#oh well! if the shops are going to start stocking christmas stuff in october I reserve the right to keep posting halloween stuff in november

[majouartings]

some autumn outfits~ 🍂🎃

[looking-for-another-world]

Not Alone

summary: Bucky spends Christmas alone at the compound. Or nah?

pairing: Bucky x reader

warnings: 18+, tiny bit of angst, mentions of family toxicity, cursing, explicit smut, dirty talk, like one allusion to reader being plus-sized, soft!bucky, really sappy - you have been warned

words: 6321

a/n: This is my entry for @honeyhan-123​‘s HOLIDAY SPIRIT WRITING CHALLENGE. I had the prompt “Finding the perfect Christmas tree / decorating it” and looking back, I might have slightly diverted from that oops. This was so much fun to do though. This is literally my first finished piece of writing in years, so be nice to me, ok? Right, tmi. Anyways, this has gotten way out of hand in terms of how many words I wanted to write. I might make 3 separate files of it when I’m in the mood to figure out links, but for now here’s the entire fic in one. Enjoy! Also, I hope your 2020 is going to be amazing ❤💫🥂🎆

Prologue

As soon as Bucky stepped into the kitchen of the Avengers compound, his super soldier senses made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Something’s wrong.

It was Dec 23, one day before Christmas Eve, and everyone except him had gone away for the holidays. Clint was visiting Laura and the kids, accompanied by Natasha (apparently, the boys had been nagging their mom for a solid 2 months whether Aunt Tasha would be staying with them), Wanda and Vision were traveling around Europe, Tony had taken Pepper to some little island in the Caribbean Sea, and Steve and Sam had booked a cozy, remote cabin in the woods to go skiing, hiking, getting drunk (well, Sam at least) and most importantly, getting away from being the Avengers for a few days.

Initially, Steve had Friday book the trip for three persons, but Bucky had refused. This was the first Christmas since many years that he was starting to remember who he was, really was, and although Steve was pretty much everything he considered home, he had preferred to spend Christmas where he actually came from.

In the end, Steve had reluctantly agreed, not wanting to push his best friend, but insisting that they at least spoke to one another on the phone every day. And so, Bucky had spent his day wandering the streets of Brooklyn for hours, fulfilling his best friend duty on his way home and telling Steve how much everything had changed and yet, strangely, still felt familiar. He could hear Steve smile through the phone; he felt the same. That’s when Sam had burst through the door of the hut, screeching “All I want for Christmas is you” next to Steve’s ear and ruining the moment. Steve had said his goodbye, leaving to stop Wilson from inhaling another bottle of Eggnog, and Bucky had wished him good luck with the bird brain. He returned to the compound, more mentally than physically exhausted, and headed straight to the kitchen, suddenly remembering that he hadn’t eaten something in hours. And there it was: A small puddle of water on top of the counter, as if someone had taken something out of the fridge and put it there for a moment. Only that there was no one to do that. He was supposed to be alone.

It couldn’t have been him: his soldier and assassin training had left him with an urge to leave everything neat and tidied; no traces. Silently, he made his way back into the hallway, calling the elevator and going two levels down, to the first level that was officially “Avengers territory”. Going back up, he searched every floor without coming across anything suspicious. And then, as the doors of the elevator opened to the 18th floor with a slight swoosh, he sensed it: There’s someone else on this level. He tensed up. His super soldier hearing going into overdrive, he snuck along the dimly-lit corridor until he heard them: sounds coming from the last room to the left, the entertainment room, stacked up with books, movies, consoles, a pool table, anything you could think of to pass your free time. He tried to hear more intently. The person on the other side of the door barely produced sounds; all he could make out was their shallow breathing. Someone with a normal hearing wouldn’t even have caught up on it.

Bucky conjured up a blueprint of the room: even if he could get through the door unnoticed, there was no place to hide. The whole design of the room practically screamed: “Look who’s coming!” His only advantage was the element of surprise. Trying to calm down his nerves, he took a few deep breaths and braced himself. Not wanting to have his arms in a position he could easily be taken hold of in, he stepped back, raised his right leg and kicked the door down, storming inside, met by a piercing scream and a loud splash as the bucket of ice cream you had been holding met the ground.

“(Y/N)?!”

“What the hell?!”

“Why are you here?”

“I fucking live here in case you haven’t noticed! Why are you kicking the goddamn door down like I’m some HYDRA agent trying to slit your throat?”

“Because-”, Bucky stops, guilt washing over him. Guilt and anger with himself. Even HYDRA wouldn’t be so dumb as to blow their cover like that, and they’d do a bit more than get the kitchen counter dirty if they wanted to make their presence known. “Because I thought you were one.” His voice is low now, almost a whisper, his eyes unable to meet yours, fingers fumbling with the hem of the coat he didn’t have time to take off. And seeing him like this, you understood: He thought someone had intruded.

You let out the breath you were holding. ��I’m sorry, Buck. I wasn’t thinking. I should have let you know about my change of plans and that I’d be spending Christmas at the compound.”

His ears perked up at that. “You are? I thought you were going to visit your family.” You smiled sadly and now that his mind and body weren’t overtaken by adrenaline anymore, he took in your state for the first time. You looked pale, your eyes red-rimmed, like you had been crying. You were wrapped in the navy-blue blanket twice your size that Wanda had given you for your birthday. It went all the way down to your ankles where the legs of your sweatpants were peeping through, showing just a small stripe of skin before the fabric of a pair of green fuzzy socks covered your skin again. The ice cream you had dropped started melting on the ground, slowly dampening part of the expensive rug the pool table stood on, which you didn’t seem to notice. “What happened?”

You let out a mixture between a snort and an unconvincing laugh. “I talked to my mom on the way to the airport. She started complaining about how much I’ve been letting them down this year, bringing up things I didn’t even think were an issue anymore, and how she hoped I would pull myself together this time, for the sake of Christmas and our family. So, I figured I’d probably have a more fun time being alone in my room and sleeping for like 2 weeks than I’d have being with them.” The last part was meant to sound casually, but Bucky didn’t miss the twitch of your lips and how your eyes started to gloss over again. He wanted to say something to comfort you, but his mind didn’t know where to start and so he just kept staring at you wordlessly, which you took as a sign of annoyance.

“Don’t worry. I won’t bother you with that shitty Christmas music or candy or anything of that kind. I’m not gonna ruin your alone time. Just pretend I’m not here.”

He frowned at that, then, and as his tongue still seemed to be tied, he did the only thing he felt was appropriate: He put your arms around you and hugged you, hard, all-consuming. “I’m not worried you’re going to ruin my alone time. I like having you around. I’m sorry your family are like that, when they’re the ones letting you down.”

You’d liked to reply to that, thank him for his sweet words, but you were sure you’d start crying again the second you stopped biting down on your lip. So you reciprocated the hug as best as you could; after all you were lacking Bucky’s strength. Bucky squeezed you shortly and let go, and when your eyes locked again, you couldn’t help but mirror his warm smile. Jesus, this guy certainly made you feel things. No surprise you were crushing on him so hard.

“We’d better clean this up”, Bucky said gesturing to the now empty ice bucket head and your eyes widened as you noticed the mess you’d made. “Shit!”. Tony had spent an insane amount of money on that carpet, even for his proportions. He’d shoot you to the moon for that.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Bucky jogged back to the elevator, returning a minute later with a wet cloth and a roll of kitchen towels which he handed to you. Getting to work, you suddenly became aware of how much closer than usually you two were. You could smell Bucky’s aftershave – something resembling cedarwood – watch the muscles in his arms flex as he tried to rid the fabric of its B&J make-over, study the stubble on his perfectly sculpted jaw, his hazelnut locks, his plump lips. Oh god, his lips. Just thinking about having those lips kiss every inch of your body got you worked up. Get a grip, for fuck’s sake!

“So you’re really planning on skipping Christmas? It’s your favorite holiday”, Bucky interrupted your thoughts, shooting you a glance to see you shrug your shoulders. “I don’t want to see my parents right now, and I can’t imagine celebrating Christmas on my own. So yeah, guess I’ll be taking a break from it this year.”

“You’re not on your own, though. You’re with me. We can celebrate.”

You felt a pleasantly warm sensation in your stomach which you tried to ignore, quirking an eyebrow at him instead. “You hate Christmas.”

“I don’t hate all of it, I hate what it’s become. I hate that most people care more about what useless shit is in their stockings or under the tree than about who they’re spending their time with. I hate how every shop starts putting up Christmas stuff before it’s even October. They don’t even call it “Christmas” anymore. I mean seriously, xmas? What’s that even supposed to mean?”

Despite yourself, a small giggle escaped you at how upset he could get about it all and realizing he had started ranting without wanting to, Bucky had to stifle a laugh as well. "Point I’m trying to make is ” he concluded “I wouldn’t mind spending Christmas with the right company.”

Oh, and that’s supposed to be me? Right company?“, you shot back. "Sure thing, doll. You’re like an expert on Christmas, I can’t go wrong with you. Also, I like having you around. ” He furrowed his eyebrows. “I’ve already said that, haven’t I?”

“Yeah, you have. But that’s okay, I like hearing it”, you laughed, your hand briefly touching his arm. You were becoming kind of needy, it appeared. Bucky didn’t seem to mind though, or at least he didn’t let it show.

Looking down, you noticed with an internal sigh of relief that the ice cream puddle had given way to the water and the kitchen towels. All that was left was a wet patch that would hopefully disappear overnight.

“Guess that’s as good as it gets”, you joked. “Thanks for helping me.”

“It’s the least I could do, after scaring the shit out of you.” He took the dirty towels from you. “Guess we’re Christmas buddies then” he grinned. It was surprising how excited he seemed to be all of a sudden, but you didn’t let yourself linger on that thought. “Well, as the official Christmas ambassador, I have to let you know that this place sucks. There’s not even decorations.”

That was true. The past weeks had been incredibly hectic, even more than in previous years, and since almost everyone would be gone over the holiday season anyway and Bucky had emphasized several times that having the tower turn into Santa’s village would most likely lift his dinner, rather than his spirits, Tony hadn’t bothered to put up decorations.

Bucky gave you an amused look. “I see you’re getting into it. Alright, what do we need?”

“You mean, like everything?”

“Yeah, like the ideal setting. Can’t be that difficult.”

You gave him a sceptical look. “Oh no, not at all. We just need the decorations, music, candy, ugly Christmas sweaters, stuff to bake cookies, a firepla-”

“Okay, okay, I take it back.” Bucky raised his hands in surrender. “This is too much. What’s the most important thing?”

“The tree”, you replied without thinking. “The tree is the most important, to me at least. When my dad used to tell me he’d be bringing the Christmas tree home tonight, I’d spend all day glued to the window of my room, waiting for his car to steer into the driveway. It’s the one thing we ever did as a family, all three of us, decorating the tree. Everything else would be pretty much Mum and me, since Dad would be out working. The tree is … it just wouldn’t feel like Christmas without it.”

Inadvertedly, your brain had walked down memory lane to pictures of baubles in gold and red and purple and every color of the rainbow, mingled with the scent of fir and your dad’s bass voice singing “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” to you while you were sitting on your lap, and suddenly another wave of sadness hit you and you had to fight back the tears that were starting to well up again. You swallowed thickly before looking back at Bucky and were met with an understanding look. He had noticed your struggle but chose not to bring it up again and you were grateful for that. Grateful for him.

There were a few beats of silence before the super soldier offered you a tentative smile and said: “So Christmas tree is your final answer?” Another giggle.

"That’s my final answer.”

Part 1

You woke up to a sky the color of granite. Gloomy light and heavy clouds. Your heart jumped a little in your chest at the prospect of another downfall of snow. What’s Christmas without snow, right? Too comfortable to get up right away, you snuggled back into your pillow and let your mind wander.

It was embarrassing, really, but thinking about spending the whole day with Bucky filled you with a mix of anticipation and nervousness you usually felt before first dates. Prior to your job interview last February, you had spent hours and hours hooked up on research about the people you might soon be working with – the fucking Avengers! -, but Bucky’s story, or at least what was known of it to the public, had fascinated and moved you the most. It was hard for you to wrap your head around how someone could endure the most appalling things you could possibly imagine, and that for decades. Someone like the ex-Winter Soldier could barely be human anymore, filled to the brink with hatred and disgust for the world and the people in it, that you were sure of. And then, when you got the job and got to know him – he was the exact opposite. Sure, he was careful and hard to read, especially at the beginning, but he was kind. He was funny. He was emphatic. He was a nerd. He was sweet. And when you moved in to the tower and the two of you spent more time together, your feelings towards him grew stronger, and you found yourself imagining waking up next to him, his lips on yours the first thing you taste in the morning. Cupping his cheek and watching his eyes crinkle when he flashes you his million-dollar smile. Stroking his hair while he reads his favorite passages out to you or rambles about how all the things he’s just discovering now are not quite as good as what they had back in the days, but some of them are not bad. Being pressed down by his weight as you get to explore all of his gorgeous body and find out what sounds he makes when he’s buried in you, filling you up, making you feel so good as you’re begging him not to stop because he’s hitting just the right spot and you never want to let go of him, so good, please Bucky, please don’t stop, oh God, I’m so close baby, fuck…

The loud buzzing of your phone jerked you out of your trance and made you sit up straight in your bed, your heartbeat thumping in your ears, cheeks heated, fingers you didn’t even remember putting there coated in your arousal. Breathing heavily, you stretched your neck to see who the caller was: Mum. Oh, hell no. In a sudden burst of resurging anger, you declined the call, threw your phone away from you and let yourself fall back against the headboard with an audible huff.

