Filling my craving for style, DIY and yummy goodness all in one spot: PINTERST.com

If you a regular reader of Simply Sarah Style, you know that this is a lifestyle blog. Unlike other bloggers who focus on one topic such as daily outfits, DIY projects or recipes, I blog about it all.  Anything that inspires me is fair game.  Simply Sarah Style has truly become a catalog of the ideas I come across while surfing the web or projects or parties I have crafted. Blogging was the perfect way for me to keep track of fabulous findings.  

THE PURPOSE OF PINTEREST.COM

Now I have a new addiction: Pinterest.com.  This website basically serves my need to preserve ideas and record accomplished projects. I do have to admit... I was a little late getting on the Pinterest bandwagon.  I had heard about this website for quite awhile before I decided to fully explore it after hearing reviews from a colleague and a friend.  Since joining about a month ago, I can't stop "pinning."

WHAT PINTEREST IS LIKE

Pinterest.com provides you with an electronic space to preserve photos that are accompanied with links to the website the photos came from.  Whether it is a project idea you like, a shirt you would like to buy, a painting you love or a recipe you would like to make, you can choose to "pin" the graphic to one of your electronic boards.  You create what I think of as "bulletin boards" based on your personal interests.  For example, I have boards on the following topics:

• Wedding and Event Inspiration
• Holidays
• Food
• Gift Ideas
• My Style 
• For the Home
• Photography
• Household Tips 
• Etc....

HOW PINTEREST WORKS

To explain how "pinning" on Pinterest works, I ask you to think of your Facebook account. When you first log in, you see a "news feed" of information from people you are following (similar to "friends").  This news feed outlines photos of items people that you follow have recently "pinned."  By scrolling through this live feed, you can decide what items you would like to pin to your personal boards. When you like an item and choose to click on the "pin" button, you will get a box that pops up listing  your boards for selection like this: 

You can also find items to pin by typing key words into the search box. For example, I recently typed in "thank you gift" to get some ideas.  In return, 209,496 photos of items with "thank you gift" in the caption showed up. 

Pinterest also allows you to install a pinning button into your browser bar.  By clicking on this button, you can pin any photo that appears on a webpage to one of your boards without even leaving the webpage to log into Pinterest.  What an amazing feature!  This allows for saved time and further sharing of great ideas. Here is what the screen looks like click on the button in your browser bar to "pin" a graphic from an outside site:

The Pinterest website also allows you to share boards with your friends.  For example, my friend, Lindsey, provided me access to her "Brooklyn" board in order to allow me to pin  great little girl ideas.

Overall, I LOVE Pinterest. It is addicting and a wonderful tool for organizing your ideas visually.  In closing,  here are a few interesting Halloween ideas I've found using Pinterest. 

SAMPLES OF HALLOWEEN IDEAS I FOUND ON PINTEREST

Decorating a pumpkin with "puffy" paint

Front Porch Halloween Decor

Halloween Candy Skewers

Pumpkin Drink Tub - How inventive!  

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

If you are already on Pinterest and love posts on style, DIY project, party planning and recipes, follow me by clicking here.  If you haven't joined Pinterest yet, I'm going to apologize in advance for starting an addiction, but please feel free to jump on Pinterest bandwagon and follow me too.

Happy pinning!

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God Bless America

God Bless America

The Land That I Love

God Bless America's Soldiers!  

Special thanks to all those serving and who have served in the military.

My dad served in Vietnam. I'm especially thinking of him today!

(He is pictured below on the right)

This last picture has clearly been through a lot.

In addition, I thought I would share these patriotic chocolate covered strawberries.

What a perfect treat for the holiday weekend!

Click here for the recipe. 

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Quick, Easy Chocolate Covered Pretzels & Strawberries

This weekend I hosted Easter for the first time. At first, I was distraught because I am by no means a cook, nor do I have any desire to be.  As you know, everyone expects a nice meal on Easter.  Luckily, my mom stepped in to help by preparing a ham. I also had help from other generous family members who volunteered to bring side dishes. They know that I am a Martha Stewart when it comes to detail, event planing, and crafts, but lack Martha's ability to create delicious dishes.

I thought long and hard about what I contribute to the Easter celebration beside the use of my home. 

Here is what I came up with:

Okay, so the last photo isn't super clear... definitely does not do the treats justice. I do promise that they were delicious though.   Plus, they were so easy to make. I purchase baking chocolate in a block. I melted the chocolate in the microwave (so easy) and coated the pretzels and strawberries to my heart's desire. Lastly, I topped them with sprinkles - pastel colored stars for the pretzels and chocolate sprinkles for the strawberries.

Both treats were a big hit with the family, especially my little cousins!

I couldn't help sharing this photo of my cousins. 

It has rained for weeks in Kentucky which means my lawn is a muddy mess, but we couldn't forgo the Easter egg hunt.  Quick fix - put plastic bags over their shoes for instant galoshes. My seven-year old cousin even asked if she could have matching bags... Oh, that makes my heart smile.  She is truly a Simply Sarah Style girl. Notice they are also utilizing the very glamorous plastic shopping bags instead of baskets. Lucky for them, their baskets were too small to hold all the eggs the Easter bunny hid for their hunt.

What dish did you prepare for Easter this year?

Bonus points for sharing the recipe in the post!

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