PINTEREST

Are you on Pinterest? I LOVE Pinterest! But, I have come to realize that I do not use it like most people seem to. I hear people make comments like "I saw this on Pinterest" or "this recipe came from Pinterest" or "Pinterest has the best ideas"!  But, I rarely go to Pinterest for ideas, recipes, or inspiration (although, sometimes I do). What I DO NOT NEED is one more social-media tool in my life. I don't need one more place I feel like I "need" to check on each day....I have Facebook and way too many blogs I like to keep up with to add something else to the daily checklist.

A snippet of my ridiculously long Google Reader List for Blogs

So, what am I using Pinterest for?! To keep track of all those things I see on all those blogs I'm already reading that I do not want to forget!! I see things on blogs all the time and try to make a mental note of it. Ideas I think would be great to keep in mind for future parties or home decor inspiration or projects I'd like to attempt sometime in the future. And, while the mental note thing works on occasion, it often fails me. Even when I can remember an idea I've seen, the chances of me remembering where I saw it so I can go back and reference it are slim-to-none. Pinterest is GREAT for this!!! I continue to read my design blogs as usual, but when I see an idea I like, I just PIN it! And occasionally, I'll go back and look at my boards so I can remember these things. Or, before hosting a party, I'll go see what I've pinned for ideas.

I've also started having my computer open when I'm flipping through the catalogs that come in the mail. If I see something that I want or something that inspires me, I go find it online and just PIN it!  I even sent a link to my Pinterest to my mom and sister before Christmas and they were just able to browse it and come up with what they wanted to get me for Christmas. So, for me, Pinterest is not just 1 more thing I've added to my life, it's something that has helped me organize and keep track of all these things that were already in my life! I LOVE IT!

Some of the things currently on my "I WANT" Board

And, as far as recipes go, I do like seeing what other people have Pinned, but I am very, very skeptical of the recipes that are on there. Just because one person saw a recipe online that they thought sounded good, Pinned it, and it went Viral DOES NOT mean it is a good recipe. I mean, there is a good chance that the original person who Pinned the recipe hasn't even tried the recipe yet themselves! I haven't personally tried any Pinterest recipes, but I know of at least 2 friends who have tried at least 3 recipes between them that did not turn out well. So, as far as recipes on Pinterest go, I think I'll use it for inspiration, but cross-reference any recipe to other websites before I actually make anything. For that, my favorite is AllRecipes.com. Do you use it?! I LOVE it! You can see how many people have tried a recipe and what they rated it...if a ton of people have given 4 or 5 stars to a recipe, you can count on it being a good one. For instance, this past week, I went to a LEAP DAY Birthday Surprise Party - so much fun! I was asked to take a 7-Layer Dip. Amazingly, this is not a recipe I had ever made before. So, I went to AllRecipes.com to find a recipe. Of course, there was more than one recipe for 7-Layer Dip, but one of them had been rated by 1,500 people and received an average of 5/5 of stars. You just can't go wrong with a recipe that's been rated that high! And, it was a HUGE hit at the party - it was really so good!

So, are you on Pinterest? And what are you using it for? Do you find it's just another thing that adds to the busyness of your day?  Do you find it is a helpful organizational tool?