How Pinterest Has Changed My Life

So, is everybody familiar with Pinterest by now? Because this post is about to be all Pinterest love.

In case you are not familiar, Pinterest is a sort of online bookmarking website. You can "pin" pictures from all over the internet, organizing them into categories of your choosing. When you go back to Pinterest to review your pins, clicking on the picture takes you to the original website. It's quite a handy little contraption. Oh, how I wish something like this had existed when I was planning my wedding, because I would have been ALL. OVER. IT.

Not only can you pin things yourself, but you can also follow friends to see what they are pinning, and even peruse "everything" to see all kinds of other pins people are finding. Let me tell you what, it is a creative DREAM. Pinterest is basically an orgy of creative and inspiring ideas. It's amazing. On Pinterest, you can pretty much find any delicious/inspiring/crafty/beautiful/artistic/organizational/stylish thing you could ever dream of, and then some.

To illustrate, let's look at some examples...

First, let's talk food. I started a "Food" category for myself, which quickly turned into "Booze and Sweets," because let's face it, I'm not pinning veggies. So, you want crazy desserts that boggle the mind? If you want cookie dough wrapped in a brownie dipped in hot fudge stuffed with peanut butter cups frosted with cheesecake and baked into a cake, you could probably find it. Some of the ideas are delicious and quite tempting, and some are so out there that I feel like I gained 10 pounds just by looking at pictures of them.

Peanut butter cup brownie tort. Yeah.

Source: culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com via Meghan on Pinterest

This candy corn cheesecake rocks. I'll be shocked if it does not show up on our Thanksgiving table this year.
Source: grinandbakeit.com via Meghan on Pinterest

How cute is this cookie?
Source: crazydomestic.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Maybe you're not so into stuffing your face, but prefer some home decor/organization inspiration. Don't worry, Pinterest has you covered!

This is definitely on my MUST-DO list: frame some lace, and use it to store earrings. So much more elegant than my current "throw earrings in Ziplock bag" storage solution.

Source: treyandlucy.blogspot.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Seriously, how brilliant is this? Bread tags as cord labels. Genius.

Source: unplggd.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Love this.
Source: etsy.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Adorable towel storage in the bathroom! (Obviously as an inhabitant of a storage-challenged apartment, I am drawn to organizational/storage-related pins!)

Source: imbusyprocrastinating.blogspot.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Are you bored and need some crafty inspiration? Oh, have no fear. Inspiration abounds.

I know I'm just learning how to knit, but it is my goal to get good enough at knitting to make these little Gators. How cute are they?!

Source: mochimochiland.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Clearly, I need to start drinking more wine to make this adorable heart wreath.

(Heather? Molly? Mom? AD? A little help here?)

Source: momscraftyspace.blogspot.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Or, maybe you're just looking for a pick-me-up or some words of wisdom or encouragement. Look no further, my friends.

True.

Source: 364quotes.blogspot.com via Meghan on Pinterest

Love this. Dare to try new things!

Source: designismine.blogspot.com via Meghan on Pinterest

This is something I struggle with quite a bit, so this reminder helps me remember to have faith.

Source: google.de via Meghan on Pinterest

Of course, there is even more to be found on Pinterest: Fashion. Jewelry. Photography. Hair and makeup. Cute animals. Absurd products. Et cetera, et cetera. There's something for everyone, and it is a tremendous time-suck.

However, I can't say that all my time spent pinning has been wasted time. I have already put some of my Pinterest inspirations to use! Care to see how Pinterest has already changed my life?

First, remember those paintings I told you I made for the bedroom in my post about our new apartment? Well, guess where the inspiration came from? That's right - Pinterest!

This inspiration picture, found on Pinterest...

Source: lets-explore.netvia Meghan on Pinterest

...became these paintings in our bedroom!

Also, it's nothing earth-shattering, but Pinterest inspired me to use all those mason jars we have floating around (thanks to sweet tea from Daisy May's) for some bathroom storage:

This inspiration picture of a votive holder stuck in the mouth of a mason jar...

Source: flickr.com via Meghan on Pinterest

...led to the creation of this corner of our bathroom sink, with cotton balls in a mason jar, and bobby pins and Q-tips in old votive holders.

Also, remember that red, white and blue (or really, pink, white and blue) cake I made for July Fourth? Yup, you guessed it - Pinterest.

This inspiration picture (with much more vibrant colors than mine, I must say)...

Source: google.com via Meghan on Pinterest

...brought us this delicious cake in patriotic pastels.

As far as fashion/style goes, Pinterest brought me a great alternative to my normal hair-styling technique of curling with a flat iron. Thanks to a tutorial found on Pinterest, I now mix up my normal heat-heavy styling routine with a new way to get heat-free curls, to give my hair a little break periodically:

This photo on Pinterest led me to this YouTube video for heat-free curls...

Source: flickr.com via Meghan on Pinterest

...which turned out like this, and now is a regular in my hair rotation.

And, have I told you that in addition to magnets, Eric and I have been collecting postcards from our travels? I was at a loss for how to display/store them, because their varying sizes made a photo album impossible, and because we also try to buy local stamps along with our postcards, I didn't want to just glue them in a scrapbook. What is a girl to do? Well, enter Pinterest!

This idea for binding old cards and letters...

Source: simplemom.net via Meghan on Pinterest

...inspired this storage strategy for our postcards. I punched holes in the corners, and strung them onto a book ring. I used a foam sheet to make a front and back cover to protect them. (I'm not over the moon about how my front cover turned out, as the foam "markers" I used wrote a little thicker than I expected, but it works!)

Not bad, eh? I consider myself a fairly creatively-minded individual, so Pinterest is right up my alley. If you are a member of Pinterest, find me! (My username is gatormeg, or there is a link on the right hand side of my blog.) If you are not on Pinterest but want to be, leave your email address in the comments (or email me directly) and I'd be happy to send you an invite.

And thus ends my Ode to Pinterest. Happy pinning!