My Thoughts on Pinterest

So many people talk about Pinterest these days! Most seem to fall into one of two categories: those who are completely addicted to it and love it vs. those who have no clue what it is or why it is of any use to any person.

I feel like I explain Pinterest a lot in person but really, wouldn’t a blog post about it be that much better? EUREKA!

Q: What is Pinterest?

A: I like to call Pinterest a virtual and visual file cabinet. If you’ve ever been flipping through the pages of a magazine and seen: a recipe you must cook, outfit idea you must purchase or create, yard you must attain, craft you must pay someone else to make, pillow that would be perfect for your couch, paint color for that room that’s been bugging you or beach you MUST go to, so you tear out the page of that magazine (deep breath!) then THAT is what pinterest is like.

Another way I like to think of it is shopping and eating without spending money or actually consuming calories. It’s just about dreaming!

I’ve heard a lot of people say it is a DIY site and I don’t really agree with that. But that’s probably because that is not how or why I necessarily pin things. It’s just creative visual fodder for me to drink in and be inspired by! Vacations I want to take one day, cruise ships I want to remember, flowers I want to put in my garden, baby stuff I want to possess, shoes I want in my closet yesterday, etc.

Q: How does it work?

A: Someone has to invite you to join Pinterest. (You can go to the Pinterest website and ask for an invitation…but sometimes that can take a while for them to actually send you one. It’s just faster to ask your friends to invite you.) Once you join, a button will be installed (if you so choose…which you should) on your internet/web tool bar that says “Pin It”. It just sits there ever so quietly. (We will get to how to use that in a minute.)

Next, you need to set up your profile and your boards. Your profile is just that, a picture of you and a little or a lot about yourself. Then your boards are your file cabinets. There is a default list you can put up or you can choose to name your boards whatever you would like. But think of them like cork boards or file cabinets. They are your categories of stuff.

For example, my boards are as follows: House Pretties, Eat It!, My Style (clothes/shoes, jewelry), rugs, yard dreams, crafties, favorite places and spaces, gift ideas, ideas for and about kids, products I love, quotes and reminders, organize it!, clean it!, party ideas, Christmas, maternity style, baby stuff, love and mushy stuff and education ideas. Whew! That’s a lotta boards! But I have a special love for each and every one of them. They are so….pretty. 😀

Q: What do I Pin? And How do I pin it?

A: You have two options for pinning things. Either you can just repin things that are on the home page of Pinterest (this includes things that your friends have already pinned/people you are “following”) or you can pin things that you see as you browse the internet.

To pin/repin things you see already on Pinterest, just look at the home page, hover over the picture/image and choose “repin”. You decide which of your “boards” you want to file it in and then you should describe it or write a note to yourself. I mean, you may want to remember why you did it or what you liked about it later.

To pin things you see online that you like, just browse the internet like you normally would. Say you are on allrecipes.com and you see something super tasty. While on that page, you take your mouse and click your quiet little “Pin It” button. A page of pictures will pop up asking you what you want to pin (it’s visual so it pins pictures), so click what you want to pin, pick your board and describe it so you don’t forget what it is or why you like it/pinned it.

Now that you’ve pinned it, you have a visual link to where you found that item. So if you were perhaps dream shopping and you decide to buy that thing you can’t get out of your head, just click on it from your Pinterest board and it’ll take you back to where you found it!

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I am not sure what else to add here. I mean, just in toggling between this blog post and my pinterest page, I’ve managed to get sidetracked by fun stuff to pin countless times. It’s taken me two days to write this post! HA! I will add that I actually maintain/update my boards. I delete pins that I’ve changed my mind about and I double check links to make sure they work before I repin (most of the time).

Go, be inspired and check out Pinterest! Dream a little dream just for fun.

Any questions?