Finishing the job wasn’t going to happen after yesterday’s events started rolling in, so you forced yourself out of bed and into the shower, washing away the heat of your little daydream with water as cold as you could bear. Putting moisturizer on, you focused your thoughts on today. If Bucky still wanted to help setting up everything for Christmas, they should get started as soon as possible. An actual Christmas tree was a bit too much to ask obviously, but maybe they could find a fake one and some funny tree ornaments to go along with it? Sweaters shouldn’t be that much of a problem either, they practically threw them in your face around this time of the year. And the Christmas music could easily be taken care of by Spotify.

You started listing the essential ingredients for three or four kinds of Christmas cookies in your head when you left your room to get breakfast. Closing the fridge door, you tried to decide where and in which order to go to get everything you needed on time (or should you split up?) when you noticed the yellow, blue, pink and green dots on the cold metal surface, dancing around in a carefully studied rhythm like colorful fireflies. Frowning, you turned around.

The huge panorama windows were decorated with beautifully woven ice flowers up to almost half of their height and framed by several strings of Christmas lights, cheerfully blinking against the grey sky outside and bathing the living room area in a colorful hue. Now that you stepped closer, the living room looked different as well. The couches and armchairs were covered under thick and fluffy-looking plaids and pillows with different Christmas-themed motives; a very kind looking Santa Claus on one, a couple of reindeer holding cups of Eggnog and singing “Jingle Bells” on another and the slogan “Tis the season” in as much glitter as could be fitted on so small a space emblazoned on a third. There were decorations, too: a nutcracker next to the tv, an angel’s choir holding candles on one of the couch tables, a snowman, a sledge, a rocking horse, a squirrel in a scarf… You couldn’t even decide where to look first. Too preoccupied to take everything in, you didn’t notice Bucky’s presence until he cleared his throat. “Do you like it?” You turned around to meet him, dumbfounded and still trying to understand what was going on, even more so when you saw the sweater he was wearing: fir green and depicting a penguin wearing a Christmas hat. You let out an incredulous laugh. “Did- did you do all this?”

Bucky lowered his gaze briefly and gave you a sheepish smile. “Pretty much, yeah. I’d hoped you’d sleep in. Gave me enough time to set everything up.” Your mouth opened and closed, unable to find words. “I-“ “Wait!” he interrupted. “There’s more.” He outstretched a slightly shaking hand and seeing that you didn’t respond, hastily withdrew it. Finally though, your body and mind seemed to have rebooted, and you grabbed his hand with both of yours. It felt hot against yours, hot and slightly raw. Bucky shot a surprised look from your intertwined hands to your face and you could’ve sworn that his cheeks blushed slightly. Is this even real?

Squeezing your hands slightly, he walked past you and into the living room, pulling you with him. Around the corner, out of your line of sight, there was a slightly smaller lounging area with the best stereo sound system Tony could get his hands on and without tv, designed for the numerous occasions you fancied actually spending time with each other and being able to face each other when chatting or playing games instead of just staring at a huge screen in unison. Now though, the bean bags had been moved to the side and in the center of the room stood – a tree. Not just any tree, but a fir tree about 10 or 11 feet high, almost filling up the room with its size and emanating that unmistakable scent that always took you back to fond Christmas memories. Next to it, on the ground and on several of the bean bags Bucky had piled up a seemingly endless number of boxes containing Christmas baubles of all sorts, ranging from the traditional ones to typical Christmas motives, Disney characters, and even the most absurd things such as very small-sized fruits and vegetables.

You couldn’t remember when your heart had last felt so light and full. If Bucky’s hand hadn’t anchored you, you might have just floated up through the ceiling and into the sky. And why not? Who knew what else might be possible after all this had felt so much like a dream already? Giving yourself no time to think about overstepping boundaries and the like, you threw yourself into Bucky’s arms, feeling rather than noticing his strong arms instantly enveloping your frame. “Thank you.” Your voice was muffled because you had buried your face in the crook of his neck and because you were close to crying again. Sensing your state, Bucky started tracing soothing patterns on your lower back and mimicking his movements, your hands started stroking his broad shoulders. “My pleasure, doll.”

He held you like that for several moments, lightly swaying to and fro, taking deep breaths with you. And after a while, when you’d quieted down a bit, you noticed that not only your heart threatened to jump out of your chest; Bucky’s heart beat a lot faster as well, hammering against his ribcage so much that you could almost feel it against yours. You drew back a little so you could see his face and were met with a look you’d never seen on him before, a look that went straight to your groin. His hands tightened on your back, like he was afraid to let you go, and your nose lightly brushed his. And just as you were about to close your eyes… his phone rang.

The noise startled you so much that you jumped in his arms and Bucky let out an audible sigh. “That’ll be Steve. Be right back.” With that, he let go of you to grab his cell from the kitchen and you felt like someone had just emptied a bucket of ice water over you and snapped you back to reality. More than that, you did feel cold. Had your body grown used to the heat radiating off him so quickly? Also, and that was the most important: What the fuck did just happen?

Bucky returned about 10 minutes later and found you in almost the same spot where he’d left you, now sitting awkwardly on one of the empty bean bags, desperately trying to regain composure. His heart still fluttered from being so close to you, and as he wanted this day to be anything but awkward, he’d spent a good 7 of those 10 minutes away thinking about how to proceed. In a manner he hoped would come across as relaxed, he sauntered over to the closest bean bag and picked up one the boxes filled with baubles. “Soooo”, why was his voice so squeaky? “let’s get started, shall we?”

He couldn’t see your heart slightly sink in your chest because the magical moment had officially passed of course; he just had eyes for the warm smile you offered him in return. “Sure.” You got up to take hold of one the boxes as well when he remembered something. “Hang on.” You raised your head and could make out something slightly mischievous in his orbs. “I won’t be the only one wearing an ugly Christmas sweater.”

—

4 hours later, any sign of awkwardness or discomfort between the two of you had officially gone to the wind. As instructed, you’d put on the ugliest Christmas sweater you could find (an awful mix of pink and gold in the shape of a Christmas elf with actual bells that jingled whenever you moved), Bucky had put on some music and you’d gone about your business. At some point (probably after your fourth cup of cocoa with rum and Bucky’s third pint of Asgardian mead he’d snatched from Thor’s quarters), you decided to forego any sense of aesthetics and just put up as many ornaments as would fit on the tree. As a result, it now looked as if the slightest gust of wind would make it collapse on the spot, but you two were oddly proud of your work. Taking cocoa and mead with you, you decided to have a small break and moved over to the living room area.

There were a few beats of comfortable silence, Sinatra softly buzzing in the background. Then, out of the blue, Bucky asked you to tell him your favorite joke. You were too tipsy to question how he’d come up with that, so you pondered his request for a moment and then answered. “I hate Russian dolls. They’re so full of themselves.”

Bucky sat up on his spot of the couch and gave you an odd stare that made you wonder whether he’d understood you at all, and then burst out of laughter, almost spilling his drink in the process and making you laugh in return. You’d never really heard his laugh, just the occasional snort when he deemed something worthy of a reaction, but this was a sound made from the gods themselves and you could listen to it all day, every day, for the rest of your life.

Slowly, his fit came down to a low, melodious chuckle. “Honestly doll, sometimes I want to kiss you all over.” “Don’t hold back.”

The words had come out of your mouth before you could stop them. They didn’t remotely sound as teasing or nonchalant as you had meant them to. They sounded sincere, almost desperate. Because they were. And suddenly, as you watched Bucky’s expression falter, you felt remarkably sober again. Oh god.

Part 2

Carefully, Bucky stood up, moved over and sat down next to you. “Are you serious about this, (Y/N)?”

Heat crept up your skin, all the way from the swells of your breasts to your ears. You’d honestly never felt that put on the spot. Unable to answer, your gaze fixed the carpet, hoping that if you stared long enough, maybe it would do you a favor and swallow you whole. Bucky was now less than inch from you, close enough for you to smell his shampoo, his breath fanning the side of your face, making things only worse for you. Your heart sank deeper and deeper until you could feel it in your stomach, heavy like a rock. This day had been going so well. Why did you have to ruin it with your stupid inebriated brain? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And then you felt his flesh hand cup your face, softly turning your head to meet his eyes. Those beautiful, cerulean eyes. “Because I’d really, really like to kiss you.” Frowning, you shook your head, your synapses refusing to process that bit of information. You swallowed several times before you found your voice again. “Please don’t mess with me, Bucky”, you heard yourself whisper, at which Bucky violently shook his head. “I promise.” And then his lips were on yours and you kissed him back.

It started out innocently enough, slow, tentative kisses, allowing the other to back out in case they changed their mind. Only that he didn’t back out like you thought he would. And you didn’t back out like he thought you would. Realizing how effortlessly your mouths pressed against each other, how right his lips felt on yours, you gradually grew bolder. You turned slightly to mirror his position and your hands went up to his face, feeling the stubble on his chin and jaw before carding through the silky strands of his locks at the back of his neck. One hand in his hair, you let the other explore more of his body as you felt up his biceps, his back, his chest abs. A content hum escaped his throat which only spurred you on. One hand in his hair and one bunching up the fabric covering his chest, you pressed yourself closer to him. His grip on your face tightened as he opened his mouth and his tongue caressed your bottom lip. Greedily, you welcomed him in your mouth and let out a deep sigh as your tongues met for the first time and the two of you fought for dominance over the other.

Bucky’s hands wandered down your body to the hem of your shirt and his lips soon followed suit. You let out a whimper when he sucked at the sensitive skin of your pulse point, determined to mark you. You’d never really liked hickeys, but this was different. You wanted everyone to see, see what had happened between the two of you. While your hands tangled in his hair, his slowly made their way under the fabric of your sweater, exploring the soft skin of your hips, your waist, your belly, cool on your right side, burning on your left.

It was so much more than you’d ever dreamed of, almost too much to bear, and yet his touches only made you more impatient, more needy, more desperate to have him. “Bucky…” It was barely more than a sigh, but Bucky’s head shot up at the sound and his eyes met yours. “What’s it, sweetheart? Talk to me” You took a moment to take him in, tracing his glistening bottom lip with your thumb. “I need you.” Bucky pressed his forehead against yours. “I need you too, doll. So much. That’s why I’m so scared of messing up with you.” You took his face in your hands again and pressed a kiss to his forehead, his eyes closing at the sensation. “There’s no way in hell you can mess up with me, James. Don’t hold back. Take me.” Bucky let out a shuddering breath. “Please.”

It was like a switch had been flicked. Bucky leapt forward and buried you under his weight, making you sink into the soft cushions. Kissing you even more passionately than before, he positioned himself between your legs. The bulge in his pants now clearly noticeable, he started grinding down on you and the friction made you pool with lust. You let out an audible groan that made Bucky’s cock twitch. Steadying himself with his metal hand, he clumsily lifted your shirt up your body with his right hand so the fabric bunched up over your breasts. Eager to assist, you arched your back to unclasp your bra and pulled it up as well. Bucky’s hand immediately reached out to palm the newly exposed skin while his tongue darted out to massage your already swollen buds. He went from left to right and right to left, making you stick your chest out as much as you could, before suddenly taking one nipple into his mouth and sucking greedily on it. You cried out in pleasure and his dark eyes went to scan your face, lip drawn in between your teeth, eyes pressed shut, your breathing getting heavier by the minute. Too mesmerized by the sight of you, he didn’t notice your hand that wasn’t tangled in his hair move from his back to the front of his pants until you massaged his erection through the fabric, running your palm up and down his impressive bulge. He let go of your breast to take a deep breath and used his right hand to feverishly rub your clothed pussy, causing you to yelp in surprise. Your hand gripped his wrist, urging him to slow down. “Don’t want to finish off like that. Need you inside me.”

Bucky’s answer was an appreciative growl. He stood up, freeing himself first from the sweater that was becoming increasingly hot and then from his jeans and boxers. His size was impressive, the tip swollen and glistening with pre cum and you couldn’t help but rub your thighs together in anticipation.

“Uh-uh. Let me take care of that sweetheart.” His voice was now a husky whisper that sent shivers down your spine. Agonizingly slow, he unbuttoned your pants and pulled them off you, groaning when he got a glimpse of your drenched panties. Sitting back on his haunches, he pushed your knees apart and ran his palms up the inside of your thighs, then softly ghosted over the purple cotton, before hooking his thumbs under the waistband. “Show me your pretty pussy, (Y/N).” In one swift motion, the piece of clothing was gone, and Bucky let out a low hiss at the sight of your wet folds. “Fuck, doll. You’re ven more beautiful than I imagined.” You were at a complete loss for words, but Bucky didn’t give you time to respond anyway. He took a hold of his erection and coated in in your juices, your overstimulated body jumping at the sensation, before locking eyes with you and carefully sliding his tip inside you. You both let out a needy whimper when he filled you up, going deeper and deeper, your pussy obediently swallowing him, until he bottomed out.

