind why this actually works! And click this link for 7 Easy Recipes for Slime. Enjoy…
Making Slime Has Taken Over Our Lives… Making slime! Oh my goodness... Where do I even begin? Making slime has taken over our lives this summer.
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