Mothering via Pinterest

Are you on Pinterest? I didn’t understand the hype until a friend sent me an invite, but wow, I sure do now! It’s easy to spend hours checking out all of the pins. The friend who invited me warned me that the site was addictive, and she was right. From home decorating ideas to cool science projects to mommy blogs to beautiful outfits, the site is chock-full of ways that I can bring more beauty and fun into my kids’ lives.

Well, maybe not… after all, the hours that I could spend looking at other people’s homes and crafts and kids are hours that I’m not spending with my own children, doing my own crafts or beautifying my own home! So, after the first week or two, I realized that I needed to stop the insanity, and now I only check back once in a while. With that said, though, I have made an effort to actually do some of the projects I’ve seen; otherwise, what’s the point? Here are a few that we’ve done recently, found originally on Pinterest:

• Heart rocks: This was an adorable idea! We gathered a handful of small stones (maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter) and painted them with acrylic paints. Once they were each a solid color, we used a contrasting color to paint on a heart. The idea in the Pin was to scatter them at the park, in the woods or on the side of the road so that someone walking through the area would find them. My son did throw them on the side of our not-very-traveled street, but I’m not sure if we made anyone’s day.
• Hair chalking: My daughter and I did this recently, and I wrote about it as an idea for a mother-daughter bonding day. Basically, it consists of coloring your hair with chalk pastels and enjoying the bright, temporary color.
• Water-marbled nail art: This is one of my favorite Pinterest projects? It’s difficult to describe in words, but you can watch a tutorial on YouTube. Our results were stunning, albeit not long-lasting, since I have to transfer wet laundry, scrub pans and do other chores not conducive to having fancy nails for more than a day or two.
• Homemade window treatments: From shiny, starry garlands, to creations made with coffee filters and washable markers, to wax-paper-and-melted-crayon ornaments, our big kitchen window has seen some interesting decorations over the past couple of months!

So, if you’re not on Pinterest, I recommend that you check it out. Two caveats: You really can spend way too much time there if you’re not careful, so set a timer or do it on a day when the kids are out with friends. The average Pinterest user spends 90 minutes pinning things so just be warned! The other is that I have heard some talk regarding the potential for lawsuits if you’re posting pictures that you don’t own or have permission to use, so be safe an only pin web pages with the Pinterest logo displayed.

Are you on Pinterest? What is your favorite project that you’ve completed?