Bucky was still on his haunches, giving you time to adjust to him, intertwining his fingers with yours. “You okay?” You nodded. “You can move.” Bucky started thrusting in and out of you, accelerating his pace when it became obvious that you were in as much pleasure as he. Soon, he was mercilessly fucking you into the couch, snapping his hips forward and pulling out until just the tip remained inside you, and then repeating his actions, over and over and over again. When he used his metal hand to draw circles on your clit, you were a whimpering mess beneath him, uttering incoherent curses and multiple variations of his name. You felt the familiar sensation build up in your gut and squeezed his hand to hold off, but he wasn’t having it, only increasing his efforts. With a muffled scream, you came all over his dick, your whole body shaking from the intensity of it. The sight of you coming undone combined with your cunt convulsing around his dick pushed Bucky over the edge as well and his thrusts became sloppier as he painted your walls with his seed and then collapsed on top of you, both of you panting and bathed in sweat.

—

Your second time together was slow and gentle, taking all the time you now knew you had, making sure to leave no inch of your lover’s body unattended to. The third time was rough again, Bucky fucking you against the shower tiles, cold water pouring down on you because you’d accidentally changed the setting when Bucky had lifted you and neither of you had noticed. The times that followed took place in various places of the Tower; the pool table where Bucky had found you the day before, the kitchen island, Sam’s bed (which seemed to give him a particular kind of satisfaction), in several of Tony’s cars, at one of the panorama windows, your front against the shining outline of the city (and the fake ice crystals) while Bucky took you from behind, all the while whispering sinful things to you that drove you insane, how often he’d sat in his room fucking his fist to your image, your plump lips that were just made for his cock, your curves that made your entire body jiggle when he drove into you, that beautiful ass of yours, imagining your sweet voice begging him to make you feel good. After all, it appeared he’d thought about you as often as you had about him.

—

You woke up to a rose-tainted sky and soft kisses peppered across the back of your neck, your shoulders and along your spine. You giggled into your pillow. Bucky’s strands brushing your bare skin gave you a tickling sensation. “You’re up early.” Bucky hummed into the crook of your neck, making your skin vibrate. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about before heading out for my run.” You turned around to face him, his hair tousled, eyes still glossed over from sleep. Nobody should be allowed to look that gorgeous. “What is it?”

“Steve and Wilson will be back from their trip in a few hours and they will pester me about my crush on you and whether I’ve finally done something about it.” He rolled his eyes and your smile grew wider. “What are you going to tell them?” Bucky reached for your hand and gently squeezed it. “I’d like to tell them that I asked you out on a date and that you agreed, but that wouldn’t be entirely true, would it?” You quirked an eyebrow. “So you’re asking me for permission to lie to your best friend?” Bucky laughed at that, that kind of laugh that made his eyes crinkle. “Y/N, would you like to go out on a date with me?”

You tilted your head to the side. “Depends. Does that mean we’re gonna have to sleep in separate beds again?” Bucky raised your hand to his mouth and softly kissed your knuckles, then he stretched his head and planted a kiss on your forehead. “No way. What do you say?”

“Yes.”

[milliethekitty27-writing]

Alfred In October

On the last day of September, every single nation who is friends with Alfred on any social media platform blocks him without hesitation. 

Yes, even his brother. 

You may be wondering why, because Alfred’s social media is always a train wreck, but the answer is plain and simple.

Alfred spends all of October screaming about Halloween. 

The first day is endless spooky scary skeleton memes. These will continue throughout the month, but they’re particularly prevalent on the first day. Matthew sends him All I Want For Christmas links he disguises as other things, rick-rolling but with Mariah Carrey. Alfred usually ends up calling his brother yelling that it’s too early. Jett’s started doing it too and Alfred’s only a little salty.

The first weekend is decorating the house - he covers it in fake spiderwebs, a big blow up cat that moves its head, and there are orange lights everywhere. He hangs ghosts in the tree and gets fake red eyes that glow to shove into bushes.

On the second weekend, he gets anyone who comes to visit (sometimes he goes alone, but often Matt or Jett or Kiku or one of his friends will come by because as irritating as Alfred’s love for October may be, it is a lot of fun) to go with him to a haunted house. They leave shaking and laughing and making fun of each other and get milkshakes, and the next day they go to a huge farmers market to pick out the best produce for a big holiday feast (Matthew, without fail, teases him about when Thanksgiving is, like the coward doesn’t come over for Thanksgiving to stuff himself full of pie and turkey and fall asleep watching football with him. They fight, but they do get along rather well. Hockey is the biggest danger) 

His halloween party often happens that second weekend, because he likes to have the next two weeks to fully prepare. It happens Saturday night, after his haunted house, so he can shop in the morning and make those who came for the House help him clean up his house. He makes pumpkin desserts and gets out his fog machine, invites his friends from all around the world. Sometimes it’s a small party, sometimes half of the world is there (literally) Everyone dresses up and there’s games and movies and music and it’s a blast. He spends the entire week cleaning up, and the third weekend is quiet because he’s still recovering. 

He does his pumpkins on the third weekend, as close to Halloween as he can spare to keep them in the best shape. He posts pictures of the process to Instagram. Pumpkin carving is a very serious time because he wants it to be just right. He blasts reruns of Halloween Wars and eats hershey bars as he scrolls through pinterest looking for ideas. He buys his pumpkins that weekend, usually at some local farm that sells apple cider. He’ll walk around for hours doing corn mazes with apple cider in hand, picking out the very best pumpkins. He cuts at the bottom and scoops out the guts, sometimes calling Matthew to see what he’s doing (Matthew likes Halloween too, don’t get me wrong, but Alfred goes batshit) Alfred is one of those pumpkin carvers who can get the flash scraped down so it glows and has texture. He uses a real candle because he can and sprinkles cinnamon inside, he covers it with lemon to try to keep it preserved, and he places it outside, maybe on his porch or next to the cat. 

Alfred goes ham on the candy. He gets the big candy bars, the good stuff, and for the kids who can’t have the sweets he gets those Japanese erasers you can pull apart or really neat pens. He stocks up good (he’ll eat it or give it away if not enough kids come) Some years he makes caramel apples for the kids who are really brave and are willing to give him a song or a dance, or just for himself because they’re delicious.

The only thing he doesn’t do in October is the costume. He’s had that ready for months. Some years he does superheroes but other years he just goes more generic. There was one year he went as a pirate; Arthur spat out his tea and lectured him about proper boots and all that. (this year he was going to do a zombie of some kind, but he changed his mind since there had been a lot of death and he needed a break) He dresses up as a cowboy instead, complete with spurs and a lasso at his hip, and he prepares his best Western accent. 

He loves to stay by the door and see the kids costumes. He loves watching children of all ages running up and down the path, hooting and hollering, getting scared by the neighbors (one of whom is almost as bad as Alfred, but likes to up the scare-antics). He sees children who’ve come to his house for ages slowly growing up, and he gets to dunk loads of candy into their bags while Hocus Pocus blasts in the background. 

He runs his mini candy store from five-thirty until eight-thirty, when most kids start going to bed. Then he leaves the candy bowl outside for the last stragglers, turns out the light at nine, and watches scary movies. 

On the years when Matt visits (he was supposed to this year, but everyone was sick and they agreed they’d make it even grander next year) they dress up in twin costumes (they were tentatively thinking Thing One and Thing Two, and if they could get Francis or Arthur to come they were going to make them be the Cat in the Hat) and stay up until five in the morning screaming at ghosts and shoveling popcorn into their mouths. For this year, though, Alfred is alone, and he’s going to enjoy every second of pumpkin spice, spooky ghosts, and the autumn rainbow of the leaves as they prepare for cold weather. He’ll sip his apple cider and watch Halloween Wars and enjoy irritating everyone by emailing them about skeleton wars. 

Oh yes.

Alfred loves Halloween. 

----

Thank you for reading!

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year and I love the fall, so I like to think that Alfred appreciates it too. I’m really sad that I won’t be home to do it (my neighborhood is the BEST trick-or-treating spot) and I hope things clear up enough that kids can dress up and enjoy it. I just think it’s neat, you know.

I am in school now and having to balance work, so I don’t know how consistent I’ll be with the writing (inspiration was a long time coming for this one, thank goodness for the month shift) Words are hard, man. Here’s hoping October is a gentle month of 2020!

[lightthewayofficial]

Chapter One: Atticus

The Parish family have been in the service of the Klaus Foundation since 1853. Queen Victoria and King Albert, both partial to a Christmas celebration, had countless serving staff to make their holiday as spectacular as possible, William Parish being amongst them. Bill had shown a particularly commendable demonstration of seasonal good-will when he’d saved Queen Vicky from being set alight by one of the Christmas tree candles. Saving the British Monarchy from being burned alive was very much considered in line with the Christmas spirit, and he was thus knighted by the reigning Santa Clause (at the time, this was Georg Klaus II). 

Parish continued to serve the British Royal Family into his old age. Whilst his children did not receive work within the palace, they were offered a coveted place at the Klaus dinner table and an invite to the Boxing Day Ball every year. After Bill’s daughter, Molly, managed to quickly avert a Christmas pudding related crisis- rather too much brandy, rather a lot of bushy beard in proximity of the pudding’s flame- it made sense for Georg II to employ the Parishes permanently. The Klaus Foundations’ fire-putter-outers. Today, the most recent generation of Parishes has recently hung up his fire hose, though, disappointingly, he didn’t get much of an opportunity to use it. 

His son, Atticus Parish, is currently stepping off the District Line at High Street Kensington to meet his girlfriend, Saskia Harper-Smith. He is ready for a cigarette after a long day of photocopying, and he’s absolutely bloody starving, because a Pret-a-Manger crayfish salad may be delicious but it certainly isn’t filling.

I am that man. Enough of the pretentious third person- I am Atticus Parish. And if I have to spend one more day at that Advertising company, I may just start tearing the photocopy machine apart bit by bit, and throw all the pieces across the office. I feel like I could easily revert back to my caveman days if I slip, even just a little. One more ‘are you busy, Atticus? Could I trouble you to print 300 of these flyers?’ and I’ll be a monkey flinging poo at the zoo enclosure window. 

Usually, the Christmas spirit is enough to pick me right back up. These past few weeks, I’ve seen Kensington High Street putting up its lights, colouring its shop windows with stockings and wrapping paper, litter the streets with after-school and after-work shoppers. It’s nice. I can smell cinnamon when I walk past Starbucks. I can wrap my scarf closer around my neck and sink into that seasonal feeling that usually has butterflies fluttering in my belly. Typically, I’m that person who’s sickeningly festive and starts playing Michael Buble in October. 

What can I say? It runs in my family. 

But there’s something different this year. And the year before that. And before that. Really, it’s since I left University. It’s like, whatever little switch that I have in my brain that automatically flicks on when 1st December rolls by has gone faulty. The fuse has tripped and I can’t turn it back on. These past few years I’ve been fumbling in the boiler room cupboard searching for the bloody thing with a little torch, and I just can’t find it. 

Actually, I don’t think that feeling is just reserved for my missing Christmas Spirit. This disorientation has been a general feeling for a while. Sometimes, it seems like every single twenty-something year old feels the same. 

An ambulance screams down the High Street. Boys in their school uniforms trapse out of Sports Direct, unable to afford any of the shoes they’ve had their eyes on all year. I turn left and step in a puddle that smells suspiciously of beer and piss. That’s just the fragrance of London. 

I put in the keycode for Saskia’s apartment building, opposite the Indian Restaurant that I always have to go to to pick up the food because Saskia’s called shotgun. I take the steps one by one, very slowly, and I open the flat door with my key. 

Saskia is home. This is unusual. She sits on the dogleg sofa with her tight-clad feet tucked under her bum. She extends a cigarette towards me before I even get to ask her how her day was. 

I take the cigarette. She’s staring at the page of her book. “How was your day?” I manage to ask. 

“Oh,” she sighs, in the way that says, oh, you know. Shit as usual. “Wine’s open on the counter.” “Brilliant.” I see the bottle of Campo Vecchio open on the black, marble top counter. I walk past Saskia’s abandoned Leboutins, towards the bedroom. 

I leave the door open behind me as I remove a suitcase from our shared wardrobe and begin to throw in random pairs of underwear. 

I hear movement on the sofa.

“What are you doing?” she asks, as if she already knows. 

“I’m going to The North Pole,” I reply, a bit giddily. 

“Don’t be daft.” I can smell her cigarette smoke, and it reminds me that I haven’t lit mine. I take a lighter from my jacket pocket and light the cigarette dangling between my chapped lips.  “You haven’t told them you’re coming.”

I pause, pyjama bottoms in hand. “That’s true. I haven’t been back in about fifteen years. It’d be rude to turn up unannounced, wouldn’t it?” “It’s less that,” Saskia calls casually. “I’m sure they’ll be slobbering all over a Parish, back in the good old NP. It’s more that you might not have a job waiting for you there.” My packing slows as I begin to fold my pyjamas carefully. I tap my cigarette on the closest mug; the ash was very close to burning a small hole through my tartan PJs. 

“Ever sensible. What would I do without you, Sas.” “Well, you’d better start thinking up the answer to that fast. Pole’s a long way away, sweet.”

