Remember the 80's song, "Video Killed the Radio Star"? Well, Pinterest killed the moderately creative house-wife, if you ask me.
I have not signed up for Pinterest, but from what I understand it's a completely wonderful place, albeit addictive, to share and amass ideas on everything like birthday cakes, home-made play doh, crock pot recipes, and so much more. I'm sure I would love the heck out of some Pinterest. But I'd rather not "drink the Kool-Aid" that is Pinterest because if I did, I would probably just feel pitiful that A. I had not come up with something that good B. what I made was not nearly as good or C. I won't even bother when there is so much amazing stuff I won't even get around to it.
I consider myself to be a pretty crafty/creative/ and semi-talented person. I have some scrapbooks that are pretty amazing. Rubber stamps, embossed papers, hand- coloring, double mats, and stickers galore. I spent hours on them and this was even before I had kids, which is sort of a funny statement because most people want to scrap ABOUT their kids, but once you have them, who has the time?!
I've made cupcakes that were really cute AND tasted good. Strawberry cupcakes with strawberry creme icing, peach cupcakes decorated to look like peaches, Dora cupcakes, Lemon curd cupcakes, and cupcakes that look like little turkeys. I've been crafting since I was a kid, and I mean something more than just a calendar I colored at VBS. I've made paper mache fruit, my own bed canopy, plastic canvas ornaments, multiple Halloween costumes, and all forms of Christmas decorations.
But compared to the things I see people "pin" via Pinterest, I don't even hold a hand-made, rose-scented candle. "You made a wreath for your door? You should see the life-size reindeer one on Pinterest!" "You cooked chicken last night? I made this awesome chicken verde with quinoa off of Pinterest." "You repainted your coffee table? I saw on Pinterest where a lady made a coffee table out of antique milk pails." "You made your daughter's hair bow? There are hair bows on Pinterest that look just like Cinderella sitting in her coach!"
And all this fabulousness just leaves me felling inadequate. Love From the Oven put it well in her blog post here.
So why bother? Somebody has already made a bigger, better, more stylish, cheaper and fat-free one on Pinterest. Kinda takes the fun out of it. I say we take a stand and say "No" to Pinterest and "No" to the unrealistic expectations! What's that? You're making me home-made s'mores cake pops for Valentine's Day that you saw on Pinterest? Oh. Nevermind then.
2 comments:
You know me. I hate crafts (unless it's drawing Halloween stuff for my college dorm door!) and I don't have kids. The only thing I use Pinterest for anymore is for recipes so I can quickly access them if I'm in the grocery store or something. I have recipe books but this is a neat way to house all my internet recipes. And I only pin from what I find myself online. I don't repin or look any other's crap anymore. Pinterest is a big bag of crap lately.
I totally get it. Fortunately, I know my strengths - and my weaknesses - and I stay away from the ones I know I won't do or that I won't do well. It's fun for inspiration sometimes, but even with recipes, I never just take what's written. I always play with it. But think of all the time you've saved!
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