diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index 0882d52..7cc587a 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ global $app;
 
 $app = [
     'db' => $db,
-    'config' => (new ConfigModel($db))->loadFromDatabase(),
-    'user' => (new UserModel($db))->loadFromDatabase(),
+    'config' => (new ConfigModel($db))->get(),
+    'user' => (new UserModel($db))->get(),
 ];
 
 // Start a session and generate a CSRF Token
diff --git a/src/Controller/Controller.php b/src/Controller/Controller.php
index 043acf2..5b1b7de 100644
--- a/src/Controller/Controller.php
+++ b/src/Controller/Controller.php
@@ -13,6 +13,16 @@ class Controller {
             throw new RuntimeException("Template not found: $childTemplatePath");
         }
 
+        // Add custom CSS filename if needed
+        global $app;
+        if ($app['config']->cssId) {
+            $cssModel = new CssModel($app['db']);
+            $cssFile = $cssModel->getById($app['config']->cssId);
+            $vars['customCssFilename'] = $cssFile['filename'] ?? null;
+        } else {
+            $vars['customCssFilename'] = null;
+        }
+
         // always check for flash messages and add them if they exist
         if (Session::hasFlashMessages()){
             $flashMessages = Session::getFlashMessages();
diff --git a/src/Controller/CssController/CssController.php b/src/Controller/CssController/CssController.php
index 565b54e..b48fbf4 100644
--- a/src/Controller/CssController/CssController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/CssController/CssController.php
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 class CssController extends Controller {
     public function index() {
         global $app;
-        
-        $customCss = CssModel::load();
+        $cssModel = new CssModel($app['db']);
+        $customCss = $cssModel->getAll();
 
         $vars = [
             'user' => $app['user'],
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ class CssController extends Controller {
     }
 
     public function serveCustomCss(string $baseFilename){
-        $cssModel = new CssModel();
+        global $app;
+        $cssModel = new CssModel($app['db']);
         $filename = "$baseFilename.css";
 
         $cssRow = $cssModel->getByFilename($filename);
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ class CssController extends Controller {
 
         // Get the data for the selected CSS file
         $cssId = $_POST['selectCssFile'];
-        $cssModel = new CssModel();
+        $cssModel = new CssModel($app['db']);
         $cssRow = $cssModel->getById($cssId);
 
         // exit if the requested file isn't in the database
@@ -182,7 +183,8 @@ class CssController extends Controller {
             }
 
             // Add upload to database
-            $cssModel = new CssModel();
+            global $app;
+            $cssModel = new CssModel($app['db']);
             $cssModel->save($safeFilename, $description);
 
             // Set success flash message
diff --git a/src/Controller/EmojiController/EmojiController.php b/src/Controller/EmojiController/EmojiController.php
index 9989f92..3940cc0 100644
--- a/src/Controller/EmojiController/EmojiController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/EmojiController/EmojiController.php
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
         // Shows the custom emoji management page
         public function index(){
             global $app;
-            
-            $emojiList = EmojiModel::loadAll();
+
+            $emojiModel = new EmojiModel($app['db']);
+            $emojiList = $emojiModel->getAll();
 
             $vars = [
                 'config' => $app['config'],
@@ -34,14 +35,14 @@
             exit;
         }
 
-        public function handleAdd(string $emoji, ?string $description=null): void {
+        private function isValidEmoji(string $emoji){
             // Validate 1 visible character in the emoji
             if (extension_loaded('mbstring')) {
                 // TODO - log a warning if mbstring isn't loaded
                 $charCount = mb_strlen($emoji, 'UTF-8');
                 if ($charCount !== 1) {
                     // TODO - handle error
-                    return;
+                    return false;
                 }
             }
 
@@ -50,25 +51,40 @@
 
             if (!preg_match($emojiPattern, $emoji)) {
                 // TODO - handle error
-                return;
+                return false;
             }
 
             // emojis should have more bytes than characters
             $byteCount = strlen($emoji);
             if ($byteCount <= 1) {
                 // TODO - handle error
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        public function handleAdd(string $emoji, ?string $description=null): void {
+            global $app;
+
+            if (!$this->isValidEmoji($emoji)){
+                // TODO - handle
                 return;
             }
 