I come to a stop then. Slowly turning around, I measure the view of my girlfriend, sat in her minimalist living room with smoke drifting around her straightened, dark-brown hair. She’s still burrowed in her book. 

“I’m sorry, Sas.”

That makes her put down her book, looking at me over the back of the sofa with a frown. “What on Earth are you apologising for, Atticus? You and I both know we don’t love each other that way.” At this point, Saskia’s blunt delivery shouldn’t come as a shock. It does, even now, even after knowing her for five years. “I know. I mean. We’ve spoken about it. But that doesn’t make it less rubbish that I’m up and leaving.”

She turns back to her book. 

“I’d rather you’d go if it’s your gut instinct, Attie. Your gut’s always been a good guide.”

“Only when you need help choosing from the takeaway menu.” She doesn’t laugh. I laugh to myself a little, though. 

“What made you decide this now?” she continues. “You could pop back to your apartment and get some proper clothes. You haven’t left an awful lot here.” “It just struck me as I was walking through High Street Ken.” “Ah. The horrible commercial aspect of it all?” I’m on hands and knees, rummaging under Saskia’s bed. She has some of those amazing vacuum pack things with a few of my winter jumpers in. I pull one of the packs out and it’s rock hard, like a sachet of compressed cocoa powder. 

“Sort of,” I say, voice coming out strained as I try and open the vacuum nozzle. “It’s just-” I pop the nozzle open, and it wheezes like an air mattress. “All the stuff in the news. The horrible political situation. Ice caps melting.” “Mmm.” “And what people need most is hope, a light to guide them, and instead it’s iPhones and Build-a-Bears.” “I like iPhones.” “And I like Build-a-Bears,” I continue, opening the vacuum bag and finding my warmest Edinburgh Woolen Mill knitted item. I have a fair few. “I’m not diminishing the power of a good present, of those little gestures. Of those things in life that make you happy. But the world is just so much more complex than our parents ever made it out to be, and now-”

There’s a thud from the apartment upstairs. The neighbours’ toddler has just started walking, and she keeps bumping into things. The comes a shrill cry as she registers that she’s fallen over. 

“Now,” I continue, “even when there’s good intentions behind it, even when these material things are helpful or fun or good, or whatever, it’s hard to forget that it’s probably been made in some sweatshop. Or that the company that came up with it isn’t paying any taxes- or it’s burning down the Amazon Rainforest. Or that one action figure is wrapped up in layers of pointless plastic packaging.”

A deep breath. And then I fold a second jumper and put it in the suitcase.

“Oh. Sorry- mind if I steal your suitcase, Sas?” “No. Has all of this only just occurred to you? And when did you become such a pessimist, Atticus Parish? I’ve never known you to talk like this, and quite frankly it’s terrifying.” I’m searching through my shirts. Why don’t I own any turtlenecks? “I know, it really is terrifying.” “Does this mean that you’re officially pursuing the Parish family business at Klaus Foundation, then?” “I suppose it does.” I zip up the suitcase.

“I’m.” There’s a pause, and I hear here close her book whilst I’m zipping. “I’m happy for you, Atticus. It’s always mattered to you, spreading hope and joy and all those sorts of things. Much more of a natural at Christmas spirit than me.” I’ve forgotten my toothbrush. My voice echoes in the bathroom as I say, “How would you know? You could be a natural. You’re a Smith who’s never wielded a blacksmith’s hammer before. Have you ever wielded a hammer, Saskia Harper-Smith?”

“No, and I daresay I never will.”

I pull the heavy suitcase off the bed- I packed too many shoes, but never mind- and I suddenly catch my reflection in the full-length mirror. Red curls getting too long, nose still red from the cold outside. Looking more energetic than I have in a long time- which is only, really, the sort of thing you notice when you’ve been particularly sluggish for a long time. Suddenly, I feel like I don’t have the time to stop and think about all of this. 

The sound of the suitcase rolling on the polished concrete floor is horribly loud. Saskia is standing, cigarette put out, only halfway finished. Her large eyes look suddenly larger and more childlike than they ever have before. 

“Look after yourself, thank you,” she demands.

“Of course, darling.” I bring her into a hug. She doesn’t typically like them, but I do, and she acquiesces today. I feel her skinny hand pat me awkwardly between the shoulder blades. 

“I don’t really know what I’m doing,” I mumble into the material of her cardigan. 

There’s barely a beat’s hesitation before she replies, “Yes you do.”

✨✨✨✨

It’s been a very long time since I’ve been on the boat to Håperg. 

This close to Christmas, it’s frankly irresponsible that I’m on this boat close to the darkest, coldest time of the year- and it’s remarkably lucky that these kind people have offered to take me. But here I am, and here they are, and I’ve done my best to offer them some of my tea from my flask as a thank you but they just smile and shake their heads politely. 

Seagulls screech overhead. I’m always amazed by how far-out seagulls fly- I don’t know enough about their eating habits to understand what they’re doing here. They’re probably thinking the same of me. The water occasionally splashes over the side, though the current isn’t that bad. It’s the ice that’s the problem, and I can’t shake off that unsettling feeling that we’ll just be the miniature version of The Titanic and end up sinking out here. When I came out here as a child, I didn’t really think about my own mortality so much. Now, I’m looking around and all I see is the receding shoreline of Spitsbergen and the sun failing to reach the horizon, that weak, pinkish glow dusting the clouds. It’s a bit terrifying.  

It’s perfect here.

I remember how much I loved it the first time, when I was six; the second time when I was ten. My lasting memory of both visits is the taste of chocolate and the cold scraping up my lungs. I loved it here, I loved seeing where my father came to work four months of the year. I won’t ever fully understand why he tried to put me off it, and I won’t understand how he almost succeeded. 

I close my eyes and breath in, and let the gentle rock of the boat silence my thoughts. The old engine roars and the seagulls continue to sing. I watch the ripples in the water, the pink and the stars reflected in the mirror sea-surface. 

It takes a good couple more hours for the boat to moor. The ocean is eerily still, the wind whistling in a high-pitched shriek. It picks up the ice in the air and whisks it around. It’s pitch-black out here now, as it will be for the next few months of the year. And this would be a frightening place, if not for the glittering lights of Håperg in the distance. Like fallen stars on the horizon. It’s just as welcoming as I remember it, an atmosphere of comfort and safety that could almost make you forget how unbelievably cold it is. And how many days it’s taken to get this far from London. 

The two men who’ve brought me here from Spitsbergen busy themselves with docking safely. One of them takes my suitcase, completely ignoring my inarticulate complaints- complaints that are essentially just me waving my hands about uselessly. The other hums something tunelessly to himself, unknotting some rope and, amazingly, pulling away his fur-lined hood. These men are made of stronger stuff than me. 

The step from the boat to the ice is high. The ice is slippery. I wobble in my descent and make a bit of a tit of myself, but that’s to be expected. 

“First time, yes?” The man with my suitcase asks. I feel terrible, I had asked for his name, but he didn’t give it and I’m too awkward to ask again. 

“Yes. Wait, no, sorry. This is my third time. But, the first in a very long time. I came as a child.” Through the flickering whisps of fur, I see the wincing expression of a young man. “Good. You remember the cold.” “Oh yes, hard to forget,” I call out over the wind. 

We walk for a minute or two through the snow- no idea where- and I learn that his name is Jakob. He learns my name. He asks whether I’m expected at Klaus Lodge, and I say no. His jovial laugh makes me wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake. How incredibly presumptuous I’ve been, just turning up like this. 

Jakob comes to a stop by a shed and some parked sleds. The poor sod still has Saskia’s bright pink suitcase in his hand as he whistles loudly with the other, thumb and forefinger in his mouth. At first, I have no idea what he’s trying to summon. It’s dark and the flakes of ice in the air make it hard to see anything except for Håperg’s distant lights. But then, I see them. They bound over and I can hear their excited yelps. 

“Huskies!” I cry like a boy.

My new friend laughs. “You like dogs, I hope.” “I love them.”

I watch them run over, though I have no idea where from. There’s eight of them, and the front two are grinning with their tongues hanging out and breath blooming in clouds. There’s snow spraying around them like they’re jumping in puddles. And honestly, I haven’t felt such childlike joy in years. 

They crash to halt and run circles around us, yelping in excited, high-pitched cries as they jump up at Jakob. He pays them no attention, walking soberly towards the sled and expecting them to follow, which they do. They’ve been trained well, even if huskies tend to be a little bit bonkers. That much I remember. One of the front runners is wagging his tail so hard the whole back half of his body is swinging from side to side. 

“Blåbær will take you there.”

I run my gloved fingers through the frontrunner’s fur. He turns to nip playfully at me, perhaps also a bit defensively, before sniffing my hand and rubbing his face on my shoes. “I take it you’re Blåbær,” I call out to the dog over the roar of the wind. 

“He is best.”

I couldn’t agree more. 

Jakob loads me and my silly suitcase onto the sled so that we’re lying down in front of the handle and reigns. It makes me feel like a piece of luggage. And then I watch him hook up all the huskies, standing diligently in line and occasionally chattering to each other. And then I feel him take his stand at the helm. 

And then we’re off, and I get just the smallest amount of whiplash from the sudden start. I also get a faceful of snow from the huskies’ paws. It’s in my eye, which hurts a lot, and it melts in my mouth, too. I cling onto the suitcase. The mountains start to take shape through the flurry. I look up- the stars are watching our journey to Håperg. And- my God. The Northern Lights. They’re doing a Mexican wave above our heads in greens and yellows and blues, like an 80s synth dream. 

Something about it all has my heart radiating, making ripples of rightness through my chest. It has taken me too long to come here. 

At least I’m here now.

[ronancegayass]

Flower Asks: all of them >:3€ (forgive me)

(this is so many omg but I’ll allow it only bc i love u)

Alisons: Sexuality? 

     Gay af (ace lesbean)

Amaranth: Pronouns/Gender?

     Waman (she/they)

Amaryllis: Birthday?

     November 2nd

Anemone: Favorite flower?

     Funnily enough anemones are one of my favs but i think my top favs are chrysanthemums and morning glories but I really love many flowers and flowers in general

Angelonia: Favorite t.v. show?

     As of right now, stranger things duh

Arum-Lily: What’s the farthest you’d go for a stranger?

     Like favors or? I mean I really do try to be a kind and helpful person but if I don’t know somebody or haven’t at least seen them a couple times before I usually don’t do much bc of anxiety 

Aster: What’s one of your favorite quotes?

     "The extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are.” Lara Croft mostly bc I cant think of anything else right now and that stuck with me

Aubrieta: Favorite drink?

     Like a really good cup of black tea with cream and sugar or sweet tea

Baby’s Breath: Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

     Never been kissed before but I definitely have someone in mind I would kiss ;3

Balsam Fir: Have you ever been in love?

     Hell yeah I am right now and I don’t think I ever have been before now

Baneberries: Favorite song?

     Oh hard question... currently really digging We Fell In Love in October by Girl in Red 

Basket of Gold: Describe your family.

     My family is supportive (for the most part) and very loving, even if they express love in weird ways sometimes. We also like to joke around a lot and make fun of each other but in a good way? Like we all have a good time mostly and I get along better with everyone since I started college

Beebalm: Do you have a best friend? Who is it?

     My girlfriend is my best friend uwu I also have a lot of good friends but yeah

Begonia: Favorite color?

     Purble but specifically like a pastel purple and purples that lean more towards blue than pink

Bellflower: Favorite animal?

     Lynx! I love so many animals tho and I also like many cats and domestic cats in general

Bergenia: Are you a morning or night person?

     Night!

Black-Eyed Susan: If you could be any animal for a day, what would it be?

     Probably would love to just be a loved house cat who gets to lay in front of the fire all day or a lynx bc i love them

Bloodroots: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

     A veterinarian (or a special agent lmao)! I also still plan on being a vet tho even tho I get discouraged at least once a month 

Bluemink: What are your thoughts on children?

     I mean I like kids and I was a camp counselor for a summer, but I dont really want any of my own

Blazing Stars: What are you afraid of? Is there a reason why?

     Oh god so many things.. Biggest thing would maybe be death/dying? Like if i think about it too much like the possibility of there just being nothing after death freaks me out. That and throwing up/nausea 

Borage: Give a random fact about your childhood.

     I played soccer and then I was a competitive swimmer so i was kind of an athlete? even tho i hated sports

Bugleherb: How would you spend your last day on Earth?  

     I think I would like to go to waffle house, have the perfect cup of tea, spend lots of time with my loved ones and pet my kitties, play video games with my gf, and sit under a tree in the mountains preferably on a warmer day in the fall and watch the sunset 

Buttercup: Relationship Status?

     Very happily taken

Camelia: If you could visit anywhere, where would you want to go?

     Always wanted to visit Norway

Candytufts: When do you feel most loved?

      Really big long hugs, good morning or goodnight messages, and I also really love cards 

Canna: Do you have any tattoos?  

     I have 6 

Canterbury Bells: Do you have any piercings?

     Yup! I have an industrial, orbital, and 3 earlobe piercings   

California Poppy: Height?  

     5′2 or maybe a little less

Cardinal Flower: Do you believe in ghosts?

