Pinterest is growing at a phenomenal rate and the women are adopting the social media site by a huge margin, but I am concerned at what cost. I have been sharking Pinterest to find unique ways to use it to promote our business and I think I have come up with a few creative ideas to add value and get our brand out there. I have however noticed some disturbing trends. First is the millions of pins of fitness tips with pictures of young insanely fit models projecting unrealistic body images. Next is where I am going to jump on my soap box, rattle my saber and rally the troops to face an even more insidious issue head on…a section that is nearly as dangerous. I am of course talking about the Craft/ DIY section.
Really? in what free time?
Let me start this off by politely asking, “are you insane?” You are not Martha Stewart. Ms. Stewart has a huge – paid - staff that does this crap for her. Knock it off, be normal your kids will forget in a few days, if not hours, the insanely ridiculous things you did to make (insert holiday) “the most amazing ever.” Please bring it down a notch or three! The other mothers hate this pressure as much as you do. Stop the mod podge madness, no one will win, but the craft stores.
Step away from the hot glue gun.
Take your kid for a walk, a bike ride or read them a story. Sure it is ok to do something special occasionally, but be reasonable. It’s Arbor Day, creating an heirloom crossbreed tree that you graft a branch for each special occasion with pruning shears that you up-cycled from a vintage coffee can, collected on “the most magical family vacation ever”, is INSANE! Most of the stuff I see is way over most normal skill levels. Bring it down to a human level, you are not Super Mom. Your kids will love you anyway, that is until they become teenagers, when making an adorable hand sewn quilt from their baby bibs won’t help with their imaginary loathing of you anyway. Not to mention it’s gonna make a god-awful mess, and that is going to stress you out — but fear not there are pin boards that will teach you how to make your own cleaning products!
At best, this stuff will never work – at worst, could be dangerous.
Mason jars are for canning fruits and vegetables not for making wall sconces, kitchen light fixtures or generally decorating your house. Where do you get your design sense from? A Cracker Barrel? One project demonstrated how you could make a “super cute” lamp shade with post-it notes. That’s right…sticking PAPER post-it notes on a bare lightbulb. Best case scenario is the heat from the lamp melts the glue and you end up with a semi-sticky mess of colored paper squares littering your floor. Worst case the fire department is showing up at your house. Fear not, I am sure that they will appreciate the glass of refreshing “home made Crystal Light which is so much cheaper” with “super easy colored and flavored ice cubes” making the drink in their glass look like a rainbow or flag. That is until they cut their lips on the glasses that you made by cutting the tops off of beer bottles. And if I may digress… pallets are NOT a design feature, they are pieces of rough cut wood used to move heavy things with a fork lift. If you are not in college anymore or a starving artist, get some real furniture and leave the pallets in a warehouse.
Don’t be afraid to get creative……
I am not saying that if you become inspired to create something to not try it, but don’t hang your self-esteem on some ridiculous project that was executed by a professional with years of experience, better lighting and a Photoshop pro to make it look even better. I like to tinker and build things. It is relaxing to me, but I know my limitations. I am not going to build a violin that sounds as good as a Stradivarius (wait who am I kidding? I am not going to build a violin!) I am happy if my book shelfs come out square and they are not made from pallets. As for making those “shark cupcakes your son will love”….not a chance, cupcakes are food not art, marzipan looks great but tastes like dried Silly Putty. (My wife wants to know why I know so much about marzipan, crafts and Pinterest, seriously where do I turn in my man card?)
Yes, I am being a bit facetious to make a point. I have seen all of the crafts I have talked about in this article. If you have ever perused the crayon and glitter abyss that is the the DIY section of Pinterest I am sure you have seen it also, maybe you have even been sucked in to the frenzy that is pallet up-cycling, and creating “amazing memories” – my point, is that social media has the power to reach countless people with fantastic ideas, creative solutions and some messy fun, but recognize when its making you feel bad or pressured to keep up. And if you really have up-cycled a coffee can into pruning shears – let me know in the comment section below and be sure to follow my pins at http://Pinterest.com/gwnunnadventure/ and especially my favorite board, D.I.Why?! http://Pinterest.com/gwnunnadventure/diwhy/
Safe travels and responsible pinning,
Greg
And just incase you think you are the only one with Pinterest fails check out these other blogs and you will feel much better about your Pinterest disasters.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/newu1085/17-Pinterest-fails-654m
http://pinstrosity.blogspot.com
http://www.boredpanda.com/funny-pinterest-fails/
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