P…is for Pinterest and Loads of Party Inspiration

DIY, Good Finds, Parties, Random, Uncategorized

Remember these?   

{ image source}

Back when I was a teenager (yes, I know this dates me), every teen girl across America had one of these cork boards hanging in her room cluttered with pictures from topics ranging from fashion, to music, to teenage heart throbs to bedroom makeover ideas.  Concert & movie tickets, notes from friends & old dried corsages & flowers all littered the board.  The idea was simple.  Find something you like and want to remember,  and pin it on the cork board for future inspiration!   Cork boards were part of the way we shared socially as well.  When all of your friends gathered in your room for girl’s night, your cork board became a quick topic of conversation as your girlfriends “oohed” and “ahhed” over the many things you’d pinned.

Fast forward 20+ (ahem) years and this same basic idea has been improved upon in the form of Pinterest (Pin + interest = Pinterest).

What exactly is Pinterest?  I like to describe Pinterest.com as a virtual pinboard for quickly and easily pinning and organizing your favorite ideas.   People use Pinterest to catalog their favorite fashion ideas and recipes,  plan home makeovers, pin pictures from their favorite travel destinations, and my personal favorite–plan parties! 

How does Pinterest work?  While you can find inspiration anywhere, Pinterest is specifically designed to help you save & organize inspiration you find online.  (You can also upload pictures from your computer.) Pinterest allows you to create a new ‘board’ for any category you choose.  You decide what to name your boards and what you ‘pin’ on them using a free “Pin It” bookmarklet you install to your computer.  (Here is just a small sampling of some of my boards to give you an idea.)

 

Let’s say you are looking for ideas for an upcoming Halloween party.  You can create a Halloween themed Pinterest board on which to save all of your ideas.  (See below.)

As you are browsing for ideas online, you discover Anders Ruff’s adorable Haunted Halloween printable package for only $12 over at our shop.  Rather than writing down the website, bookmarking the link, or trying to remember what you saw and where you found it, you can ‘pin’ (save) the idea to a virtual pinboard.  (See below.)

 

As you pin/save various inspiration to your pinboards, you are able to type your own description with each pin.  This could include the price of an item you are thinking about purchasing, a comment about how you might use the item(s) you’ve pinned, a note about what you like, or how you might change something about the pin to fit your needs and so forth!  It’s a pinboard and a notebook all-in-one!

One of the things I think is most genius about Pinterest is that you aren’t just saving images.  You are also saving links which will take you back to the original idea on the very website or blog on which you found it.

Take this fun BOO Meringue tutorial by Maureen:

Source: andersruff.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Now that I’ve saved it to my pinboard, when I am ready to actually go and recreate this idea I just return to my “Halloween” pinboard, click on the picture for the BOO Meringues and it takes me back to the original website so I can read the creator’s comments and tutorial for making my own gorgeous meringues!

Another thing I love about Pinterest is the fact that just like the cork boards of days past, I can still “ooh” and “ahh” over my friend’s boards, and they can still “ooh and ‘aah” over mine.  That’s right, similar to Facebook, you can “follow” your friends and see the things they pin, comment on and/or even like!  In fact, you can even ‘repin’ their ideas to your own pinboards with a click of your mouse!  You can also easily share fun ideas found with a broader audience of friends who might not be on Pinterest.  Pinterest includes the ability to share on Facebook,  Twitter and blogs!  You can even email things you’ve pinned for easy sharing!

For example:  Today I pinned Anders Ruff’s adorable {FREE} “We’ve Been BOOd” door hang tag.  I know many of my friends will be interested in this, so I am also sharing it via Pinterest to my Facebook and Twitter followers.  (Note:  In the time it took me to type this sentence, my pin has already been re-pinned, liked AND shared by others!)

Now if the World Wide Web isn’t a large enough source for ideas, you can also search Pinterest directly for whatever inspiration you are seeking.  It’s a party planner’s paradise as many of the best ideas from websites and blogs are saved in one location.

Currently, Pinterest is by invite only.  If you’d like an invitation to join, leave us a comment below with your email address and I will send you one!

Related posts:

  1. Visit my Halloween Pinterest Board – Guest Pinning for Oriental Trading!
  2. For the Love of Pinterest from The Savvy Socialista
  3. Giveaway & Upcoming Pinterest Party- Nautical 4th of July Printable Collection (DIY)
  4. Fall Porch Makeover Inspiration – Look Three

70 Comments

  8. I would love an invite! So ready to toss out those thick “idea” file folders:)
    Thank You!

    1. You are so welcome! I just sent your invitation. Have fun! You will love this new method for saving ideas!

    1. Charlene, currently Pinterest is still in its ‘testing’ (beta) stage. When you receive an invite, you can register via Facebook Connect or connect through Twitter. I am not sure once Pinterest is fully public if this will change or not. Hope this info helps! Let us know if you want an invitation!

    2. I’m pretty sure you can sign up without one. I have a FB and Twitter account, but I don’t think I used either to sign up because I’m blocked from them at work. I also just asked for an invitation directly from Pinterest and got one. I absolutely LOVE it! It feeds my OCD organizing bug fabulously;)

    1. Thanks Bridget! I’ve pinned lots of my favorite Anders Ruff ideas on my boards! I just sent your Pinterest invitation.

  21. Wow! Thanks for your explanation. I’ve been wondering what it all meant. How fabulous- I’m so sick of keeping hundreds and hundreds of sites in my favourites and then never being able to find them again! I’d love to join.

    1. I LOVE that you thought of your sister first! Fortunately, there are plenty of Pinterest invites to go around. I’ve sent both of you an invitation. Have fun!

  24. wow! a new means to feed my addiction to party planning and my organizational ocd tendencies!! can i please have an invite as well? i LOVE reading all ur posts! thanks<3

    1. I completely agree with you! I have loved Pinterest for both of the reasons you mentioned! Thank you for your compliment. Your invitation has been sent!

      1. Oh Jen, don’t ask what I did with the invite you sent. But could you send me another one? See why I need to get organized?!!

  27. I am very interested and Pinterest. I would absolutely love for you to send me an invite. Thanks!

  34. Thx for explaining!!! I’m apparently still totally old school by bookmarking!
    Please invite:) Thanks!

Comments are closed.