Several weeks ago at a soap class a gal named Ellen was telling me about this website. I was intrigued, but, it took me a while to actually use the invite she sent me to look around the Pinterest site and see what it had to offer.
Imagine that each wall in your home was a memory board--a visual reminder of every thing that caught your eye on the web. Let's say one wall was all the recipes you found that you wanted to try one day. Maybe another wall is full of fun craft projects you want to do with the kids. Another wall is full of pictures of plants you want in your garden. How about a wall of the best vacation sites for that dream vacation? Or cute shoes, dresses--even wedding dresses that you hope to buy, make or just look at every day.
Pinterest allows you to set up these virtual "walls" filled with all the memory boards (or pin boards) you can imagine. The possibilities are endless and I have been spending
endless hours trying to browse through all the sites that my fellow pinners are finding every day. The official reason for the site: "Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes." Below is a screenshot of some of my boards.
So far I have boards like the basics I described above. I also found several cute pigs that were just begging for their own memo board, which I of course titled, "When Pigs Fly!" There is my board for projects inside the house, projects for the yard (like the potters bench I am going to make--a screen shot is below) and one for the books and movies I love. Of course, I no longer have time to read or go to the movies because I am never going to leave the Pinterest site. If your soap order is late, now you know why!
Which of course leads me to my real problem with Pinterest and all cool websites out there. I no longer really have time to surf the web as I am trying to keep hubby and the pets happy and fed, running a business from home and trying to get showered before I eat lunch. Just finding all these projects, pictures and websites are fine. But, to truly make it all fit into my lifestyle I actually need the time to make these projects happen. Eventually that means getting up from the desk, writing down your plan and then going to the lumber yard to get everything you need--which takes more TIME.
I like projects. I LOVE being able to finish projects. I fear that many of the things I see people pinning are just being added to an unending list that will never have anything crossed off. That seems like a waste of time. It also makes me feel like I am writing down Paris Hilton's shopping list--filled with things I obviously will never be able to afford.
So, I hope I can find a way to balance the time to find my next great project with the time it takes to make it a reality. Wish me luck. And remember, if you don't get a return call, I am probably stuck on Pinterest looking for potters benches!