Are you Pinterest-ed?

Have you hear of Pinterest yet? Maybe you have heard people mention it here and there and you have said to yourself, as I used to, "There is NO way I am getting involved in ANOTHER social networking/time waster/addiction". Believe me! I was there! SO THERE!

And then I checked it out!

Here is the deal. There have been a million different things that I have seen online, websites or blogs, that I have LOVED and sworn I would remember to come back for. But I don't. I forget. There is a lot on my mind. Then menu planning or party time comes a long and I am blank! Not one little thing running through my brain! Where are all those good ideas. I can't remember!

I kid you not, a couple of days before I caved and looked into Pinterest I was trying to come up with some way to print, but not print because it would take to much ink, or save, but somehow organize ideas, to my computer. Anything! I needed to find a way to remember some of these things.

My friend Courtney,  is the one who finally got me to surrender to Facebook, and I am glad I did. Really glad. {I love running in to friends that I haven't seen for years and we are already caught up on each others lives, because of FB, then just talking like we have talked everyday for the last few years! LOVE that!} Well I have seen her talk all about her love for Pinterest and one day, after a taunt from me about it, I got an invite to join from her. I let it sit for days in my inbox. Then, I got curious. I checked it out.

It only took about 10 min before I knew my way around....that is a big plus! Then, within 11 minutes, I was TOTALLY IN LOVE!

The Concept: Picture a filing cabinet full of files where you keep ideas. Crafts. Recipes. Organization. Inspiring Quotes. Lists of books you want to read. I could go on and on! Whatever you want, whatever you are interested in. Well, that is Pinterest. You create "boards" which would be like your files. Then, as you see things online that you like, you click a little button on your browser that says, "Pin It", select the picture that you like, select the board you want to put it on and click "Pin It". DONE! It is saved! Now, lets say you saved a recipe. A party is coming up and you are looking for something delish to make. Open up Pinterest. Click on your recipe board. Click on the picture of the item you want to make. In the upper right hand corner there will be a link back to the original website with the instructions! SIMPLE!

You can also "follow" boards that have been created by other people. Either your friends on Facebook, friends from your email, or people that you notice have the same tastes you have.

It is GENIUS!

I have to say that I felt for a long time that I was losing my creative drive. I just didn't feel inspired. Kind of a bummer, with our new house around the corner. Now....I mean, I can't wait to get in that house and get going! I have saved color palettes, crafts, room decor ideas, yard ideas, etc. I feel totally inspired! I love seeing others ideas and then putting my own twist on it!

For dinner, I just made my entire menu from recipes I have found online! All saved on my "YUM" board. I have also found tons of fun ideas for family parties, pot luck get togethers, etc. Don't even get me started on Holiday decor and food ideas! Oh my! I am so excited!

To be honest, I had a hard time dragging myself away from it the first day....ok, and maybe the second! :) I felt like I was going to miss something totally amazing if I wasn't there. I had to set rules. I check once per day, sometimes twice, if I don't have anything else going. I only pin the things that I would do or things that inspire ideas that I would actually like to do. AND, I have learned that it is good to only follow the boards that you are interested in.

When you log in you will be on a page that shows all of the boards you follow. You can scroll through all of the recent pinnings. "Repin" the things you want on your boards. If you notice that there is a lot of room on your page being taken up by things that just don't interest you, go to that persons profile and unfollow that particular board. Easy!

Alright, are you sold yet? You will love it! I promise! I will say that you MUST click on "account" in the top right corner and then select "help". It will take you about 10 minutes to go through all of this. They are fabulous about walking you through everything so you have a really good understanding. I did that and then I totally took off! It was easy!

If you want to try it send me an email at yourlifeuncommon@gmail.com. You have to have an invite to join. If you "request and invite" from them, it could take weeks before you get one, because of the volume of new people joining. I will send you an invite and you can get going right away! :)

WOO HOO!

HAPPY PINNING!