Putting a Little of the Spiritual into Commercial Lent/Easter - DIYs

Nobody loves marshmallow peeps and ducks and even gummy jelly beans more than I do. However, Lent and Easter is not all about candy in an Easter basket, nor is it about toys. Somewhere along the way, most of us really want to include something spiritual.

Through the years, I’ve slowly accumulated a lot of Lent and Easter DIY ideas. I gathered them all onto one Pinterest board.

For those of you who want to make sure the little ones in your life get the meaning of this season, take a look at all the great ideas,here, at this link.

Now, you have to understand - a lot of these ideas are for kids and church groups, but I pinned things that I, myself, would really like to make and would find interesting and fun to make.

I am not sure whether you can view them if you are not a Pinterest member. I must find out about that.

What type of DIYs are there? Everything from food and snack ideas to craft-y but easy projects. Most are easily adaptable to tucking into Easter baskets.

What I love most about Pinterest is that it is like a visual-bookmark system. It is so easy to scroll through the photos and decide which links to click on.

Some pins include dozens of ideas at one URL.

There are several places which show how to make things like crosses and the Christian ichthus (fish) symbol and more, with Palm Sunday palm.

Enjoy the satisfaction and fulfillment of really participating in the coming Lenten and Easter season.

Sweet Lord Jesus, you suffered so much for us all those years ago. Help me to remember why you went through all that pain. Help me to focus this Lenten season on your love and sacrifice.

A Craft-y Pinterest Junkie' s Worries

Okay, back in January, I confessed to beinga Pinterest addict, especially when it comes to anything crafty. My addiction has become more severe since that post. Now I have quite a few Boards. I keep finding projects that I want to try and I "pin" them so I will not lose them. And there they stay. And stay...and stay...

The other day, I was following someone else's Boards and noticed she had one where she more or less ordered herself to do "these things or else." In other words, she was desperately trying to make sure she actually tried some of these projects in real life.

I think I need to do that. I try to only "pin" things that are quick or easy or both. Somehow, I've managed to do at least half a dozen of the hundreds of projects I now have pinned. You can see where this is going.

 I'm thinking of perhaps starting a Board where I "pin" things that I actually tried from my "pins." Maybe I could make myself try one DIY project a week. Um. Maybe I'd better make that one a month. Maybe I should at least start with one...But when I go onto my Boards, I end up daydreaming my way through all those great ideas.

I now have a brand new concern. What on earth will I ever do if Pinterest ever goes away? I would lose all those links. That is one terrifying thought. Hopefully it's enough to force me to begin checking each one and then saving it on my hard drive or on hard copy.

Now, I need to try to also try to curb my addiction, weak craft-loving DIY-junkie that I am. Does anyone know if they have a recovery program for Pinterest addicts????  

Discovered How to do an Etsy Shop Board on Pinterest

Oh my goodness, how great is this? I just discovered how to set up a board on Pinterest for "My Etsy Shop."

I can't believe I have not done this earlier. What a promotional freebie this is for anyone with an Etsy shop. Etsy makes it so easy to add shop items to the board, and it even lists the price and the description, directly from the shop listing.

For potential buyers, this is even quicker and easier than window-shopping on Etsy - a one-page scroll-down while it still offers the option of going directly to the Etsy listing from the Pin.

Gotta get busy and do the rest of my items this week...then I've got to fill my shop with some things that still need photos...busy, busy - happy, happy!

Confessions of a Craft-y Pinterest Addict

Well, the time has come to 'fess up to being a Pinterest addict. It's one of the reasons I've fallen behind in posting to my blog - I spend too much time on Pinterest.

The first time I ever heard of them was early last year. The stats for my blog showed a link that was drawing quite a few views. I found the website but couldn't find anything mentioning my blog. I wanted to see what I had focused on that drew such a large amount of interest. Finally, I emailed the blog owner and asked. She replied that it was a Pinterest pin on one of her boards.

Pinterest? Pin? Boards? I visited Pinterest, cold, and became so confused, I gave up. Finally, I asked online in either a blog post or on FB, about it.

You can visit anybody's Pinterest pages, without signing up or joining, provided you have the link. However, you cannot add a comment, or create a board of your own, or Pin someone's link, unless you are a member.

Now, here's the tricky part. I tried, over and over, to join from the Pinterest member sign-up page. I finally asked for a "invitation" from anyone who was already a member - it worked like magic.

What is Pinterest? It's sort of like "bookmarks" but with photos and graphics. You know all those bookmarks you've got that show nothing but a name and URL, and have you scratching your head, asking, why did I save this one, what is that one for? Well, with Pinterest, you tag a photo that bookmarks the link.

Go to my Pinterest pages, here...

When you get there, you will see the boards (collections of sites) I've begun.

I love the way I can now just scroll up and down and find exactly what I'm looking for, visually. It is a joy.

So far, I have a few craft-related boards, including crochet, general DIY, and so on. I began a Bucket List board but I have nothing in there yet. I have a Tips board for household tips I do not want to lose track of, too.

The problem is that when someone pins from your board, you can get emails letting you know. That's where my addiction and time comes in. Every time someone pins one of my own pins, the notice tells me which of their boards it went to. Unfortunately, if their board sounds interesting or relevant to my interests (crafts, crochet, faith, humor, etc.), I find myself visiting their boards as well, and then their boards lead me to other boards, and so on. It's a horrible, horrible addiction - and I am sorry if I have ended up pushing you into it - sort of ...

Etsy and Pinterest - A Good Combo?

I'm curious as to whether any Etsy sellers have found a way to use Pinterest to bring attention to articles in their shops.

I posted a household tip yesterday on my blog and it somehow was almost immediately pinned on a Pinterest board and I noticed a flurry of page views for my blog post. I have been pinned on other Pinterest boards, too. For those of you who are clueless, as I was until a few months ago, here is a link to the boards where my items have been "pinned."

I really should do some browsing and also determine their guidelines, rules and restrictions. I should probably join them. I have the info and an invitation from a few months ago, but I was sidetracked. Maybe I should follow through. I just did a search on that Pinterest board page I linked to above. I entered Etsy in the box and found a ton of Etsy items listed. Now I need to do my homework and find out how and when it is acceptable to do this.

My interest is increasing because I'm aware that the more folks who see or browse my Etsy shop, the more who are likely to buy.

So, again, I wonder if any of you know whether Etsy shop items and Pinterest area possible good team.