     Yeah I think so, but I do also get freaked out easily lmao

Carnation: What are you currently wearing? 

     Red flannel, jeans, fuzzy socks, and big dyke boots  

Catnip: Have you ever slept with a nightlight?

     Yeah I did for a long time and I still sometimes sleep with one or like a bathroom light on if Im sleeping by myself in a new place

Chives: Who was the last person you hugged?  

     Either my mom or my dad I dont remember technically who was last bc my parents are visiting me at college

Chrysanthemum: Who’s the last person you kissed?

     Again, never kissed or been kissed! but maybe soon... :0

Cock’s Comb: Favorite font?

     Font? I like the font in Night in the Woods?

Columbine: Are you tired?

     Pretty much always either sleepy or tired lol

Common Boneset: What are you looking forward to?

     Christmas, getting to see my gf again, and Magfest!

Coneflower: Dream job?

     Like a veterinarian but having my own practice and also being able to take in injured wildlife if possible

Crane’s-Bill: Introvert or extrovert?

     Introvert for sure

Crocus: Have you ever been in love?

     Oh repeat question, hell yes

Crown Imperial: What’s the farthest you would go for someone you care about?

     Depends what it is but I would go pretty far for somebody I care about and Im also a crazy person and would drive/travel no matter what distance for someone I love

Cyclamen: Did you have a favorite stuffed animal as a child? What was it?

     Yup! I had a ballerina bunny, named Bunny because I was very creative and I still have her

Daffodil: What’s your zodiac sign?

     Scorpio

Dahlia: Have you done anything worth remembering?

     I think so? I did a lot of cool stuff with my GS troop like our bronze award project and going ziplining and to sliding rock. 

Daisy: What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?

     My GS gold award for sure, that shit was hard work and stressful af

Daylily: What would you do if your parents didn’t like your partner(s)?  

     Umm??? I would tell my dad to eat shit and die and I cant imagine my mom being anything but sweet and supportive so I dont even know

Dendrobium: Who is the last person that you said “I love you” to?

     You! This morning uwu

False Goat’s Beard: What is something you are good at?

     uhh Im pretty good at making sense of stuff in my science labs and reasoning and im sometimes good at art? I feel like I do traditional better but Im getting better at digital

Foxgloves: What’s something you’re bad at?

     bad at not being impulsive sometimes and bad at dead by daylight 

Freesia: What are three good things that have happened in the past month?

     a little over a month but officially got a girlfriend who i love very much, my gf came down to visit and we got to chill on the mountains together, and I had a pretty nice birthday 

Garden Cosmos: How was your day today?

     Good! Got breakfast at a diner with my parents and got coffee and a donut at my fav coffee shop so thats all i really need in life tbh 

Gardenia: Are you happy with where you’re at in your life?

     Yeah Im happy even tho Im stressed with school at times 

Gladiolus: What is something you hope to do in the next year or two?

     Get a job after graduation and hopefully get into vet school on the first or second try

Glory-of-the-Snow: What are ten things that make you happy/you’re grateful to have in your life?

     My kitty, mom, wonderful gf, sister, dead by daylight, heated blanket, apartment, waffle house, my sisters kitty, and my dog

Heliotropium: What helps you calm down when you feel stressed?  

     Donuts, coffee or tea, blankets, video games, and loud music

Hellebore: How do you show affection?

     Hmm... I really like to draw art for those i love, tell them how much i love them even though i can be bad with words, and i just try to spend a lot of time with the people I care about no matter what we are doing

Hoary Stock: What are you proudest of?

     uhhh trying to open up more? and Im really proud of my gf 

Hollyhock: Describe your ideal day.

     Going to waffle house. Go to a mountain and hike a little, sit on the top with girlfriend. Admire beauty of mountain countryside. Admire beauty of girlfriend while they admire the beauty of the mountain. Then warm up together with hot chocolate and play video games

Hyacinth: What do you like to do in your free time?  

     I like to doodle and do the arts, play video games, and I like to bake sometimes

Hydrangea: How long have you known your best friend? How did you meet them?

     uuuuuuh I have a good friend I’ve known since kindergarten or first grade when I first moved to where I currently live

Irises: Who can you talk to about (almost) everything?

     My gf uwu and my mem

Laceleaf: How many friends do you have?

     probably like less than 10 

Lantanas: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

     I think its really cute especially when you compliment my laugh

Larkspur: What do you think of yourself?

     ??? I think I am an okay person? And I try to be a good person and be kind and polite to people

Lavender: What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

     Umm... I mean I like that Im kind? and Im not fake and I try to be a good person     

Leather Flower: What’s your least favorite thing about yourself?  

      I hate that I procrastinate and that I can get frustrated easily at myself and at situations like crowds and traffic

Lilac: What’s something you liked to do as a child?

     I liked to play ‘restaurant’ with my sister with our littlest pet shops

Lily: Who was your best friend when you were a kid?

     I had a really great best friend named Rachel :c

Lily of the Incas: What is something you still feel guilty for?

     Losing a lot of friends and for being distant for a long time 

Lily of the Nile: What is something you feel guilty for that you shouldn’t feel guilty about?  

     Cutting off a friend that was bad for my mental health and who didnt treat me well even though we were best friends for a long time 

Lupine: What does your name mean? Why is that your name?

     My name is literally my parents ship name... like they even told me they chose my name by putting their names together lmao but I mean I like my name so i guess its okay..

Marigold: Where did you grow up? Tell us about it.

     Small town in new jersey when I was really, it was nice and family was closer. Then we moved and that was difficult but I ended up adjusting and it was good, had a decent amount of friends and the schools i went to were good

Morning Glory: What was your bedroom like growing up?

     For a long time I shared a room with my sister and we had a bunkbed and I had the top bunk of course, when we moved out of the apartment and into a house I got my own room and it was baby blue only because I told my dad that no, I didnt want a fuckin pink room and that was a whole thing lmao

Mugworts: What was it like for you as a teenager? Did you enjoy your teenage years?  

    It was good? but also sucked a lot. I had a lot of issues with my mental health and struggled for a long while with something. I was bullied and stuff at home wasnt always that great. And i got outed so that was fun. Other than that I enjoyed swimming competitively and I got into art

Norwegian Angelica: Tell us about your mom.

I love my mom!! she is the most Mom mom and is so sweet and always there for me. She helps me out so much with so many things and I just love my mom so much

Onions: Tell about your dad.  

     I mean I love my dad? And hes better than he used to be, but he still doesnt help with shit and irritates me a lot. 

Orchid: Tell about your grandparents.

     I never got to know my grandfather on my moms side bc he passed away a few months before i was born and I sort of knew my grandmother but she lived far away and passed away 10 years ago. I usually see my gramma on my dads side the most and I try to visit often and help her out with stuff and I love her even though she can be a bit... racist and shit.. and I sometimes see my grandpa and step grandma but they can be strict about weird shit and always ask a lot of uncomfortable questions

Pansy: What was your most memorable birthday? What made it be so memorable?

     I dont really do much on my birthdays? Ive had a lot of nice birthdays and it usually involves going out to dinner or having a nice dinner at home and having birthday cake and playing games like jenga or yahtzee.

Peony: What was your first job?

     I did some petsitting for a while but my first real job was being a camp counselor/tower belayer/lifeguard at a girl scout camp

Petunia: If you’re in a relationship, how did you meet your partner(s)?

     Met online after following them for a long time and drawing some arts for them, but didnt really start chatting until stranger things 3 came out bc I saw they had just watched it. Didnt meet irl until fursonacon and I just remember seeing them walking up to my car when I got there and just being like .... oh no.  I had already had a crush but at that point I was just heart eyes      

Pincushion: How do you deal with pain?

     Its a little fucked up but depending on the type of physical pain I like it? Like getting tattoos and stuff.. emotional/mental I just curl up in blankets and listen to sad music lol

Pink: Where is home?

    I feel like I have many homes? I feel really at home in the mountains, at home with my family, and when Im with my girlfriend

Plantain Lilies: If you could go back in time, what is one thing you would stop/change?

     Every event no matter how shitty shaped me into who i am today and Im pretty content and lucky with what I have today so maybe nothing?

Prairie Gentian: Who is someone you look up to? Describe them.

     My GS leader Miss Kristin. So incredibly kind and outgoing and just willing to do whatever she can to help others. Shes so adventurous and outgoing and made my gs troop so amazing. She is such a wonderful lady and shes basically like another mom to me.

Primrose: Describe your ideal life.

     To be with my SO in a nice cabin in the mountains with a nice fireplace. Its cozy and we have pets (especially kitties but also maybe a dog and chickens and such) and life is okay and we’re happy

Rhodendron: What is something you used to believe in as a child?

     God and Santa Claus (i was so heartbroken (over santa not God lmao))

Ricinus: Who’s the most important in your life?

     My girlfriend and my mom

Rose: What’s your favorite sound?

    My gfs voice and their laugh c: and I also really like the sound of thunderstorms and rain

Rosemallows: What’s your favorite memory?

Sage: What’s your least favorite memory?

Snapdragon: At this moment, what do you want?  

     To see my gf again and for winter break to just be here already I am so done with school lol

St. John’s Wort: Is it easy or difficult for you to express how you feel about things?

     Difficult? I try really hard to express how I feel but I usually mess up and I get anxious but I try my best lol

Sunflower: What is something you don’t want to imagine life without?

     Any of my loved ones and my cat 

Sweet Pea: How much sleep did you get last night?

     I wish I got more sleep but it was an okay amount

Tickseed: What’s your main reason to get up every morning?

     Good morning texts from my gf and my gf in general

Touch-Me-Not: How do you feel about your current job?

      I dont currently have a job but I occasionally do art commissions which is usually fun and gives me something to do 

Transvaal Daisy: What’s your favorite item of clothing?

     Any of my flannels and my leather jacket (also not mine but my gfs hoodie they gave to me to borrow)

Tropical White Morning Glory: Describe your aesthetic. 

     mountains, cabins, flowers, fall, flannel, small coffee shops, pastels 

Tulip: What would be the best present to get you?

     Im not one to be picky about gifts? I just love anything that someone put some thought into and thought I would like or reminded them of me but i feel bad if it was something expensive or anything lol

Vervain: What’s stressing you out most right now?

     Final exams and graduation

Wisteria: How many books have you read in the past few months? What were they called?

     0 lmao I used to read a shit ton but Ive been picky about what books I want to read lately 

Wolf’s Bane: Where do you want to be in life this time next year?

    Working towards applying to vet school and maybe thinking about moving out depending on a lot of things.

Yarrow: Do you know what vore is?

     Unfortunately

Zinnia: Give a random fact about yourself.

     I like collecting pins, pennies, and postcards which is funny to me

(So in conclusion,,, I love my gf)

(wow that was long as hell and took forever but done!)

[paharvey99]

No Waitrose October: Days 27-28

Day 27

Who’s staying up for the US election then? I’m so excited about it, I keep checking that 538 website and looking for the latest Pennsylvania polls and trying to work out whether Biden is in a better position than Clinton was four years ago… I mean, all the polls are saying Biden is going to win, if you were looking at it rationally you’d say he was going to win big, but after what happened four years ago I don’t think anyone can look at anything rationally right now. Plus the Republicans are going to do everything they can to steal the election, they’re not even hiding it.

I don’t know anything about US politics the rest of the time, by the way, just around election time. I always wonder if there’s an equivalent set of people in the US when we have a general election; people sitting about in Dallas or Pittsburgh, frantically checking up on the chances of Iain Duncan Smith getting chucked out in Chigwell. I hope so.

I’m not staying up for the election, by the way, I’ve read that there probably isn’t even going to be a result for a few days because of mail-in votes. Although I’ve also read that the Republicans are trying to claim that there has to be a result on the night as a way of trying to get all the mail-in votes chucked out without being counted, as they’re more likely to favour Biden… OH GOD I LOVE ELECTIONS. If I get any more into this election I’m going to start calling the Republicans the GOP and it’s going to get really embarrassing.

I think part of the reason I’m excited about it is because getting rid of Trump would just be a nice thing, wouldn’t it? One less thing to worry about. And it would be nice round about now to have fewer things to worry about. Also, if Trump gets kicked out it’s bad for Boris Johnson, isn’t it? Johnson looks more nakedly awful once you stop being able to look across to America and say, “Well, at least we haven’t got that guy”. He’s a lot more exposed as a total shit if Trump goes. Hopefully that would make a difference on some tiny level.

Anyway, you didn’t come here for ill-informed and badly-reasoned political chat, you came here for… actually, what? Why do you even come here? Why are you reading this? This isn’t worth your time. It’s not enriching your existence. You’re just sitting there on your phone, trying to pretend you’re not addicted to your phone, while reading about me and my inconsequential opinions. Seriously, stop it. Go and talk to your children. Go out for a walk. Give your mum a call. Listen to Big Thief, or Cornershop, or Brahms. Paint. Give your head a treat. Whatever you do, just STOP READING THIS.

…

 …

 …

  Right, now we’ve got rid of the part-timers, let’s get down some hardcore No Waitrose Octobering. Day 27, a Tuesday – a nursery day. The four year-old I live with has been getting much better at getting ready for nursery recently. It could be that the person I live with and I have got better at adapting to her latest software updates; currently, she basically wants to do everything for herself, even if she can’t do it. This makes even the smallest task, such as putting on Fireman Sam in the morning, utterly arduous.