             // It looks like an emoji. Let's add it.
-            EmojiModel::add($emoji, $description);
+            $emojiModel = new EmojiModel($app['db']);
+            $emojiList = $emojiModel->add($emoji, $description);
         }
 
         public function handleDelete(): void {
+            global $app;
+
             $ids = $_POST['delete_emoji_ids'];
 
             if (!empty($ids)) {
-                EmojiModel::delete($ids);
+                $emojiModel = new EmojiModel($app['db']);
+                $emojiModel->delete($ids);
             }
         }
     }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Controller/MoodController/MoodController.php b/src/Controller/MoodController/MoodController.php
index 450df86..65b9303 100644
--- a/src/Controller/MoodController/MoodController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/MoodController/MoodController.php
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
     class MoodController extends Controller {
         public function index(){
             global $app;
-            
+
             $view = new MoodView();
 
             $moodPicker = $view->render_mood_picker(self::getEmojisWithLabels(), $app['user']->mood);
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
         public function handlePost(){
             global $app;
-            
+
             if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
                 switch ($_POST['action']){
                 case 'set':
@@ -39,7 +39,10 @@
         }
 
         private static function getEmojisWithLabels(): array {
-            $customEmoji = EmojiModel::loadAll();
+            global $app;
+
+            $emojiModel = new EmojiModel($app['db']);
+            $customEmoji = $emojiModel->getAll();
 
             if (!empty($customEmoji)){
                 $custom = [];
diff --git a/src/Model/ConfigModel/ConfigModel.php b/src/Model/ConfigModel/ConfigModel.php
index e6f0d92..8d76d9f 100644
--- a/src/Model/ConfigModel/ConfigModel.php
+++ b/src/Model/ConfigModel/ConfigModel.php
@@ -13,15 +13,8 @@ class ConfigModel {
 
     public function __construct(private PDO $db) {}
 
-    // load config from sqlite database (backward compatibility)
-    public static function load(): self {
-        global $db;
-        $instance = new self($db);
-        return $instance->loadFromDatabase();
-    }
-    
     // Instance method that uses injected database
-    public function loadFromDatabase(): self {
+    public function get(): self {
         $init = require APP_ROOT . '/config/init.php';
         $c = new self($this->db);
         $c->baseUrl = ($c->baseUrl === '') ? $init['base_url'] : $c->baseUrl;
@@ -53,18 +46,6 @@ class ConfigModel {
         return $c;
     }
 
-    public function customCssFilename() {
-        if (empty($this->cssId)) {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        // Fetch filename from css table using cssId
-        $cssModel = new CssModel();
-        $cssRecord = $cssModel->getById($this->cssId);
-
-        return $cssRecord ? $cssRecord['filename'] : null;
-    }
-
     public function save(): self {
         $settingsCount = (int) $this->db->query("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM settings")->fetchColumn();
 
@@ -104,6 +85,6 @@ class ConfigModel {
                         $this->logLevel
                     ]);
 
-        return $this->loadFromDatabase();
+        return $this->get();
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Model/CssModel/CssModel.php b/src/Model/CssModel/CssModel.php
index 7884b06..1bbfe14 100644
--- a/src/Model/CssModel/CssModel.php
+++ b/src/Model/CssModel/CssModel.php
@@ -1,44 +1,41 @@
 <?php
 class CssModel {
-    public static function load(): Array {
-        global $db;
-        $stmt = $db->prepare("SELECT id, filename, description FROM css ORDER BY filename");
+    public function __construct(private PDO $db) {}
+
+    public function getAll(): Array {
+        $stmt = $this->db->prepare("SELECT id, filename, description FROM css ORDER BY filename");
         $stmt->execute();
 
         return $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
     }
 
+
     public function getById(int $id): Array{
-       global $db;
-       $stmt = $db->prepare("SELECT id, filename, description FROM css WHERE id=?");
+       $stmt = $this->db->prepare("SELECT id, filename, description FROM css WHERE id=?");
        $stmt->execute([$id]);
        return $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
     }
 
     public function getByFilename(string $filename): Array{
-       global $db;
-       $stmt = $db->prepare("SELECT id, filename, description FROM css WHERE filename=?");
+       $stmt = $this->db->prepare("SELECT id, filename, description FROM css WHERE filename=?");
        $stmt->execute([$filename]);
        return $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
     }
 
     public function delete(int $id): bool{
-        global $db;
-        $stmt = $db->prepare("DELETE FROM css WHERE id=?");
+        $stmt = $this->db->prepare("DELETE FROM css WHERE id=?");
         return $stmt->execute([$id]);
     }
 
     public function save(string $filename, ?string $description = null): void {
-        global $db;
-
-        $stmt = $db->prepare("SELECT COUNT(id) FROM css WHERE filename = ?");
+        $stmt = $this->db->prepare("SELECT COUNT(id) FROM css WHERE filename = ?");
         $stmt->execute([$filename]);
         $fileExists = $stmt->fetchColumn();
 
         if ($fileExists) {
-            $stmt = $db->prepare("UPDATE css SET description = ? WHERE filename = ?");
+            $stmt = $this->db->prepare("UPDATE css SET description = ? WHERE filename = ?");
         } else {
-            $stmt = $db->prepare("INSERT INTO css (filename, description) VALUES (?, ?)");
+            $stmt = $this->db->prepare("INSERT INTO css (filename, description) VALUES (?, ?)");
         }
 
