Remember (girls) L O N G before acid free pages and creative memory projects…we had a scissors and tape or glue to make cool collections of our favorite things: collages! I used to tape things to my mirror and keep "favorite things" in a scrapbook which I am sure has disintegrated into a blob of curled edges and yellow photos. Let's face it, I can't keep up with photos and I have 2 boys. There is a slight chance that their future spouses will care to see their high school ID's but as far as being appreciated for elaborate collections of their every move…uh…it's just not going to happen! I have used sites like Shutterfly for years now to organize photos. YES, YES I have a closet full of special paper, scissors, stickers, etc…that poor underappreciated closet! Well, along with that part of my house, I have a side table in my bedroom that gets stacked with magazines and, more importantly, ripped out pages of things I would like to cook, or decorate, or exercises that I (will) do! I love the hands on experience of a good magazine, but once I finish it, I never go back to those turned down pages, and it takes discipline to catalogue the papers I rip out. It's kind of like shopping, once you take the second look at the clothes in your hands, you put a bunch back and re-think the purchase. I usually toss the pages.
Here comes PINTEREST! Some of you may be rolling your eyes because it is just another time-wasting website. I happen to enjoy it. What is Pinterest?: an online bulletin board of ideas for the home, fashion, art, recipes, fitness and much more. You can capture your favorites into your own specific file (such as "clothes I love") and thereby save the things that appeal to you. Joining is an interesting process as there is currently a "waitlist" if you go directly to the site to join. All you really need is for a friend who is currently on Pinterest to invite you! Once you are invited you create an account with some basic info and start "pinning". Be sure to install the "pin it" button on your toolbar so when you are cruising the web, you simply click on your "pin it" bar to share the pic or recipe or whatever info interests you.
I can't blog about Pinterest and not let you know the drawbacks! I am just learning myself, but one thing I have noticed is repetition of some of the best pins. If you see something you enjoy, you can "repin" it and thereby adding it to the Pinterest feed. This causes many of the same pins being displayed at once. If you know what you are looking for, narrow your search down and click on the "Food" or "For the Home" icon, for example. This whole issue makes me wonder how long Pinterest can last…where do they go from here? I have gone from checking it every day, to checking it every few days.
Another caveat was something I noticed when I first joined. I received "followers" whom I did not know and quickly had lots of crazy tattoos, foul body piercing postings and more! I went into my account to stop following the people who had added themselves. It was easy. Now I don't get the eye popping cartoon characters on my "page".
SO, what is the point? I will give the best example I have so far. I saw a "how to" about spray painting brass door knobs and hardware with antique bronze Rustoleum paint. Granted, we have changed many of the knobs in our house, but there were still some that needed to be rotated out of the 90's. It wasn't a quick solution, but it was cheap! Dave took off the doors and hardware and made an area in the garage for painting (hey…it's winter in Colorado) and in 1 weekend, all of the doors had "new" hardware. It cost about $20 for a couple of cans of spray paint from the hardware store. We spent over $400 just for our front door antique bronze set. It has been about 3 weeks, and we have noticed no scratches or problems. My only problem may be Dave unplugging my computer when I continue coming up with these "great ideas"!
It's fun to dream. There are all kinds of homes, travel locales, and great ideas if you are a young mom! I saw some incredible ideas for "school Valentines" last week. Unfortunately for me, I am past the "room mom" years and have moved into fashion, home, and money saving ideas. I have better ways to spend my time, but I enjoy checking it and seeing some new ideas. Men will not be happy with the "categories" supplied for them. They have not taken to the site like women, but hopefully they will find a way to expand "guns and war" for all of those men who want to imbibe.
If you are interested in joining, email me and I'll "invite" you to this very exclusive club called "PINTEREST"!
Carry on Peeps!
Coffee Talk Mom
Loyal readers are difficult to come by, but u have just converted me! :)
Posted by: CequadaRearia | 05/25/2012 at 10:51 PM