Me: *presses button on remote*

Four year old I live with: I WANTED TO PRESS THE BUTTON

Me: Ok, come here then

FYOILW: Which button is it?

Me: The big button in the middle

FYOILW: *presses wrong button*

Me: No, not that one, this one. *presses button on remote*

FYOILW: I WANTED TO PRESS THE BUTTON

Me: *kicks self*

A pretty hectic day, but all days are pretty hectic at the moment. I’ve got more stuff to do, more meetings to go to, more people to talk to than ever before. Remember the good old days when working from home was openly acknowledged as being a bit of a skive? Feels like we might have changed the dial on that one.

Did the evening nursery run and on the way back decided to nip into M&S Food for a treat. The four year-old I live with loved M&S Food last time we were there, so I thought she’d enjoy it again. We did actually need some stuff as well, don’t worry. We needed milk, and I also had a vague plan to get something fancy for tea, as we didn’t have much in at home. Then it turned out that there wasn’t really anything fancy in M&S Food that I fancied, so I decided to go with the half a packet of bacon in the fridge as the basis of our evening meal. It turned out to be a good decision; I made some tomato, olive, bacon and chilli pasta that was pretty delicious, all told. It’s often the case that meals borne of mild desperation are among the tastiest, no idea why.

Didn’t go to Waitrose.

Day 28

Wednesday, and a new tactic. As you’ll remember, the four year-old I live with is at nursery from 1pm on Wednesdays, so Wednesday morning has become Big Shop Day. Now, the last few weeks have proved that going to the shop in the morning, coming back for lunch for an hour and then hotfooting it out again to nursery is a bit of a scramble, so I decided that today we would try going out to do the Big Shop and just staying out until it was time for nursery, see how that went.

We decided to go to West Hove Sainsburys, to try to buy a swimming costume again. They didn’t have one last week, so I was confident they wouldn’t have one this week, which was exactly what I wanted to happen. The four year-old I live with was confident they would have one this week for some reason, so I decided to let her discover the harsh realities of capitalism the hard way.

Thankfully Sainsburys hadn’t decided to start stocking swimming costumes in the last week and we made it out of the clothes section unburdened by lycra. The four year-old I live with had sensed that she had missed out on a treat though, so was on the lookout for the rest of the shop for something to fill the treat-shaped void. This intensified in the magazine aisle, I have no idea why I went down the magazine aisle, a rookie error. Ignoring the plaintive magazine demands, I hastened to the baking aisle and filled up on vaguely exciting things like sugar and golden syrup.

It was around this point that the four year-old I live with spotted a unicorn. Everything has unicorns on them these days, because four year-olds like them and idiot parents like me will give in and buy them. The thing that I caved in and bought was some kind of unicorn-flavoured Angel Delight. On closer inspection it emerged that it was three different layers of Angel Delight that you had to make separately and assemble in fancy glasses, which sounded like more effort than Angel Delight is worth, but vague nostalgia won out and it went in the trolley.

The four year-old I live with has learned that pretty much everything after the baking aisle in West Hove Sainsburys is as boring as hell, so almost immediately the demands to go and pay started up. Frankly I pretty much agree with her; the beer selection in Sainsburys is the worst of any major supermarket, and the freezer section holds little interest beyond frozen peas and fish fingers, so we went and picked up a sausage roll from the hot food counter for lunch and found a socially-distanced queue to stand in for the till.

Back in the car we ate our lunch despite it only being about 11am. We still had a couple of hours to kill before nursery, so we called Granny for a chat. We told her about the unicorn-flavoured Angel Delight; she’d heard of Angel Delight but never had it. The internet informs me that Angel Delight was invented in 1967, at which point Granny was 45 years old. Of course she’s never had it, it’s still some new-fangled rubbish to her. 

I wonder what I’ll think if I get to the age of 98 and I have some grandchild ringing me up and telling me they’ve just bought some Vegan Magnums or something. I think I’ll be okay with it, all told.

After the phone call we still had a bit of time to fill, so I had a look on the map on my phone to see if there was a nearby park we could have a look at. There seemed to be something called Hangleton Park, which looked quite big, so we went there. The park itself did indeed turn out to be quite big, a long narrowish stretch of grass with nothing on it other than a couple of benches and a few trees in each corner. Not exactly what I was after, but I had packed a ball, so I could work with it. We ran about and chased a ball and pretended to be monsters until it was time to go to nursery, at which point I went home and did a load of work in the afternoon.

After the evening nursery run and assorted malarkey, I made a chicken for tea. I’d been reading Nigella’s Christmas book where she gives a recipe for fancy roast potatoes, so I decided to try them out. Usually I just shove the potatoes in round the chicken, but for these I parboiled them first, coated them in newly-purchased semolina and tipped them into hot fat on their own baking tray. They were perfect, crispy and crunchy coating around a fluffy interior. They were almost too good, really, I was a bit suspicious of them. I asked the person I live with what she thought of them, she said she prefers her roast potatoes gloopy and I needn’t have bothered trying anything fancy.

Probably won’t be bothering doing that again. Also, I now need to find something to do with the rest of the packet of semolina.

Didn’t go to Waitrose.

[adtwixt]

Adtwixt - News: 75 Brilliant Crafts to Make and Sell

Start selling what you make with these easy crafts to make and sell. Looking for creative ways to make some extra cash this year? Try these quick and easy DIY projects to have some fun and make extra money from home at the same time. What better a creative way to make extra money than by selling some easy DIY ideas you made? When I was looking for stuff to make and sell online, things to sell on Etsy and at craft fairs, I made this list. I wanted to share it with you since I learned quite a bit about what to make and sell online. I found a little something for everyone, too DIY gifts, jewelry, wall art, home decor, pillows, coasters, bags and clocks. Whether you are just starting out trying to sell things or are already an expert and power seller on Ebay, you are sure to find a few new cool ideas for quick crafts to make and sell. Sewing projects, painting projects, inexpensive crafts you can make from things you buy at the dollar stores, and my favorite kind- projects from reclaimed wood.

If you are serious about starting your own craft business, dont stop at these 75 ideas, either. For beginners, you should check out our list of easy crafts to make and sell, and for Etsy specific top picks, our crafts to Make and Sell on Etsy. Want more cool ideas for crafts to make and sell? Our list of 75 top selling DIY crafts was so popular, we made another one for you guys here: 75 More Brilliant Crafts to Make and Sell

What is the best DIY project to make and sell?

Well, that depends on what the top sellers are for the season and the year of course, but also what you love to do. One of the great things about crafting to make some extra money is that you get to work while doing what you enjoy.

Love to sew?

Check out the super popular list here of sewing crafts to make and sell and even more sewing crafts to make and sell. Many of these cool DIY sewing ideas are made from fabric scraps, so they cost next to nothing to make. Gear up for top holiday craft sales with these 75 awesome DIY ideas to make and sell.

Love to paint?

If you love painting and making art, we have an awesome list of cool painting ideas for canvases. We also have some cool tutorials for learning how to paint with waterccolors , acrylic painting tutorials and some crafty flower painting tutorials.

75 DIY Craft Ideas To Make And Sell

Check out the links below for full tutorials, but watch the video below to see all the cool craft ideas to make and sell in one place

Easy String Art Projects

If you can hammer nails and twist string, this just may be the project to add to your Etsy shop. Print your choice of graphics or use these for inspiration. String art is super popular right now, and no artistic talent is required to make it. Plus, it this craft idea is fun to make. Get creative with your colors and art on these.

1. DIY Pallet Plaques

ohmy-creative

This cute little picture frame is so simple, so elegant, but so rustic. Made from upcycled wood pallets, this frame has the look that is oh so popular right now. I can sell as many of these as I can make, too! Learn how to make these homemade frames in this easy to follow tutorial. Customize the frames with the paint colors of your choice, too! You can even add embellishment if you like to the upper and lower bars. So creative, a great DIY project you will want to check out and try yourself. If you are looking for something easy and cheap to make and sell on Etsy or another online marketplace, this is one of my top picks. You can find reclaimed wood for free, and this distressed DIY farmhouse decor is about as popular as it gets, many of the Etsy sellers I saw who offered something similar were most often sold out. Cute for a gift idea, I highly recommend making these cute handmade picture frames to have on hand for Christmas holiday sales.

Easy DIY Fabric Covered Pots

Learn how to make these fun and easy decoupage pots using only scrap fabric. Check out our latest video tutorial on Youtube to learn how. Perfect cheap idea to make and sell, but these cute and crafty pots also make super homemade gifts.

2. Crafty DIY Rope Bowls

diyjoy

This rope bowl only looks expensive and hard to make. I was so surprised when I found out elegant DIY home decor like this could be made with only rope and a glue gun! Craft your bowls in minutes and you will have a ton of them to sell in no time. Try using different kinds of rope and jute when making them so you can offer your customers a variety of choices. These homemade bowls are perfect for holding fruit, yarn, napkins, home decor accessories, bread, and pretty much anything you like to put in them. This craft makes an awesome and cheap DIY gift, too. Super impressive gift idea, these DIY bowls are cute ideas to sell just about anywhere. One of the most popular items on Etsy is home decor, so we say try these out. Much faster to make than many DIY home decor items, these crafty bowls are quick, cheap and easy. What more could you ask for in craft project ideas to sell and make money from? When it comes to DIY stuff, this handmade rope bowl is one of the best do it yourself projects around.

Easy DIY Nail Polish Paintings

Learn how to make quick works of art, no artistic skills required. All you need is nail polish, water and a blank canvas. Check out the video to learn how to make some for yourself.

3. No Sew Pillow Cover

putandpull

I saw these at a craft fair where a couple was selling them for $50 a piece. The cute colors and fun patterns just make you want to go touch them (and hopefully buy them and take them home) Check out the tutorial by Put and Pull to learn how to make these highly marketable pillows. This fun and easy no sew project is perfect for those who want to make pillows but cant sew or lack a sewing machine.

4. Washi Tape Mini Wood Pallet Coasters

washitapecrafts

Looking for easy ways to make money from home? How about making these adorable but affordable coasters that look just like tiny painted pallets? Made with only craft sticks, glue and washi tape, you can customize the look of these DIY pallet coasters and create endless possibilities.

My teenage daughter has an Etsy shop and this is one of her top sellers, plus it is one of her favorite things to make and sell online. Plus, you get to have an amazing collection of washi tape for the making of these cute little DIY coasters. These need to be packed well, but are super light and fit in small shipping envelopes, so they are definitely one of my top picks for things to sell on Etsy and Ebay. One of the cutest crafts ideas to make and sell ever! Cute and easy, everyone always comments on the adorable factor when they see these pallet coasters.

5. DIY Prism Light Candle

diyjoy

I just saw these for sale on Amazons new site, handmade. Beautiful scatter candles like this cast amazing shadows when lit. Make them with mason jars and glass stones from the dollar store. You will need some patience when it comes to letting the glue dry (dont use a glue gun, as candles melt the glue right off!) but these can be made in all sorts of colors. I found blue, green, red, gold and clear glass rocks to try out. These photograph really well, which is super important when it comes to selling online. The colorful stones cast the most lovely shadows when the candlelight passes through them. Your Etsy shop needs these this holiday season. Try making your own DIY prism candle holder and see for yourself.

6. Cute Triangle Pouch

aspoonfulofsugardesigns

Whether you are just learning to sew or fancy yourself a pro seamstress, these cute little DIY triangle pouches make a cute stocking stuffer or DIY gift for the holidays, making this item a perfect craft to make and sell. People start shopping for the holidays much earlier than I realized, so I start making things like this in summer, and list them on Etsy by October for best sales results. If you have leftover fabric scraps laying around, the supplies for this are practically free. Pick up some inexpensive zippers in bulk and you will soon be in business with this best selling DIY idea.

7. DIY Bath Bombs

diyprojectsforteens

Looking for easy things to make and sell? Bath bombs are super popular right now, thanks to stores like Lush that sell fabulous ones. Making homemade bath bombs may look tricky, but I promise you it is not. Mix, mold and package your goods, then sell them with cute wrapping and tags. I added essential oils to scent my bath bombs and some natural food safe dye I picked up at Whole Foods. The lavender colored bath bombs with a light purple hue are my best seller, but you can craft lots of cool combinations with this basic but versatile DIY bath bomb recipe.

8. Faux Leather Pencil Cup

transientexpression

The look of all white decor is super popular right now, so when it come to items to sell, making those that follow a trend tend to always be top sellers. With Christmas coming up soon, DIY gifts are in high demand, or rather handmade gifts people can give when they dont have the time to make anything themselves. Get busy crafting this creative office decor item for your Etsy shop. You can make them in white leather, but also any other color you like. Offering a desk set would be a great idea to increase sales. Dont you think? Make some extra money for your holiday shopping with these creatively cool pencil cups. One of my favorite Pinterest home decor crafts, you are sure to sell lots of these cool DIY desk accessories.

