I Was Skeptical, I’ll Admit…

…when I first saw people talking about Pinterest on the Twitter.

And isn’t that so 2011, by the way? When you find out about a new social media site by way of another social media site? AND THEN YOU BLOG ABOUT IT?

Anyway, I know that Melanie mentioned Pinterest in her post today, so I thought I’d chime in, too. Mainly because I didn’t sleep much last night and I’m a little edgy and I found out this morning that I need four new tires for my car and it’ll do me some good to focus on something happy like Pinterest since now I’m at the tire place waiting to get the new tires installed and hoping I don’t go all weak in the knees when I pay for them because do you know what new tires are not?

Cheap. They are not cheap. They are the opposite of cheap, in fact.

But I just keep reminding myself that I’d rather pay for tires than buy a car.

This may not make sense to anyone else, but remember: I am somewhat crazy with the tired. And somehow it makes me feel better to think about writing a check for tires vs. haggling over the price of a car. And then having to pay for that car. So in the grand scheme of things, I’ll take the tires.

At least this is what I’m telling myself.

Anyway. Pinterest. Yes. The topic at hand.

I avoided Pinterest for the longest, thinking that I didn’t understand it and I didn’t know how I would use it and I didn’t need one more social media anything and blah blah blah. I actually de-activated my Facebook account at the beginning of the summer because it just got to be too much of a mindless distraction. I mean, I’m just as tickled as I can be that that friend of mine from middle school has been working out and that her shoulders look fantastic, but one day when I realized that she had actually posted a picture of her shoulders and that I was looking at it, wondering, Gosh, I wonder how many shoulder presses she had to do to get those results?, I snapped to attention and thought THIS, THIS IS MADNESS. I haven’t seen this person in 94 years and I’m giving great thought to a picture of her SHOULDERS?

Clearly something had to give. So I de-activated my account, and do you know that I haven’t missed it very much at all? It’s almost felt like a relief.

But this past weekend I let my Pinterest curiosity get the better of me, and I signed up and logged on and OH MY, may I just say?

Pinterest is lovely.

I don’t even know how to describe it, really, but it’s almost like you’re building your own magazine of all the things you think are beautiful. Or funny. Or worth trying with your kids. And when you see something you like, you “pin” it to a board. People can see your boards, and you can see other people’s boards, too, and if you’re a visual person like I am, it will make you so happy to see so much inspiration floating around.

And do you know what I didn’t expect? Pinterest is actually HELPFUL. I feel like it’s really helped me focus in terms of what I want to do with a few projects that I’ve been working on. I also love to see what other people have pinned to their boards, love to see what other people have discovered online.

You know, lighthearted little funnies like this:

Source: google.com via Sophie on Pinterest


And this:


And this vintage map of my home state, which I totally ordered:

Source: etsy.com via Sophie on Pinterest


And this, MY WORD at the pretty:


So all in all, I have to say: I’m a fan.

Have any of you tried it yet?

edited to add: Megan has written a super-helpful Pinterest tutorial – such good info!

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Comments

  1. Welcome to the Pinterest addiction! Unlike other social media forms, I think this one is so helpful! I have found countless new recipes and fun projects to do around my home from that little gem. It was obsession at first sight.

  2. I haven’t tried it! I’m afraid!! :)
    I de-activated as well almost a year ago…life is simpler without facebook :) I might just have to Pinterest & see how it goes.

  3. How do you sign up? All I could find was a button to “request and invite”. Then I got an email thanking me for my request and telling me that I would receive and invite soon. This is sounding like grade school. I never got to sit at the cool kids table in the lunchroom and now I can’t seem to get on the cool kids website.

  4. Man! I just joined on Sunday, literally. I went and tried to log in and then got the whole “wait in line until we’re ready to have you” email. So I texted my sister and asked her to send me an invite. Lo and behold, I am totally with you. I didn’t get. Didn’t understand why I would need it. And now, I’m hooked. It’s the PERFECT place to remember all those things I see or read on various blogs and say to myself, “Well, I’ll give that a try. And I’m certain I’ll remember where I found it, so know need to bookmark it or anything.” You know how well that goes…
    Glad to hear I’m not alone.

