Pinterest - Tool and Stress Reliever!

I am really big on visual stimulation in the form of design.  In the other room, just around the corner, is a room full of bookshelves which are full of magazines and books, which are full of design ideas.  It's a reference library of sorts for my brain and I go there often.  I get weak-kneed and woozy at the prospect of having a very large design/project board, one that I can mess with, change at will, stand back and look at.  One that covers an entire wall!  A huge wall.

We've recently bulldozed (more or less) our front yard without a plan, really.  I think this kind of approach is fun because it's so 'dangerous'!  What I mean is, it's fun to push the envelope and see what can be created just by going with it.  So far we've erected a wall for an enclosed patio and I've fiddled with some ideas using rusted metal, stone and wood here and there.  I lay awake at night and think up interesting gates, retaining walls and earthy elements.  And I scan, scan, scan for ideas.  About fifteen years ago we purchased a new fridge for a kitchen (in a different house) and discovered it was about two inches too wide for the space after it was delivered.  Instead of sending the fridge back, we ripped out the cabinets, tore up the floor and redid the kitchen on the fly.  Budget be dammed!  Well, not really.  It was a tiny little kitchen and we did all of the work ourselves and dug for deals.  New cabinets, tile floor, tile counter tops and low and behold, the fridge slid right into its new space!  I found an old church pew which we cut in half, stained purple, and used as benches for a small table my husband built using wood from an old water bed.  It was exciting and crazy and thankfully it turned out well.  The experience helped us to not be afraid of taking a sledgehammer to a wall or ripping out an old built-in china hutch or turning the master bedroom into the exercise gym for a little while.  I love stuff like this and have learned not to fear design projects - they can be incredibly stimulating and you never know what you might discover.

Hence, since Pinterest has popped up on the screen scene, I've been cheering its usefulness both as an organizational tool for ideas (like a giant project board!) and as a place where I can burn off some stress by drinking in all the color, flowers, patterns, nummy food and layouts.  Pinterest has some clever schooling ideas floating about, too, so have been paying them some heed.  Five minutes of Pinterest can reset my lagging clock.  If you haven't wandered over to check it out, click on the link above and see what you think.  There are lots of teachers who create boards, especially the teachers who are working with younger grades and trying to make their classrooms mind-growing spaces!  You never know what little gems you might stumble on for your homeschooling endeavors, not to mention the fantastic food, charming decorating ideas, winsome pictures of puppies and kittens, explosions of color in art.............don't say I didn't warn you.  Set a timer!  Enlist help from a friend or significant other to help you limit your time on Pinterest!  Hah hah - enjoy!