Of course you are familiar with Pinterest, the following is simply my take on it and yes, I'm a little late to the party.
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If the internet is anything, it's vast. You can find anything and everything you might possibly need on the internet. Keeping your findings organized can be troublesome. If you're like me, you have about five-hundred bookmarks and no idea what those things are when you go back and read the tiny drop down descriptions.
I wish there was a visual way to keep it all organized. And wouldn't it be great if rather than only depending on those search engine spiders, I could see what other women, women just like me, have already found during their searches, after they filtered out the other junk? I mean, how cool would it be if I could see the things that other people have found, including the items, ideas, recipes and projects that I was never looking for in the first place? Basically, I'd like an organizing internet filter. Is there such a thing?
Truth is, I never thought beyond the book marks and text results from search engines. But thankfully, someone else did.
And then there was Pinterest.
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My sweet friend Kristin, asked me to join Pinterest about six months ago. Kristin happens to be one of the funniest and coolest people I've ever known (we've been friends since high school). I completely trust her judgement. And oh, she's pretty and skinny too- always has been. But, I love her anyways.
Even so, my attitude was sort of along the lines of:
"Eh, not sure that I have time for that."
She said, "Noooo, it's so fun. You'll love it, there's all these boards and tons of cool stuff!"
She sent the invite.
Once I got over the fact that I had to be invited, I took a look around and thought it was
okay (actually "okay" is a bit of a stretch). I didn't really get what all the fuss was about. I pinned a few things and left my account unvisited for a while. Then later I went back and took another look, and another, and another...
At this point, I can't walk by my computer without taking a peek at Pinterest. I'm a sick crafting-cooking-sewing-party planning fool who's finally learned the proper technique for applying eye shadow and using the white balance settings for my digital camera, all thanks to Pinterest.
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| My money says she made that apron. |
I'm obsessed with the DIY pins. Let me just say this: People are brilliant! Things that sound like they would be really silly, are so freaking cool, like lamp shades made with vintage doilies using the old paper mache technique and DIY yourself beaded chandeliers made with hanging baskets from the dollar store that look amazing. Are you kidding me?!
There's also a lot on there about fitness, but I just tend to look the other way. And it's so easy to look the other way, because you can bet that next to that "Ten things to Make you Love Running Even More!" pin, there's an awesome "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge Recipe" pin (leaving me with little choice).
What's better? I can quickly 'like' the running pin and save it for I when start running, ya know, later down the road. Because sure, I definitely plan on becoming a runner some day. And, I know it's going to be smooth sailing because Pinterest has all those great running tips wedged in between the fudge recipes just waiting for me. There's also tons of great 'cleaning tip' pins that I've liked and might put into use after my jog. But for now...
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| Saw it on Pinterest (someecards.com) |
I find that Pinterest is like facebook in the sense that some people pin A LOT, others just tend to follow and look around, maybe adding an occasional pin. There are times when I see people pin about fifty original pins at once. I'm surprised that they are capable of moving from site to site that quickly. But, everyone can use the site as they choose and people choose to use it differently. It's an organizational tool and some people just have more to organize than others. I know if I were planning a wedding, my Pinterest boards would be crazy! Pinterest boards completely beat the big fat bridal binder that I had in 2001.
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| Not the goal, but knock yourself out. |
But other than the time vacuum aspect, Pinterest is completely different than facebook. Facebook is all about people, Pinterest is all about stuff. They're two different animals. But for conversations sake, if given a choice between spending a free moment on facebook or Pinterest, I'd choose Pinterest.
Truth be known, I'm not really all that interested in hearing about some one's morning (pretty sure they're not remotely interested in my mornings either because I can promise you, they are always the same), but I totally want to see what kind of sink they'd love to have in their dream kitchen- or any one's dream kitchen for that matter.
I mean let's face it, there's always the possibility that their dream kitchen is better than mine and if that's the case, I need to make some adjustments and quickly- but, you can bet that I'll be crafting, sewing, cooking and party planning along the way.
I love it. I really love it.
~kristina