  5. Love it and have to limit my time on the site – I could stay up all night pinning!!!!

  6. I love it! But it is totally addictive, so I have to regulate my time there!

  7. I haven’t tried it yet but Oh My Word that not camping thing would be Pinterest item #1 if I ever do!!! And I want to add an “amen!” to your lack of Facebook. People look at me like a deranged antisocial whacko when I tell them I don’t do FB and don’t plan to because the online time wasting and I have….well, we have a past, shall we say? It’s best we avoid each other.

    • Kimberly says:

      I’m with you, Sarah. I wish I had a facebook maybe but…there are people I want to forget about, ya know?

  8. Welcome to the wonderful world of Pinterest :)

    I LOVE it :)

  9. I’m very visual and as soon as I discovered Pinterest, I knew I was HOME. I do still have Facebook…because I have to share some of the things I pin with everybody I know. I mean, really.

    I have pinned hundreds of things. Some with a purpose, some just because I appreciate their beauty and want to look at them again, some for creative inspiration, some because they are FOOD and seeing the finished product is great for helping me decide on recipes I want to try. I also love seeing things that are so perfect for friends and sending them their way. Things they never would have seen otherwise and love themselves.

    So many reasons to use and love Pinterest. So few not to. I am addicted for sure. Happily addicted. It’s a visual person’s dream come true.

  10. Girl!! I, too, was a bit late to the Pinterest game too — seems it took off while I was traipsing through the wilds of the Rockies. I didn’t get it at first, but once it took I fell for it! Love it. Loads of fun.

  11. My daughter is addicted but I’m afraid to click on. Do I need more online distractions? I’m sure I’ll get there eventually-I’m always late to the trendy parties.

  12. I don’t use it a ton but I have found it useful…it helps me keep track of recipes and crafty ideas I find around the web so I don’t have to Favorite Place them all or print them out. Lots of advantages! If anyone wants to follow me, you can find me under MBryt1 or Mary Vogel.

  13. Well, every single blog, comment, etc… that I’ve read in the last few days has mentioned Pinterest. I just feel SO FAR BEHIND already that I’m a little intimidated about jumping on board the caboose, so to speak.

    Is it easy? Could a technologically “limited” individual partake?

  14. Kimberly says:

    Re: deactivating Facebook…I wish some wives and moms of little kids would quit spending so much time on the facebook and start raising their little ones correctly and start getting their priorities where they should be. Many Christian moms I know are forgoing their first responsibilities to post things like, “Wow, my kids are all crying and hungry cuz I really need to go to the store and buy some groceries”. Start putting God first, your husband and kids second, and straightening your house. I don’t know about ya’ll but when I had little kids I was so busy with them, housework, laundry, groceries, and cooking, I didn’t have two seconds to call my own…including going to the bathroom!! k…gettin’ off my soapbox now.

  15. Haven’t tried it but it keeps popping up in blogs that I read and I keep thinking that I should try it. My son also told me that I would like Stumble Upon (I think that’s the name of it) Had to bring my sewing machine in for cleaning so I have some free time on my hands. I think I’ll look into it. Is it addicting?

  16. I recently got the Pinterest bug too! I’ve enjoyed finding photos of things I love or places I want to visit. I also have found things I definitely DO NOT want to do or be.

  17. I’ve never facebooked, twittered or even texted. Blogging is my time-waster, I mean, time consumer. I do love looking at other’s Pinterest accounts though. I checked out a few boards and bookmarked them. Easy recipes and craft ideas galore. So yes I love it, but I love looking at everybody else’s. ;) I don’t know that I’ll take the plunge, though.

  18. I recently stumbled on Pintrest myself, but I love, love, love it. It is so easy to use. It really inspires me and makes me want to find my creative side. (Honestly, do round people have “sides”.? HA!) If anyone would like to follow me, you can search for “Tami”. I’m the one with the pink flower for my profile picture.