         $stmt->execute([$filename, $description]);
diff --git a/src/Model/EmojiModel/EmojiModel.php b/src/Model/EmojiModel/EmojiModel.php
index 99b2530..4cde079 100644
--- a/src/Model/EmojiModel/EmojiModel.php
+++ b/src/Model/EmojiModel/EmojiModel.php
@@ -1,29 +1,25 @@
 <?php
 // welp this model is overkill
 class EmojiModel{
+    public function __construct(private PDO $db) {}
+
     // This isn't memory-efficient,
     // but I think it'll be fine on this app's scales.
-    public static function loadAll(): array {
-        global $db;
-
-        $stmt = $db->query("SELECT id, emoji, description FROM emoji");
+    public function getAll(): array {
+        $stmt = $this->db->query("SELECT id, emoji, description FROM emoji");
         return $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
     }
 
     // I'm not going to support editing emoji.
     // It'll just be a delete/readd
-    public static function add(string $emoji, ?string $description): void{
-        global $db;
-
-        $stmt = $db->prepare("INSERT INTO emoji (emoji, description) VALUES (?, ?)");
+    public function add(string $emoji, ?string $description): void{
+        $stmt = $this->db->prepare("INSERT INTO emoji (emoji, description) VALUES (?, ?)");
         $stmt->execute([$emoji, $description]);
     }
 
-    public static function delete(array $idsToDelete): void{
-        global $db;
-
+    public function delete(array $idsToDelete): void{
         $placeholders = rtrim(str_repeat('?,', count($idsToDelete)), ',');
-        $stmt = $db->prepare("DELETE FROM emoji WHERE id IN ($placeholders)");
+        $stmt = $this->db->prepare("DELETE FROM emoji WHERE id IN ($placeholders)");
         $stmt->execute($idsToDelete);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Model/UserModel/UserModel.php b/src/Model/UserModel/UserModel.php
index 48b032f..86078ea 100644
--- a/src/Model/UserModel/UserModel.php
+++ b/src/Model/UserModel/UserModel.php
@@ -8,15 +8,7 @@ class UserModel {
 
     public function __construct(private PDO $db) {}
 
-    // load user settings from sqlite database (backward compatibility)
-    public static function load(): self {
-        global $db;
-        $instance = new self($db);
-        return $instance->loadFromDatabase();
-    }
-    
-    // Instance method that uses injected database
-    public function loadFromDatabase(): self {
+    public function get(): self {
         // There's only ever one user. I'm just leaning into that.
         $stmt = $this->db->query("SELECT username, display_name, website, mood FROM user WHERE id=1");
         $row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
@@ -43,7 +35,7 @@ class UserModel {
 
       $stmt->execute([$this->username, $this->displayName, $this->website, $this->mood]);
 
-      return $this->loadFromDatabase();
+      return $this->get();
    }
 
    // Making this a separate function to avoid
diff --git a/templates/main.php b/templates/main.php
index 0045384..c98d36d 100644
--- a/templates/main.php
+++ b/templates/main.php
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 <?php /** @var ConfigModel $config */ ?>
 <?php /** @var UserModel $user */ ?>
 <?php /** @var string $childTemplateFile */ ?>
+<?php /** @var string $customCssFilename */ ?>
 <?php /** @var srting $flashSection */ ?>
 <!DOCTYPE html>
 <html lang="en">
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@
               href="<?= Util::escape_html(Util::buildRelativeUrl($config->basePath, 'css/default.css')) ?>">
 <?php if (!empty($config->cssId)): ?>
         <link rel="stylesheet"
-              href="<?= Util::escape_html(Util::buildRelativeUrl($config->basePath, 'css/custom/' . $config->customCssFilename())) ?>">
+              href="<?= Util::escape_html(Util::buildRelativeUrl($config->basePath, 'css/custom/' . $customCssFilename)) ?>">
 <?php endif; ?>
         <link rel="alternate"
               type="application/rss+xml"