I Saw It On Pinterest… And Made It Myself!

• After all the expenses of moving (that continue to this day), how on earth am I supposed to afford gifts for my daughter’s preschool classmates this year?
• “I could spend HOURS on Pinterest!” is all I hear from friends.  This is true for me, as well.  However, with the approach of the new year, I want to challenge myself to actually DO something with the things that inspire me.
• Oh my word, this is such an easy craft to make with (and for) preschoolers!
• I’ve used store receipts for bookmarks my entire adult life, but as preschool girl is starting to read chapter books (hurray!) I’d like for her to have a cool bookmark to use each night when we close “Because of Winn-Dixie” or “The Happy Hollisters” (terribly outdated, but I clean up the bully and gender stereotypes).

So, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m starting a new series of posts in which I recreate something I saw on Pinterest for my home and family (or as gifts).  Haven’t heard of Pinterest?  It’s a relatively new online forum for sharing and storing everything found on the internet.  And by everything, I do mean everything.

How to Use Pinterest

Here’s how it works:

1)  Visit Pinterest.com and create an account for yourself.
2)  Once you have an account, a “Pin It” tab will appear in your internet favorites bar.
3)  Anytime you see anything on the internet (in a catalog, on a blog, on a professional site, etc), you click “Pin It” and it pins to “your page.”
4)  When you are finally ready to craft or make a purchase, you can visit your page and view all the items (with links to the original site intact).

Gone are the days of “Now, where did I see that snowman made of popsicle sticks?” or “Who had the best deal on red corduroy pants?”  Simply visit your page to see all your inspiration, or compare products at a glance.  I love my Pinterest page, but have heard more than one person I know complain about the amount of time they spend on the site.  It can be overwhelming because, in addition to seeing your pins, you can see all of your friends’ pins as well.  You can even view pins from general categories.

I often see more inspiration than I can stand.  Which brings me to my challenge for the new year.  I am making a resolution to “take action” on the things I see on Pinterest at least twice per month.  Whether it be a craft, recipe or home decor idea, I want to do something with the ideas generated in this forum.

Project Inspired by Pinterest

I’m starting my resolution early in the month of December with some really cool, quick, easy and inexpensive bookmarks that inspired me.  They are incredibly relevant gifts as my preschool daughter, and many of her friends, are starting to read chapter books (she can’t read yet, but I read to her) and will be perfect to give to her classmates at preschool.   And as with any craft you create yourself, you can customize them to any color or pattern you wish.
This is what I saw on Pinterest:

The original post can be found at Altered to Perfection and the original creator sells these items on Etsy if you find yourself short of time.  The originals are created with jumbo colored paper clips, but I couldn’t find any large ones in various colors.  I purchased a package of ten really large brass paper clips at Staples.  As for ribbon, this project is perfect for using your scraps.  Each piece is small and you use multiples, so you can clean up your ribbon drawer and cut costs while creating these super-cute stocking stuffers!
Here’s my version:

The pen is there to show scale.  These are some very cute, sturdy bookmarks.  I made several more that don’t appear in the photo because my children have absconded with them.  I did find that I need to purchase some additional ribbon that will appeal to the boys in preschool girl’s class.  Total cost for gifts for an entire preschool class?  Less than $10.00, even with an additional ribbon purchase.

January?  Of course, it will include exercise.  Stay tuned to see what’s getting done, or better yet, share with me what you are doing with the things you find on Pinterest! You can also follow me on Pinterest to see what’s inspiring me.