  19. *Lurve* me some Pinterest!! (Thanks for reminding me I hadn’t had my daily dose…headed there right after this comment.) I was telling my 19yo that I think it is totally cool and she was all, “Why?” I told her I see it as kind of a visual bookmarking system. I can actually *see* what I’ve saved as being of interest, rather than looking at list of words/bookmark names (and have you ever forgotten to name a bookmark and wound up with “home” as a bookmark name?). I definitely am a visual person, and I guess that’s why it is so appealing to me.

  20. Welcome to wonderfully fabulous world of Pinterest!! it’s an amazing place but be careful you will get sucked in!! You should post a spot on your blog to follow you!!!
    Have a an awesome pinning day!!!! I’m so glad to have someone else enjoy my addiction!

  21. I joined Pinterest a few weeks ago although I haven’t “pinned” much lately. It inspires me to clean the house. :)

  22. I big, fat, puffy heart (with extra glitter) LOVE Pinterest! But I definitely have to regulate my time on there. :)

  23. I have not yet tried Pinterest, but I do feel the inexorable pull toward it. But as someone who just signed up for Twitter (does this make me a Twit? Seriously, am I a Twitterer? This is really bothering me.), I think Pinterest may be a ways away for me.

    I do give made props to anyone who has kicked FB. I am simply addicted. I fear a 12 step program may be in my near future. Maybe I can substitute Pinterest for FB?!

  24. Annette says:

    Sophie- Do you know if this would be a good thing for a teenage girl (15). We don’t do the facebook thing around home (just a personal choice we made), but this seems like it would spark her creative/visual side- in moderation of course. No pressure to reply, but any thoughts would be aprreciated. Thanks!

    • Good for you, Annette! MySpace was all the rage when my daughters were teenagers and we made a similar personal choice. I’m pretty sure our teenagers are healthier with minimal “social networking,” she says as she comments on a stranger’s comment, hehe :)

    • Annette, I just wanted to chime in that I went over to Pinterest to look around (couldn’t figure out a THING) but on the front page were pinned a couple of pictures I wouldn’t want a teen to see. So I’m sure it has its wonderfulness but like the rest of the internet, it bears monitoring!

  25. It’s been in my peripheral vision for awhile now. Not sure I totally understand it…the comments here have helped a little bit and the whole finding stuff I like and pinning it to my board so I don’t forget about it totally floats my boat! I might have to take the plunge myself since both Ann Voskamp and Melanie mentioned it today so I surfed on over and then found about 47 things I need to refer back to just perusing the front page. Scary! So can you “pinterest” things from any website? How does that work I wonder…I obviously need to request my invite to the groovy kids party and figure that out!

    I’m hoping it makes more sense to me than Twitter…I still cannot, for the life of me, figure out what’s so stinkin’ important that non-famous people need to reduce it to 140 characters and share it with the internet. I hate feeling all old and judgy and behind the times at the ripe old age of 40!!

  26. Have mercy do I love the Pinterest! I had been an onlooker for months, but finally bit the bullet last weekend and said “sign me up” real loud because I couldn’t stand it another minute. Of course now I’m just hoping all the cute stuff I missed out on pinning will resurface somehow so that I can pin it to my own board and have my own beautiful collage!

    Do I sound like an addict?

    Do they have a group for the pinterest addicts yet?

  27. I got my invitation, but I don’t know how to do it!

    That being said, I also have a follower, because I sent an invitation to one of my friends, and now I guess I have created a big ol’ problem.

    ‘Cause neither one of us knows how to do this thing!

    Wanna follow me too? (Although, that wouldn’t work well, ’cause you evidently know how to work the Pinterest!) ;o)

  28. Our lives are parallel. I got 4 new tires on Monday. Dang Robyn sent me the pinterist or whatever its called “invite” today. I signed up. I have NO CLUE WHAT I’M DOING. Its late….ahem…8pm…and I don’t think deeply at night so I have NO CLUE WHAT THIS THING IS and I’ll figure it out later. ;)

  29. I’ve been a FULL-ON FAN since the moment I first heard tell (is that a thing?) of Pinterest, I even wrote up this little Beginner’s Guide, just for fun: http://www.sortacrunchy.net/sortacrunchy/2011/05/pinterest-a-beginners-guide.html

    Happy Pinning! (and bummer about the tires)

  30. love pinterest. LOVE.

