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Getting Rid of Food and Crafts on Pinterest Made it Fun (for me)

upcycling_board_on_pinterest

I was late to the game with Pinterest. I think it’s still in beta, or maybe invite only, but with many new networks if you aren’t there first you simply aren’t there. I’m not sure that’s true with Pinterest but my late arrival is not helpful.

When I started with Pinterest I followed my facebook friends. Since a large number of my facebook friends are mom bloggers there was a disproportionately large number of pinboards for food and for arts and crafts (pro tip: recipes and crafting how to’s are great for SEO).

I’m not super visual so the idea of a virtual pin board is less exciting to me than a spreadsheet. I can play with Excel for hours and be perfectly delighted. I can’t wield a glue gun for more than 15 minutes without dying of boredom.

Also, let me be the friend that tells you when you have salad in your teeth. The recipes? Not so good. I look at some of the boards and wonder if everyone in the house will drop dead and die of a heart attack before 40. The pictures of the food? Please bloggers I beg you… there are food stylists and food photographers for a reason. The food y’all are photographing is a little unpretty.

I’ve got two boards that I love today. One is a group board for Upcycling and another is automotive.

I’m slowly but surely figuring out how to use Pinterest without feeling like I’ve had a lobotomy. I know marketers love it. I know crafters love it. I know compulsive shoppers and eaters love Pinterest, but I’m trying to find a use for the rest of us.

17 thoughts on “Getting Rid of Food and Crafts on Pinterest Made it Fun (for me)”

  1. I have also unfollowed all “crazy nails” pinboards. I’m 42 years old; Dr. Seuss fingernails are a ‘don’t.’ Losing craft boards, homeschooling boards, cupcake boards and crazy fingernails has made me a much happier Pinner.

    1.  I love the crazy fingernails pins :) I have two little girls who like me to paint pics on their nails. I don’t do anything too time consuming yet because it doesn’t last long with them.

      1. There are some. I avoided it for a long time but was convinced to check it out. There are things there that interest me, most of them relate to places, books and gadgets/cars.

            1.  Just started following you…  Like Jessica, I am late to the Pinterest thing, but starting to get the hang of it.  I am a foodie and love to cook, but I almost no (P)interest is all of the food photos, etc…  I have these old things called Cookbooks – they come in quite handy…  http://pinterest.com/joncornick

              1. I am a fan of cookbooks and I mean that in all sincerity. Although I still tend to adjust every recipe with reckless abandon, but that is a different story altogether.

        1. This is hilarious.  I just put a status update on Face Book saying my Pinterest has turned in to a recipe book.  I am interested in your automotive board, heading over to look at it now.

        2. I enjoy the photography …but have heard pinterest described as “porn” for women…sounds funny but not flattering. For me the jury is still out on it as something I will be interested in enough to draw me away from other things.

        3. I am so not crafty and Pinterest baffles me with its love of all things women’s magazines (which also baffle me). Is there a DNA splice that I need? I have a Game Thrones board and one devoted to my lack of style and another for dead celebrities. Sigh, I am hopeless.

        4. I can see how if you aren’t a visual person, it wouldn’t be as much fun. I attribute the fact that I am so visual to how much I like it. I think it’s a great idea for hoarders because they can hoard things on Pinterest on boards instead of in their homes! Seriously! I like that I won’t have to keep files of decorating ideas (that I’d lose anyway). Inspirational words are uplifting for me to read on rainy or low days. I love looking at real art and illustrations because I don’t get to the museums very often these days. 

        5. I like that you bring something different to the table, as opposed to all of the food and deco stuff. I think your boards will reflect that and people will see women with different interests and take more risks. That’s a great thing. 

        6. I am so glad that you said that about not being a visual person.  I was on Pinterest for about 20 hours … didn’t want to be left behind … but I just didn’t feel a drive to go there.  It felt like a chore to review.  I need words!  

          I also have some intellectual property concerns with Pinterest and am interested in how it’s going to play out.

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