How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

Yes, I could be talking about my husband, children, grandchildren or friends....but, I am not! I am talking about Pinterest! Have I told you how much easier it makes your life?

I have always been a "filer". BP (before Pinterest), I had to buy every magazine or book that hit the stands. Then, I had to find time to read them and choose what I might one day want to try. Then, I had to come up with a good way to catalog these ideas without building a new room to house all of them-which I guess I sort of did when I had floor to ceiling bookcases built in one guest bedroom, a craft armoire added to another and 2 walls of built in cabinets and drawers in still another-but I digress!

I had just about come up with a clever way to find an idea and its instructions-if and when I remembered it without going back through EVERY idea I ever pulled-when Pinterest came into my life.

Now, ideas flood to me every day via pinners that I "follow" and I pin anything I am interested in. Then it is a simple matter of pulling up a "board" and finding what I want. It saves so much time-not to mention money- as magazines are quickly becoming a thing of the past in my house. Last October I was grabbing the new Halloween magazines off of the shelf in B & N like a holiday starved crazy woman. Thank goodness I began leafing through them. I soon realized that someone had found the same magazines before me and all of the ideas were already posted on Pinterest and I had already added the ones I liked to my boards earlier that day!

So that brings me to this post-albeit the long way around! Since I make about every new holiday idea I see that I like (and, I am as old as the hills so I have been around the pike a few times), it is often hard to find anything new I can try. Enter Pinterest! Just when I thought there would be no new entries to this year's 4th of July decorations, I saw the picture above.

It caught my attention and because I had this.......


I was able to make this..... And, I truly did not have to buy one thing to make this gift!!! I remembered that JoAnns had given me the roll when I bought my valance fabric. And me being me, I kept it "just in case". It was perfect for this craft because it is THICK! I actually had to use my chop saw to cut it. Then, I headed to my 4th of July download file and printed up copies of the Declaration of Independence. I covered the tube with that and began cutting chipboard shapes, glittering, etc. I even got to use my new M.S. scorer-makes folding card stock for rosettes SO MUCH EASIER and the folds actually come out the same size so the rosette goes together very easily! I pretty much "ripped off" the Pinterest image exactly but since I am not selling them and made a few changes, I am O.K. with it.

And, since everyone who is receiving one has already gotten it, no eyes have to be averted during this post.I just realized that I added a small star shaped rhinestone to the center of the rosette after I saw this picture. It looks better than that plain, little white circle.


Here is where I added mine. I think it fits right in with the other vintage decor.



This is the fire cracker I made a few years ago that used to be in the vignette. I simply moved it to this little shelf and it is happy here.


And, because I am saving so much time with Pinterest, I actually have time now and then to get back into the kitchen. Just finished making this chickpea and tomato salad. I used a lot of the grape tomatoes I still have on my plants and fresh basil that is flourishing in my garden now that the summer rains have returned. This salad is delicious. We first had it at my daughter's house the other night-and yes, she had found it on Pinterest as well!

Have a few new treasures that I will show you next time-one that my oldest daughter found and bought for me that is making me positively giddy!!!! Do people still say that? Told you, old as the hills..... In any case, it is wonderful to have daughters that know my taste so well that they see things that "look like me" all of the time. It's kind of like having 4 pair of eyes and since they all really "get around", I get all kinds of wonderful things without ever leaving home! Thanks Kris!!! Can't wait to reveal my newest find. I'll give you a hint...Halloween decorating is involved! Probably no surprise there as that is about all I can think about these days. Told you before, I'm just not a summer kind of gal! Stay tuned.