9. No Sew Market Tote Bag

marthastewart

After my city passed an ordinance that bans plastic bags at grocery stores, I got crafty with my own shopping bags. After making several different kinds, I noticed people kept complimenting this one in particular, and for good reason. Look how cute it is just hanging on the door. Anything that doubles as a cute home decor accessory while still being functional makes me super happy. If you want something easy to make and sell, this craft is perfect. Cheap and doable even for the beginning DIYer, these colorful bags photograph well, are lightweight and easy to ship. You can package them in an envelope and dont even need to deal with shipping boxes and odd weights, either.

If you love the rustic, farmhouse DIY look, which is a top seller right now, check out our list of country crafts to make and sell. On a tight budget? Forget spending tons of money on craft supplies, it simply is not necessary. No problem, the ideas on the DIY list are inexpensive and many of these cheap crafts to make and sell are dollar store crafts. This is one of my favorite easy craft ideas for gift giving, which makes it a perfect item to sell in your online shop.

10. DIY Sunglasses Bag

momtastic

This is one of the simplest things Ive made to sell, but also one of the cutest, due to the limitless possibilities. Made from only a small piece of fabric, you can utilize those leftover fabric scraps for this DIY sunglass case. You can also use a solid color or a plain white to get super creative with paint or embroidery details. Embellish these with creative art and stitching or sew them from some pretty fabric scraps youve been holding onto but not sure what to do with. Inexpensive and quick to make, these custom bags for holding sunglasses are very popular with all ages, from teens to adults. Whip some up for your Etsy shop and start selling now before the Christmas sales rush.

11. Stenciled Pallet Signs

saltandpeppermoms

DIY wall art is always a top seller, whether you look on Etsy, on Ebay, craft fairs or pretty much anywhere. People love buying something that is clearly handmade, and decorating the walls with creative art is super popular. Try adding these cool DIY pallet signs to your shop and watch the sales numbers soar. Perfect for anyone with the trendy vintage, farmhouse decor, this bike parking sign is sure to be a top selling item.

12. Colored Pencil Coasters

consumercrafts

13. Yarn Ball Bookmarks

designmom

14. Wine Cork Keychains

cleverlyinspired

DIY Phone Case With Nail Polish

Turn a phone case into a work of art instantly with this easy and quick DIY idea. You will be amazed with the way these turn out! No artistic talent required, either.

15. DIY Wooden Utensil Box for Your Kitchen

thefrugalgirls

16. Cereal Box Notepads

infarrantlycreative

17. DIY Seed Bombs

projectwedding

18. DIY Lace Bowl

diyjoy

19. Etched Wooden Cutting Boards

designmom

20. Homemade Jar Candles

afewshortcuts

21. Pallet Mason Jar Vase

unoriginalmom

22. Hot Handle Holder

untrendylife

23. DIY Fabric Wall Art

iheartnaptime

24. DIY Marbled Mugs with Nail Polish

diycandy

25. DIY Kate Spade Inspired Metallic Polka Dot Phone Case

cafecraftea

26. Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

lovegrowswild

27. DIY Hand Sanitizer Jacket

theinspiredwren

28. DIY Hammock Chair

abeautifulmess

29. Marbled Clay DIY Ring Dish

abeautifulmess

30. DIY Leopard Desk Pad

mamaof3munchkins

31. Easy DIY Cutting Board Clock

abeautifulmess

32. Key Chain Chapstick Holder

crazylittleprojects

33. Dishwasher Safe Glittered Heart Mugs

creativegreenliving

34. Felt Envelopes

probablyactually

35. Comic Book Magnets

craftsbyamanda

36. Mini Pocket Notebooks

cremedelacraft

37. DIY Data Cable Organizer Key Chain

mintedstrawberry

38. DIY Painted Ombre Vases

rusticweddingchic

39. Chalkboard Label Wine Rack

shanty-2-chic

40. Sea Shell Mirror

annsentitledlife

41. Fabric Covered Spring Vases

iheartnaptime

42. Tablet Cover With Zippered Pocket

so-sew-easy

43. DIY Crochet Boot Cuff

seven-alive

44. Vintage Jewel Burlap Wall Letters

craftsbyamanda

45. Homemade Vanilla with Printable Labels

brepurposed

46. DIY Double Pearl Earrings

darbysmart

47. DIY Beaded Tassle Necklaces

madeinaday

48. DIY Hand Warmers

raeannkelly

49. DIY Washi Tape Clock

tellloveandparty

50. Neon Leather Bracelet

creatingandco

51. Etched Glass Water Bottle

creativegreenliving

Need more DIY ideas to make and sell? Try these crafts and supplies

52. Chalkboard Heart Candlelight Mason Jar

diyjoy

53. Jack Daniels Liquor Bottle Lamp

diyjoy

54. Colorful Key Fobs

leighlaurelstudios

55. Beaded Wire Bookmarks

guidecentr.al

56. Witty Welcome Doormat

griffanie

57. Cute DIY Headbands

craftsnob

58. DIY Button Cover

myuncommonsliceofsuburbia

59. Glass Pebble Magnet

stampinfool

60. Wristlet Key Fob

prettyprudent

61. Wire Wrapped Bead Rings

dollarstorecrafts

62. DIY Gold Chevron Paintings

jesslively

63. Rainbow Crochet Cup Cozy

tutsplus

64. DIY Etched Glass

afewshortcuts

65. DIY Pacifier Clips

vivaveltoro

66. Dinosaur Toothbrush Holders

allthisforthem

67. Thimble Necklace

thewindandthesail

68. DIY Scoot Board

afewshortcuts

69. Washi Tape Wooden Bracelets

mamamiss

70. Felt Pencil Pouch

creatingandco

71. Amigurumi Cactus Crochet

hopefulhoney

72. Designer Wrapped Pencils

thesarahjohnson

73. Pallet Wood Letter Decor

thistlewoodfarms

74. Washable Bowl Covers

The Gracious Wife

75. Wine Bottle Bird Feeder

thegardenroofcoop

The post 75 Brilliant Crafts to Make and Sell appeared first on DIY Joy.

Adtwixt - News source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Adtwixt-News/~3/hg1xZo_vTxE/75-brilliant-crafts-to-make-and-sell

[thegregorybruce]

November 22, 2020 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Welcome! Are you a new subscriber? I thought so. This is an interesting issue in my opinion. Strap yourself in.

But you, yes, you! You might have been here since day one, way back in 1995 or so. That’s quite a few harvest moons ago. But now, I want you to focus on Christmas.

It’s that time of year when you drag out the extension cords. How do you SIZE one so you don’t burn down your home? CLICK or TAP HERE for the simple secrets. Size does matter!

Christmas Shopping Reminder

Do you shop for lots of Christmas stuff at Amazon? If so, you've got a fantastic opportunity to reciprocate for some of the tips I've shared with you all year.

Anything you buy at Amazon using my AsktheBuilder.com affiliate link helps keep the lights on and the server running here. It doesn't cost you any more and Amazon protects your privacy.

CLICK or TAP HERE to help keep AsktheBuilder.com running!

Thanks!

What’s it Take?

Today, we celebrate the fifty-seventh anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

I was in the 5th grade and remember being herded down to the basement of my school to watch live TV coverage. We only had one TV in the school and it was up on a big rolling stand.

I knew something serious was happening, but I had no concept of just how important it was because I didn’t yet possess enough life experience. You need, in my opinion, bushels of life experience to accurately judge historic moments in time.

Think about it. What does it take to get so angry at a leader that you want to kill her/him - and then actually pull it off? Assassinations of world leaders litter history books. Heck, here in the USA we average a Presidential assassination once every sixty-one years.

While our ancestors weren’t shooting at King George, they sure as heck took potshots at his proxies on April 19, 1775, standing their ground on Lexington Green. I’ve stood on that hallowed ground and wondered in silence what I might have done.

This is why being President of the United States of America is the most dangerous job in the world. There’s a reason the cars our Presidents travel in are fancy polished armored tanks.

I doubt President Kennedy wrote his inauguration speech, but boy, oh boy, did he nail that one sentence:

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

President Kennedy was talking about what we owe our country but he might also have been foreshadowing the massive DIY movement that would erupt just a decade later. It was already simmering in the decade after the Great WW II as many returning GIs got busy with their hands.

There’s nothing quite like self-reliance.

You might do well in these trying times to make yourself even more self-reliant than you are now. I’m serious. It's getting harder to find great people to do jobs around and in your home.

Imagine if you possessed the sweet skills to fashion toilet paper from branches. Your neighbors would be beating your door down throwing their money at you.

LED Lights Flickering

Earlier this week, I installed six new smart LED recessed light bulbs.

I can control the color temperature (soft and warm or cool and bright), make each one light up any color of the rainbow, put them on timers or turn them on and off from 900 miles away. I can do all this and more using an app on my phone. CLICK or TAP HERE to see them.

After installing them, I turned them off and left the room for hours. Later that day at dark, I turned them on. They immediately started to randomly flicker - all at the same time.

There are two 3-way switches that control these six bulbs. I quickly diagnosed the issue. One switch had a sliding dimmer feature. The dimmer switch was cool and the circuitry in the switch that controls the dimming was interrupting the flow of electricity to the LEDs.

LEDs respond instantly to the flow of electricity. Standard incandescent bulb filaments are glowing hot and have to cool down to stop producing light. If a traditional incandescent bulb is turned off for 100th of a second and then turned back on, you probably would never notice a change because the filament is still glowing white hot.

Once the dimmer switch heated up from the flow of electricity, the flickering stopped. File that inside your tiny gray cells for future use.

The Holy Grail of Razor Knives

I thought I had found the Holy Grail of razor knives a year or two ago. I was wrong. I have no trouble admitting when I’m wrong.

One wonders if Harrison Ford was right and the Holy Grail is really a simple cup a carpenter might have used. Here’s a picture of what the Holy Grail might have looked like.

You’re about to see a razor knife that will absolutely put your head on a swivel. CLICK or TAP HERE and behold!

This stunning multi-blade razor knife makes the PERFECT stocking stuffer. I’m going to order TWO MORE so I have one for my truck, my car, etc. Heck, I may get FIVE of them! You will too once you see it.

Louis and Mike

Last Sunday I shared with you my favorite books of all time. CLICK or TAP HERE if you forgot to look at them.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I added a few NEW BOOKS to the list since last Sunday.

Louis was fortunate as a child to have a wonderful mother who had the smarts to purchase the love story you see above.

Here’s what he wrote to me, and it brought the biggest grin to my face because I had the same experience growing up:

“Tim:

My Mother, Ada, died last Saturday at the age of 93. One of my earliest memories, when Eisenhower served as President, was her reading Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel to me as I fell asleep.

Thank you."

Louis

You’d do well to purchase this book - CLICK OR TAP HERE to add it to your library - and start reading it to yourself or your grands.

Heating Water With Electricity

Tony reached out to me too after last Sunday’s issue. Read his interesting short story:

“Good Morning Tim,

I changed my hot water system to a heat-pump hot-water system in October 2019. At the same time, I disconnected my basement dehumidifier system. Total cost for the system was $945, after a $750 rebate offer by Environmental Maine. This system has three settings: Heat Pump Only, Electric Only and Demand Electric Assistance. We have only used Heat Pump Only. Recovery has been quick enough for the two of us. Maybe a family with three children might need to have some electric usage, but not too much I think. My electric bill has been reduced each month by roughly $50 and my basement has never been less humid. Maybe you could do an investigation about this? I know my wife and I are quite pleased with this change.”

Tony

Downeast ME

Well, well, well … It turns out I was one, maybe two, steps ahead of Tony. I DID DO an investigation months ago and I thought I had shared it here.

I want you to CLICK or TAP HERE and listen to a fascinating short podcast I had with a top engineer from Rheem about how to save money when you heat water using electricity.

That’s plenty for the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I have lots to be grateful for including subscribers like you.

I’ll be celebrating with my immediate family. It’s my favorite meal of the year.

I’ve gathered all my fellow NH wizards and asked them to cast a protective spell on me. They’ve promised the spell will allow me to eat copious amounts of all the food and large pieces of pumpkin and pecan pie without suffering any indigestion. They've assured me the spell will ensure I'll not increase my weight measured in stones.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of your family and friends gathered around a large festive table loaded with mounds of tasty food.

Tim Carter Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com Red Wine Spill Cleaner - www.StainSolver.com Telegraph Operator - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. Did you brush aside my advice on the best razor knife of all time? Silly you!!! For the love of God, CLICK or TAP HERE now to look at this marvelous thing you MUST HAVE!

The post November 22, 2020 AsktheBuilder Newsletter appeared first on Ask the Builder.

from Home https://www.askthebuilder.com/november-22-2020-askthebuilder-newsletter/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[adtwixt]

Adtwixt - News: 75 Brilliant Crafts to Make and Sell

Start selling what you make with these easy crafts to make and sell. Looking for creative ways to make some extra cash this year? Try these quick and easy DIY projects to have some fun and make extra money from home at the same time. What better a creative way to make extra money than by selling some easy DIY ideas you made? When I was looking for stuff to make and sell online, things to sell on Etsy and at craft fairs, I made this list. I wanted to share it with you since I learned quite a bit about what to make and sell online. I found a little something for everyone, too DIY gifts, jewelry, wall art, home decor, pillows, coasters, bags and clocks. Whether you are just starting out trying to sell things or are already an expert and power seller on Ebay, you are sure to find a few new cool ideas for quick crafts to make and sell. Sewing projects, painting projects, inexpensive crafts you can make from things you buy at the dollar stores, and my favorite kind- projects from reclaimed wood.

