Let me set the scene for you. It’s 2 a.m. and despite the fact that I have to get up in four hours, I am still awake. I have quizzes to study for, chapters to read, research to do and this column to write. Only about 5 percent of that work is done, and it is all because of one word.
Pinterest.
Now if you’re a boy (or a girl living under a rock), you might not know about this new obsession we females have grabbed a hold of. Don’t worry, I’ll explain. Simply put, Pinterest is a website that allows you to save and share any picture you find on the Internet. Most of us use it to procrastinate on homework and to exchange ideas for weddings, home decoration, recipes and fashion. If you’re trying to be productive, Pinterest is the new black hole of distraction — sucking you into its greatness for hours on end.
I have always been a third-party observer on Pinterest, only looking at the ideas and envying every gorgeous outfit and house I see. Today I decided to change that. I thought I would try and make one simple item I saw on Pinterest, and then write about it here. Well here I am eight hours later, with an embarrassingly drastic drop in my bank account and an entirely redone apartment. I started out saying I was just going to make a miniature vase out of one small glass, a balloon and a flower. I succeeded at that quickly, but the problem was that I couldn’t stop. Along with my vases, I also bought a mini-bench and a giant candle holder to put my necklaces on. I painted more picture frames than I can count on one hand, created a giant canvas made out of old book pages, built a dry erase board, filled mason jars with Christmas lights to put on my desk and — last but not least — I made a burlap wall.
Yes, you heard that right. My suitemate and I literally took burlap and covered our entire living room wall with it. My little five-minute Pinterest activity turned into a day-long extravaganza that ended with a burlap wall as the centerpiece of my humble abode. It was the crafty girl’s version of the childhood story “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” I started out just doing simple little crafts, but then couldn’t resist doing more and more — hence the unnecessary (but awesome) burlap.
Pinterest is quickly taking over lives. I’ve stopped for a break after almost every sentence of this column to look at the new pins. And not only is it on my computer, but there’s a phone app for it as well. Pinterest is now the savior that keeps me awake in class. Let’s be honest. Will learning about the nucleolus of a cellular organelle benefit my life? No. But learning how to make a jewelry rack out of an old wooden window, now that’s practical information.
This recent blow-up of Pinterest happened at the most fitting time — move-in time. Every girl, even the ones without a creative bone in their bodies, can now create a stylish dorm room and pretend it was their idea. We girls are spending hours and hours trying to find the perfect use for a useless item. It’s quite “Pinterest-ing,” if I may say so myself. But we have to be careful. There’s a distinct line between a trendy room and a room that looks like a glorified thrift store — don’t be the person who crosses that line.
Now back to the scene. It’s 3 a.m. and my to-do list hasn’t grown any shorter. I have just as much to do, and even less time. I could start working on it all, or I could stay on Pinterest. That is an easy decision almost any girl would agree with me on — I choose Pinterest.
