The Blessing and Curse of Pinterest

My boys went to Indiana with Jared's mom to spend time with their cousins there.  So it's just me, Jared, and Nora at home today.

It's been a super fun relaxing morning.  Jared and Nora played several games of Uno (Nora's very favorite game), had an elaborate tea party, and made Jack-o-lanterns out of Silly Putty.

In addition to enjoying their company, I drank way too much coffee and spent way too much time on Pinterest.

To those of you who follow me on Pinterest, I'm so sorry that today I filled up your entire home feed with my latest pins.  I couldn't help myself.

I love Pinterest.  Most of the time Pinterest inspires me.  It makes me want to create beautiful things and cook/bake delicious food.  It gives me fresh ideas and teaches me new techniques. 

However...

Sometimes Pinterest paralyzes me.  Or makes me feel like a complete failure.

For example, you all know that we recently moved.  Our new house is amazing, and we love it.  But every wall is beige.  The flooring is all off-white.  All doors, trim, and cabinetry are basic oak.  We need some color.

I keep trying to narrow my vision for how to add color to any room in our house.  I thought a good place to start would be adding colorful pillows to the couches in our main family room (the front room of our house).

Enter Pinterest.

I started out feeling like I can't just purchase pillows because I have the ability to sew them.

Then Pinterest told me that I should sew pillow covers out of fabric that I made myself.  Fabric printed with stamps I carved myself.  Stamps of designs I drafted myself.

You get the idea.

So my room is still beige and gray and off-white.  And my self-esteem as a decorator and crafter has taken a hit.

Ridiculous.

I can't look at individual's talents and projects on Pinterest and expect that I should be able to match all of them.  Sometimes it's okay to purchase something even if I could figure out how to make it myself.  Sometimes I can marvel at other people's talents and not feel bad that I don't have those same talents.

There are so many things in this world that make our lives easier, faster, and more efficient.  But these inventions/gadgets/advances can easily get out of control and have a negative effect.

Pinterest is like that for me.  And I think it's the same for a lot of women out there who browse Pinterest and suddenly feel bad that they're not making their own bread with flour ground from the wheat they grew in their very own back yard (fertilized organically, of course).

Pinterest is awesome.  And it will stay awesome for me as long as I keep it in check and use it for inspiration and not as a checklist of what I'm not doing/making.

Now I have to go learn how to make my own rug out of recycled t-shirts.

Jessica