If you are serious about starting your own craft business, dont stop at these 75 ideas, either. For beginners, you should check out our list of easy crafts to make and sell, and for Etsy specific top picks, our crafts to Make and Sell on Etsy. Want more cool ideas for crafts to make and sell? Our list of 75 top selling DIY crafts was so popular, we made another one for you guys here: 75 More Brilliant Crafts to Make and Sell

What is the best DIY project to make and sell?

Well, that depends on what the top sellers are for the season and the year of course, but also what you love to do. One of the great things about crafting to make some extra money is that you get to work while doing what you enjoy.

Love to sew?

Check out the super popular list here of sewing crafts to make and sell and even more sewing crafts to make and sell. Many of these cool DIY sewing ideas are made from fabric scraps, so they cost next to nothing to make. Gear up for top holiday craft sales with these 75 awesome DIY ideas to make and sell.

Love to paint?

If you love painting and making art, we have an awesome list of cool painting ideas for canvases. We also have some cool tutorials for learning how to paint with waterccolors , acrylic painting tutorials and some crafty flower painting tutorials.

75 DIY Craft Ideas To Make And Sell

Check out the links below for full tutorials, but watch the video below to see all the cool craft ideas to make and sell in one place

Easy String Art Projects

If you can hammer nails and twist string, this just may be the project to add to your Etsy shop. Print your choice of graphics or use these for inspiration. String art is super popular right now, and no artistic talent is required to make it. Plus, it this craft idea is fun to make. Get creative with your colors and art on these.

1. DIY Pallet Plaques

ohmy-creative

This cute little picture frame is so simple, so elegant, but so rustic. Made from upcycled wood pallets, this frame has the look that is oh so popular right now. I can sell as many of these as I can make, too! Learn how to make these homemade frames in this easy to follow tutorial. Customize the frames with the paint colors of your choice, too! You can even add embellishment if you like to the upper and lower bars. So creative, a great DIY project you will want to check out and try yourself. If you are looking for something easy and cheap to make and sell on Etsy or another online marketplace, this is one of my top picks. You can find reclaimed wood for free, and this distressed DIY farmhouse decor is about as popular as it gets, many of the Etsy sellers I saw who offered something similar were most often sold out. Cute for a gift idea, I highly recommend making these cute handmade picture frames to have on hand for Christmas holiday sales.

Easy DIY Fabric Covered Pots

Learn how to make these fun and easy decoupage pots using only scrap fabric. Check out our latest video tutorial on Youtube to learn how. Perfect cheap idea to make and sell, but these cute and crafty pots also make super homemade gifts.

2. Crafty DIY Rope Bowls

diyjoy

This rope bowl only looks expensive and hard to make. I was so surprised when I found out elegant DIY home decor like this could be made with only rope and a glue gun! Craft your bowls in minutes and you will have a ton of them to sell in no time. Try using different kinds of rope and jute when making them so you can offer your customers a variety of choices. These homemade bowls are perfect for holding fruit, yarn, napkins, home decor accessories, bread, and pretty much anything you like to put in them. This craft makes an awesome and cheap DIY gift, too. Super impressive gift idea, these DIY bowls are cute ideas to sell just about anywhere. One of the most popular items on Etsy is home decor, so we say try these out. Much faster to make than many DIY home decor items, these crafty bowls are quick, cheap and easy. What more could you ask for in craft project ideas to sell and make money from? When it comes to DIY stuff, this handmade rope bowl is one of the best do it yourself projects around.

Easy DIY Nail Polish Paintings

Learn how to make quick works of art, no artistic skills required. All you need is nail polish, water and a blank canvas. Check out the video to learn how to make some for yourself.

3. No Sew Pillow Cover

putandpull

I saw these at a craft fair where a couple was selling them for $50 a piece. The cute colors and fun patterns just make you want to go touch them (and hopefully buy them and take them home) Check out the tutorial by Put and Pull to learn how to make these highly marketable pillows. This fun and easy no sew project is perfect for those who want to make pillows but cant sew or lack a sewing machine.

4. Washi Tape Mini Wood Pallet Coasters

washitapecrafts

Looking for easy ways to make money from home? How about making these adorable but affordable coasters that look just like tiny painted pallets? Made with only craft sticks, glue and washi tape, you can customize the look of these DIY pallet coasters and create endless possibilities.

My teenage daughter has an Etsy shop and this is one of her top sellers, plus it is one of her favorite things to make and sell online. Plus, you get to have an amazing collection of washi tape for the making of these cute little DIY coasters. These need to be packed well, but are super light and fit in small shipping envelopes, so they are definitely one of my top picks for things to sell on Etsy and Ebay. One of the cutest crafts ideas to make and sell ever! Cute and easy, everyone always comments on the adorable factor when they see these pallet coasters.

5. DIY Prism Light Candle

diyjoy

I just saw these for sale on Amazons new site, handmade. Beautiful scatter candles like this cast amazing shadows when lit. Make them with mason jars and glass stones from the dollar store. You will need some patience when it comes to letting the glue dry (dont use a glue gun, as candles melt the glue right off!) but these can be made in all sorts of colors. I found blue, green, red, gold and clear glass rocks to try out. These photograph really well, which is super important when it comes to selling online. The colorful stones cast the most lovely shadows when the candlelight passes through them. Your Etsy shop needs these this holiday season. Try making your own DIY prism candle holder and see for yourself.

6. Cute Triangle Pouch

aspoonfulofsugardesigns

Whether you are just learning to sew or fancy yourself a pro seamstress, these cute little DIY triangle pouches make a cute stocking stuffer or DIY gift for the holidays, making this item a perfect craft to make and sell. People start shopping for the holidays much earlier than I realized, so I start making things like this in summer, and list them on Etsy by October for best sales results. If you have leftover fabric scraps laying around, the supplies for this are practically free. Pick up some inexpensive zippers in bulk and you will soon be in business with this best selling DIY idea.

7. DIY Bath Bombs

diyprojectsforteens

Looking for easy things to make and sell? Bath bombs are super popular right now, thanks to stores like Lush that sell fabulous ones. Making homemade bath bombs may look tricky, but I promise you it is not. Mix, mold and package your goods, then sell them with cute wrapping and tags. I added essential oils to scent my bath bombs and some natural food safe dye I picked up at Whole Foods. The lavender colored bath bombs with a light purple hue are my best seller, but you can craft lots of cool combinations with this basic but versatile DIY bath bomb recipe.

8. Faux Leather Pencil Cup

transientexpression

The look of all white decor is super popular right now, so when it come to items to sell, making those that follow a trend tend to always be top sellers. With Christmas coming up soon, DIY gifts are in high demand, or rather handmade gifts people can give when they dont have the time to make anything themselves. Get busy crafting this creative office decor item for your Etsy shop. You can make them in white leather, but also any other color you like. Offering a desk set would be a great idea to increase sales. Dont you think? Make some extra money for your holiday shopping with these creatively cool pencil cups. One of my favorite Pinterest home decor crafts, you are sure to sell lots of these cool DIY desk accessories.

9. No Sew Market Tote Bag

marthastewart

After my city passed an ordinance that bans plastic bags at grocery stores, I got crafty with my own shopping bags. After making several different kinds, I noticed people kept complimenting this one in particular, and for good reason. Look how cute it is just hanging on the door. Anything that doubles as a cute home decor accessory while still being functional makes me super happy. If you want something easy to make and sell, this craft is perfect. Cheap and doable even for the beginning DIYer, these colorful bags photograph well, are lightweight and easy to ship. You can package them in an envelope and dont even need to deal with shipping boxes and odd weights, either.

If you love the rustic, farmhouse DIY look, which is a top seller right now, check out our list of country crafts to make and sell. On a tight budget? Forget spending tons of money on craft supplies, it simply is not necessary. No problem, the ideas on the DIY list are inexpensive and many of these cheap crafts to make and sell are dollar store crafts. This is one of my favorite easy craft ideas for gift giving, which makes it a perfect item to sell in your online shop.

10. DIY Sunglasses Bag

momtastic

This is one of the simplest things Ive made to sell, but also one of the cutest, due to the limitless possibilities. Made from only a small piece of fabric, you can utilize those leftover fabric scraps for this DIY sunglass case. You can also use a solid color or a plain white to get super creative with paint or embroidery details. Embellish these with creative art and stitching or sew them from some pretty fabric scraps youve been holding onto but not sure what to do with. Inexpensive and quick to make, these custom bags for holding sunglasses are very popular with all ages, from teens to adults. Whip some up for your Etsy shop and start selling now before the Christmas sales rush.

11. Stenciled Pallet Signs

saltandpeppermoms

DIY wall art is always a top seller, whether you look on Etsy, on Ebay, craft fairs or pretty much anywhere. People love buying something that is clearly handmade, and decorating the walls with creative art is super popular. Try adding these cool DIY pallet signs to your shop and watch the sales numbers soar. Perfect for anyone with the trendy vintage, farmhouse decor, this bike parking sign is sure to be a top selling item.

12. Colored Pencil Coasters

consumercrafts

13. Yarn Ball Bookmarks

designmom

14. Wine Cork Keychains

cleverlyinspired

DIY Phone Case With Nail Polish

Turn a phone case into a work of art instantly with this easy and quick DIY idea. You will be amazed with the way these turn out! No artistic talent required, either.

15. DIY Wooden Utensil Box for Your Kitchen

thefrugalgirls

16. Cereal Box Notepads

infarrantlycreative

17. DIY Seed Bombs

projectwedding

18. DIY Lace Bowl

diyjoy

19. Etched Wooden Cutting Boards

designmom

20. Homemade Jar Candles

afewshortcuts

21. Pallet Mason Jar Vase

unoriginalmom

22. Hot Handle Holder

untrendylife

23. DIY Fabric Wall Art

iheartnaptime

24. DIY Marbled Mugs with Nail Polish

diycandy

25. DIY Kate Spade Inspired Metallic Polka Dot Phone Case

cafecraftea

26. Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

lovegrowswild

27. DIY Hand Sanitizer Jacket

theinspiredwren

28. DIY Hammock Chair

abeautifulmess

29. Marbled Clay DIY Ring Dish

abeautifulmess

30. DIY Leopard Desk Pad

mamaof3munchkins

31. Easy DIY Cutting Board Clock

abeautifulmess

32. Key Chain Chapstick Holder

crazylittleprojects

33. Dishwasher Safe Glittered Heart Mugs

creativegreenliving

34. Felt Envelopes

probablyactually

35. Comic Book Magnets

craftsbyamanda

36. Mini Pocket Notebooks

cremedelacraft

37. DIY Data Cable Organizer Key Chain

mintedstrawberry

38. DIY Painted Ombre Vases

rusticweddingchic

39. Chalkboard Label Wine Rack

shanty-2-chic

40. Sea Shell Mirror

annsentitledlife

41. Fabric Covered Spring Vases

iheartnaptime

42. Tablet Cover With Zippered Pocket

so-sew-easy

43. DIY Crochet Boot Cuff

seven-alive

44. Vintage Jewel Burlap Wall Letters

craftsbyamanda

45. Homemade Vanilla with Printable Labels

brepurposed

46. DIY Double Pearl Earrings

darbysmart

47. DIY Beaded Tassle Necklaces

madeinaday

48. DIY Hand Warmers

raeannkelly

49. DIY Washi Tape Clock

tellloveandparty

50. Neon Leather Bracelet

creatingandco

51. Etched Glass Water Bottle

creativegreenliving

Need more DIY ideas to make and sell? Try these crafts and supplies

52. Chalkboard Heart Candlelight Mason Jar

diyjoy

53. Jack Daniels Liquor Bottle Lamp

diyjoy

54. Colorful Key Fobs

leighlaurelstudios

55. Beaded Wire Bookmarks

guidecentr.al

56. Witty Welcome Doormat

griffanie

57. Cute DIY Headbands

craftsnob

58. DIY Button Cover

myuncommonsliceofsuburbia

59. Glass Pebble Magnet

stampinfool

60. Wristlet Key Fob

prettyprudent

61. Wire Wrapped Bead Rings

dollarstorecrafts

62. DIY Gold Chevron Paintings

jesslively

63. Rainbow Crochet Cup Cozy

tutsplus

64. DIY Etched Glass

afewshortcuts

65. DIY Pacifier Clips

vivaveltoro

66. Dinosaur Toothbrush Holders

allthisforthem

67. Thimble Necklace

thewindandthesail

68. DIY Scoot Board

afewshortcuts

69. Washi Tape Wooden Bracelets

mamamiss

70. Felt Pencil Pouch

creatingandco

71. Amigurumi Cactus Crochet

hopefulhoney

72. Designer Wrapped Pencils

thesarahjohnson

73. Pallet Wood Letter Decor

thistlewoodfarms

74. Washable Bowl Covers

The Gracious Wife

75. Wine Bottle Bird Feeder

thegardenroofcoop

The post 75 Brilliant Crafts to Make and Sell appeared first on DIY Joy.

Adtwixt - News source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Adtwixt-News/~3/hg1xZo_vTxE/75-brilliant-crafts-to-make-and-sell