Pinterest Time

So.... there's this little thing out there on the internet called Pinterest. Maybe you've heard of it? ;)

Let me be honest. I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon early... and jumped right back off. I begged and pleaded for a friend to send me an invitation, then created an account, quickly became overwhelmed, and quit. Yup- I quit Pinterest. 

But.... not for long. I kept seeing my friends little "pins" pop up on their Facebook feeds and... well, I got kind of jealous. I wanted to be part of that club (again). All these fun recipes! Craft ideas for my kids! Teacher blogs! Hilarious little ecards! Amazing home decor ideas that I could never really afford... but could possibly make myself! So... I begged and pleaded once again and here I am- a Pinterest junkie. My kids are in bed and (usually) sound asleep by 8:00. Hubby stays up with me to watch the news- then hits the hay. Then...... it's PINTEREST TIME! Each night I pour myself a glass of wine, turn on 30 Rock reruns on Netflix, and promise myself that I am going to spend a half hour or so looking for ideas I can to use with my students (cough, cough). Then, somewhere between midnight and 1 am, I yawn and reluctantly close down the computer and fall into bed with visions of soft pretzel recipes and homemade bird houses dancing in my head.... 

Then came summer. Our big summer project? To remodel the basement. Before we could begin anything, we had to clear out boxes and boxes and more boxes of.... well, stuff. Once I got started, I went a little crazy. I went on a purging bender. I cleared out those boxes. I cleared out closets. I cleared out the garage. I cleared out the back of the minivan (yuck!) I even spent an entire afternoon deleting old pictures and files from our computer. The only thing left was... Pinterest. I know. I know. It's in cyberspace. It's not really clutter. But in my mind, all I could picture was this crazy, overcrowded bulletin board with little scraps of paper all over it.... and like, 70% of it was in all reality things I would never, ever begin to try. 

I realize that everyone uses Pinterest in a different way. I was never one of those girls who had a "dream" box with clippings of my favorite prom dresses or wedding hairstyle ideas. I do, however, have a large basket on a shelf in my kitchen where I drop in recipes that I rip out of magazines. I have to try them, gauge my family's reaction to them, and then decide if they are worthy of an actual recipe card in the recipe box! That's what I wanted Pinterest to be for me- a little cyber "I'd like to try this someday" basket. 

So, I started purging. If I clicked on the pin, and it let me to some weird place on the internet and not the actual website/blog post- I deleted (try this- you'll be amazed at how many of those "pins" are really nothing at all!) If it was a recipe I knew I'd never actually buy the ingredients for- I deleted. If it was a cool "home project" for a room I don't even have- I deleted. If it was a sewing project for the 10 year old, dust-covered sewing machine boxed up in my basement- I deleted. 

Of the pins that were left, I vowed to try at least one a week. If I loved it, it stayed. If I hated it- it went. Getting rid of clutter. 

ONE. PIN. AT. A. TIME. 

So, you ask... what have a tried? Let me share some of my successes with you.... 

 Found this monster cake on Pinterest. With 3 little girls, I foresee years of butterfly and princess cakes, so when my mom asked me to bake a cake for my dad's 65th birthday in July, I got to try THIS guy out. SUCCESS!

My 2 oldest daughters got really excited about Father's Day this year. I found this idea on Pinterest, tweaked it a bit to make it "our own" and this was the finished product. These now proudly sit on dad's desk at work. (Is it wrong that I really want them to make me one for Mother's Day?) SUCCESS!

And... my favorite project of the entire summer.... So many people had "pinned" this Pottery Barn growth chart knockoff- and when I really LOOKED at it- it was really easy! 3 hours later- Viola! I am so proud of this! (by the way- it's actually hanging in my kitchen now- I just propped it up next to the piano to take the picture!) SUCCESS!

So... what's my point? To summarize.... 

....have you??? 

Happy crafting!

Live simply. Love generously.

Care deeply. Speak kindly.