  31. Destiny says:

    Please forgive my ignorance and explain in a follow post perhaps. Do I have to log-in to Pinterest via Facebook or Twitter? I don’t use either and can’t figure out how to log on with them.

  32. Merritt says:

    I want one of those maps!!! How do I get one?

  33. I’m convinced. I want Pinterest so badly now. I recently used Evernote to help me keep track of inspiration for planning my son’s birthday party, and I loved it so much, but this looks way better. If I ever get an invite I’m going to get my whole family involved.

    Now I need to tell you my new tire story. We had plans to go to my parents’ house on the fourth of July. I wasn’t really thrilled about the hour drive since I’m very pregnant and just want to sit around with my feet up, but you do what you gotta do. And my SUV is pretty comfortable, so it could have been worse. Well, it got worse. About a mile down the road my husband realized that the car was driving funny and pulled over. Turned out I had a huge gash in one of my tires. So we turned around to switch cars. We changed from my comfy SUV to my husband’s ten-year-old Sentra. I had to go in the house to get a pillow for my back or I wouldn’t make the drive. Then I got in the car (which was like sitting on the floor, by the way) and pulled my belly in after me. I felt every crevice of the Houston highway system in that car. I tried to tell myself that I was just thankful that my husband realized there was a problem and that we didn’t get into an accident where my husband, son, or unborn son could have been hurt. And that I didn’t end up in early labor in that car, reminiscent of an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” But I was really just irritated that we would have to spend money on a new tire.

  34. Love me some Pinterest, Sophie! And you know what else is fun? Trying to describe it to someone who’s never been on. My description was similar to yours, kinda like perusing a neverending magazine you can fill with all the things that tickle your own personal fancy.

    And now I have piles of recipes and projects just waiting for me to find some TIME in my day. Good stuff :)

  35. The blog I looked at just before yours was talking about the new Google+ and I made a comment I didn’t know about that or about Pinterest. Then I come here and you’re talking about it. I may have to check this out. I’ve been contemplating dropping FB too.

  36. Congrats on joining. So glad it has changed your life as it too has changed mine. Ha!

  37. votemom says:

    sites like this make me discontent. is it just me?

  38. Hey all…sorry for the off-topic post! We have a little family blog over on the Cherokee site…check us out when you have a minute! (I know it sounds corporate, but it really, really is just a family blog. Honest!) Anyway, we’re giving away 10 free AAA memberships to readers and Facebook followers. Just tell us your best childhood road trip memory and what made it memorable…

    http://cherokeeusa.com/blog/

    Thanks for visiting!

  39. I am so into Pinterest! Love that now I can “pin” anything I find over the Net and never forget about it :)
    p/s: if you need a pinterest invite, send me an email :)

  40. Pinterest is WONDERFUL. I have literally wasted HOURS on Pinterest (and recently repinned a couple of yours on this entry!

  41. Totally agree with your comment that Pinterest in HELPFUL! I have tried three new recipes I found on pinterest and the family loved them.
    I also have a Must Have board. I gave the link to my hubby and told him that’s where he can look for ideas for birthday gifts that I would love but wouldn’t normally buy for myself.

  42. I love pinterest! It helps me keep track of recipes and craft projects I want to try, as well as to design my someday house and eventual vacations :)

  43. I love Pinterest! I’m so new at it too, so far I’m just using it as a digital bulletin board but it frees my brain from trying to remember “something I saw somewhere”! Glad you are enjoying it too!! (Love the funnies!)

  44. O.K…you and Melanie have me tempted to try this Pinterest thing…but I’m still wrestling with the i-don’t-need-another-social-media issue. Very likely to cave soon. ;)

  45. I received my invite to Pinterest today! I feel so accepted. Now I gotta figure it out!

  46. I too requested an invitation, but it was 3 weeks ago. I never got anything. Hmmm…