Pinterest: Not Your Mother's Thumbtack

Does a Pinterest Anonymous exist? I need to sign up. 

If you’re not on it, stop reading this post right now and join. Although they are new in the social media realm (started in 2009), Pinterest has quickly become one of the fastest growing social bookmarking sites and according to USA Today, it is now among the Top 10 Social Networking sites! 

For the slightly OCD organizer, it is the ultimate way to contain all your findings on the internet.

I started “pinning” as a way to keep all of my inspiration photos together for redecorating my grandpa’s beach house in Surfside, CA. Pre-Pinterest, I would drag the images to my desktop and flip through them whenever I wanted to show others my ideas. The problem was that I could never remember where they were from, but then if I would bookmark them in my browser I could never remember which image was which!

Although Pinterest solved this problem, it quickly grew to become more than just an organization tool. It is an inspiration for any crafty décor dream (my jewelry hanging shadow box), inspirational quotes that move you from the deepest funk, try cooking something new, try dieting because of an insanely tan model in workout clothes, style your Christmas dinner table (see my pin below), style an unexpected outfit…. The list goes on and on!

Quick Tips:

• Start following your friends and more importantly make sure that you are following those who share the same pinning interests!
• I’m not planning a wedding or into all things Harry Potter, so I don’t follow those specific boards of my friends. Be selective.

• Make sure to label your pins... well. Although it’s tempting to label something “love” or “OMG”, that’s not a very descriptive pin (and not saying I haven’t done it a lot). “Love” could be for a dress, a color, a funny quote, a breathtaking view ... aka not descriptive! This helps the search pick it up and allows others to find your pins and get you more “repins”

• A label can use hashtags similar to Twitter for #anythingdescriptive or @ tags to alert a friend of a pin they should see. @Chelsea Van Arnam will tag me and alert me of the pin for something I should try or reminds my friend of me. $ signs will also add a stripe across the corner flagging it with how much it costs and thereby placing it in the gift search area by price. 

• Have any other questions? Let me know! I'm working on getting our company, RipeOrange on Pinterest so I'll be back with more updates and tips for company/brand pinning very soon!

Follow me here!

Flea Market Finds

Going back to my Long Beach garage sale roots, I decided to check out the Pasadena Flea Market at The Rose Bowl last week. If you're looking for an exhausting day filled with entertaining people watching (including a few celebs) and some vintage furniture where you will have to barter your way down to something halfway reasonable, then this is the place to be! 

I loved these pre-wired lanterns, but the guy wanted $75 and I was over it being at a loss as to where the heck I would put them... Yet another reason why I need a big house. 

Gorgeous fuschia fabric. I would make the wood part a bright color to modernize it! Lime green, bright orange? Ideas?

Beautiful entry table! Difficult to see the gorgeous detail in the bright sunlight, but once again worth every penny it would have cost me! The guy was willing to bargain too!

Beautiful trunk asking for $100 and I couldn't justify it. :(

This beaut would have taken a bit of work, but where do you find those kind of lines anymore! #Obsessed.

In my world, this would be painted hot pink instead of gold. It's a jewelry tree, but I love its simplicity and Asian inspiration. 

Ok. This was my favorite and last find. I was inspired a la this photo that I would like to recreate in my beach house remodel. 

5 Quick tips:

1. Bring lots of cash! Some places take Debit/Credit, but don't bank on it. If you have to pull out cash, you'll be charged a crazy service fee!

2. Look for the places that are a little more rough around the edges. Here you will find the better deals. If you are immediately drawn to the perfectly manicured spaces, prepare to pay a pretty penny for your pretty finds. 

3. Wear comfy shoes and arrive early! The shopping is massive and you will not get to very many places if you show up between 11am and noon! They close at 3pm and some shut down by 2pm!

4. Eyeball your faves and head back right before they close. Vendors will tend to decrease their prices towards the end of the day because they don't want to haul it back! 

5. Get a large Bud Light while you're there and make the shopping more casual while opening up your purse strings a bit. Or better yet, smuggle in a few in a large purse and save some $$$ for shopping like Bre and me below!