Pinterest!

So, another online obsession begins.  And this time, it's really really a problem.  Ask my husband.  Last weekend I spent a collective 5 hours on http://www.pinterest.com/.  A fellow homeschool mom turned me on to it and it's been goodbye laundry, goodbye dishes, breakfast for dinner for several weeks now.  LOL.  

Pinterest is basically a digital "inspiration board".  If you're like me, you have a bulletin board or a binder or SOMETHING that has ideas that you collect from magazines.  Also maybe some fabric swatches, paint samples for your dream laundry room, some doodles, a business card from a roadside diner, a beautiful label from an imported Italian soda, just things that are so YOU.

My bulletin board in my craft studio.
 Love to look at it, but there's never enough corkboard space!

With this site, you can keep them all in one place and share them with your friends.   There are already hundreds of thousands of photos pinned by other people that you can re-pin to your board.  But the best part about it is that with the "Pin It" feature, you can get any photo from any site (from Google Images to Martha Stewart to DIY stuff--anything at all that has a photo) and tack it on your board!  Love this.

So, yes, it's a great deal about sharing....people really get to know all about you by browsing your boards.  But it's also about keeping the creative juices flowing, keeping yourself inspired and being able to sit back and flip through photos thinking, "Yes!  This is what I'm all about!" 

There's something for everyone!  Want to start a pinboard about Children's Birthday Party ideas?  Books You've Read and Recommend?  Pastries You Want To Bake?  Products You Swear By?  Favorite Movie Posters?  Great Sayings You Want To Cross-Stitch and Hang in your Hallway?   Do it!  I have boards going in a variety of different genres and I switch them up every now and then.  It's completely addicting and so fun.

I'll be honest, I've been in a rut this year.  Maybe two years.  Homeschooling drains you sometimes, mind, body and spirit. We forget that we were human once upon a time.  That we had dreams, plans, mosaic birdbaths to make and trips to the south of France to take......Pinterest helps me keep my dreams alive.  I've just started a new board called "Teacher's Lounge" where I'm hoping to pin all of my favorite teacher ideas, science experiments, read-alouds and field trip ideas. 

So, hop on over and check me out at www.pinterest.com/bookwormblonde.   And then discover yourself while you're there!