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I think I use the word “inspiration” in every single post. I apologize, but I can’t stop. Maybe I should look up some synonyms… muse, awakening, brainchild, motive, revelation, spark, vision, whim… hmm I think I will stick with inspiration. Muse just sounds like something from Greek mythology, brainchild is just plain creepy, and all of the other words just don’t describe it adequately. Sure, an inspiration causes a spark, revelation, and motive for me to try something, but those are all occurrences AFTER I have a moment of inspiration. So consider yourself warned, this post will be abusing that word (inspiration) more than usual.

My new form of inspiration has been Pinterest. It is my new happy place. When I am sad, I just go there and always see something that makes me smile. If you have not tried it out, you need to.  Now.

This is the electronic version of inspiration boards. I used to cut out images from magazines and tape them up in my locker in high school or dorm room in college or have ripped out pages scattered across my desk at home now. They were images that spoke to me in some way. I wanted to hold on to them, remember, and try to recreate them in my own way. Either I liked the outfit, the makeup, the furniture, the decor, a place I wanted to travel to, whatever.

At first I didn’t get how Pinterest worked. It’s just a long list of photos and pictures with people’s comments. I was also reluctant join another community that I would have to keep up with. But it’s not like that at all.  You can use it only when you are looking for ideas, or just browse around until you find something that, yep here it comes, inspires you.

It’s basically a time suck place to go explore various images people post in different categories for inspiration. You can go through categories or just search by keywords. These images come from personal photography, magazines, celebrities, photo shoots, products, anything goes. You can also post your own. There is a tool bar you can get and when you are browsing anywhere on the internet and find an image that inspires you, you can “pin” it to your inspiration board on Pinterest.

You can see who pinned something, where it came from, a comment on why it inspired them, and what inspiration board of theirs it was pinned to. So it creates a community! If, for example, you search through someone else’s party ideas and love them, you can “follow” them and always see the images they “pin” to a specific topic or just in general.

When you create an account you create boards that you can categorize any way you like. For example, fashion, hairstyles, shoes I want, ways to decorate a specific room, birthday party ideas, books I want to read, furniture, recipes, literally anything you want to collect on an inspiration board.

Let me explain with specific examples of my finds.

I am in the process of looking for ways to decorate some of the many bare walls still left in our home. Here are some inspirations I have “pinned” to my “wall decor” inspiration board on Pinterest. I especially saw a lot of picture frame ideas that I loved, in order to personalize our place a bit more.

 or this one:

 
 

We have three weddings we are going to this summer. So I am on the lookout for different looks for formal events and have pinned these to my “wedding style” inspiration board. Here are just a few of mine. The general reoccurring theme in this board is ruffles, nude platforms, turquoise jewelry, and braids. You can go to my boards to see more.

Source: bakersshoes.com via mila on Pinterest

 
 

I just set out on Pinterest looking for some looks and after seeing the reoccurring pattern in all the favorites that I pinned, I realized that’s the kind of look I’d like to go for. It doesn’t mean I’ll buy all of these exact items. They are just inspirations for what I am looking for when I am shopping. In looking through pinterest I’ve also caught myself gushing over different forms of ruffles that I loved (not just clothes but bedding and frosting!) that I couldn’t help myself from creating an “i love ruffles” inspiration board!

So whether you are planning an event, looking for gift ideas, DIY ideas, or are just plain bored and need a lift in your day - Pinterest is a lot of fun. (No, they are not paying me for this endorsement I just really love it and wanted to share).

So go on now. Go to Pinterest, sign up for an account. There’s a waiting list so it takes a few weeks to get an account. And then once you have one find me so we can inspire each other :)

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