Mom’s Quick Guide to Using Pinterest

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Pinterest. That glorious word to some of us, the dreadful word to others, and the word of clueless-ness to many. Fear not mamas, I am here to provide you with a quick guide (note, QUICK, because who has time for long, drawn out and stupidly confusing) to utilizing this (in my opinion) GREAT tool for various arenas of your daily life.

There is one major rule though. You MUST promise me that you will NOT become an “all of my world is determined by how many successful Pinterest projects/meals/adventures I complete” obsessed lady. I am here to tell you, that is easy to do, but you need to go into the world of Pinterest with a focus. NOT with an expectation to turn into super-crafty-repurposing-master chef-professional decorator mom. Trust me. You will fail.pinterest-pin-it-button

Note these quick and easy steps to become familiar with Pinterest (if you are not), and to organize your pinned-life, if you are already on Pinterest.

#1 – Make an account.

**Go to Pinterest and do just that. It is easy, and that is the one necessary step.

#2 – Identify areas of interest, and make “Boards”.

**This in essence is a way to organize your thoughts and ideas. For me, I have a variety of boards related to my season of life and my interests and needs. Enter a word, item, idea that you are hoping to find information on into the search bar, and voila, you will now be searching pins. From there you pin them (as shown on the visuals), and have saved them to a specific board you have identified. I have multiple food related boards, and have found that if I organize them even more so into categories, then I am most successful in utilizing them and turning them into ‘real life’ versus staring at them like a lost puppy. For example, all of my food boards are titled ” Mangia” (yes, I am Italian), and then I categorize further from there with boards such as Mangia – Healthy SweetsMangia – Meat Main Dish, and Mangia – Crock Potting (yes, those are links to my boards, so go explore and find yourself something for dinner!).  I also have the same idea for my kiddos,  my home, health related information, and the list goes on.

#3 – Record what you have done, tried, tasted.

**I LOVE doing this. It is a great reminder for me as to what has worked, failed, and what I want to try again. Staying with the food theme, I maintain a board titled Tried & Yummy ,where I pin any and all recipes I have found on Pinterest that my family has enjoyed. It is a quick way to locate a recipe, and reminds me of an online version of a favorite-recipe cookbook. Doing the same with house projects, places you have traveled, DIY projects, kids crafts, etc, is a great way to track what you have completed, and thus may want to repeat in the future. This concept is a great feature of Pinterest, as you not only can you record what you want to do, but what you have done.

#4 – Make it a team effort or full of private ideas

**Pinterest doesn’t have to be for all the world to see, and it also can be shared with friends or made into a team effort. You have the ability to make ‘secret’ boards, where only you know of its existence. This is great for when you are planning a party, looking at baby things (and have not announced that you are expecting), or are looking for DIY gift ideas that you want to remain incognito. You also can share your boards with one or multiple friends. I personally have a shared board with another mama friend called “On Our Menus”, and we post menu ideas for that week to the board, and many times help the other inadvertently figure out what the heck we will cook that week. Its fun!pinterest-vs-twitter

Regardless of how familiar you are with Pinterest, these are just a few simple ideas and recommendations to make your Pinterest adventure worth while, and more then just pinning a bunch of things you will never complete. Have fun, be creative, and play!

For those of you on Pinterest, how do you organize your boards?

Any words of wisdom for newbies?

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Stephanie
Hiya Mamas! I'm Stephanie, mother of 2 little ladies, wife to a 6'4 IT guy, occupational therapist, small health business owner, Sinclair adjunct faculty member, avid UD flyer fan, and a contributor for this awesomely lovely blog! Welcome! After growing up in Beavercreek, I received my BA in Psychology and my Master of Occupational Therapy, both from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, PA. In essence, Im a city lover and a farm-girl all wrapped up in one. Against everything I could possibly control (insert - 'wanted to move far away') , I moved back to Ohio after grad school, started working as an OT, met my husband, and will never leave. Nope. Im 937 for life. I love roasted broccoli, smoothees, and sparkling water, with a side of dark roast coffee and almond milk creamer. My 'me time' consists of HIIT training, long walks, exploring local, trying new foods, and following a strict 'flip flops until the first snow' rule. I have either been pregnant or breastfeeding non stop since 2011 - so ask me anything about either one of those topics and I am sure I can give you some sort of (comical) insight. My heart is with serving others, and I have had the opportunity to serve on mission trips to Montana twice, and on occupational therapy mission trips to Guatemala twice. I am hoping when the littles get older (not that I am in a rush - stop growing already!) I can give more time to local organizations in need of volunteers. We love our new church, our new neighborhood park, and our new home, all which we acquired in the past year. Happy blog reading my friends!