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How to Use Pinterest to Find Vintage Items or DIY Craft Ideas

Basic Questions about Pinterest

What is Pinterest ?

It’s a massive online virtual bulletin board to bookmark images you love from around the web. In Pinterest terms, these bookmarks or images are called “pins” very similar to the items you might pin on a physical bulletin board.  Your “pins” are visible to other Pinterest users and you can see the boards of others as well, unless of course you use their new “secret boards”  available for your own private use and viewing.

How does Pinterest work?

Here’s the basics: (1) Surf the internet. (2) See an image/video you like of some DIY craft ideas that you are interested in using. (3) “Pin” that image/video to one of your Pinterest boards ( i.e. Wedding Plans, Dream Vacation, DIY Craft Ideas, are basic board names but your boards can be named whatever you want) to keep track of your pin and to share it with others.

How do I get on Pinterest?

Go to the main page on Pinterest.com  You can request an invite by clicking the red button, or, you can ask someone that is already on Pinterest for an invite.

Add the “Pin It” Button to your bookmarks bar.

Go to the goodies page on Pinterest and drag the button into your bookmarks bar (it’s right at the top of the page in the blue box).  The automatic install should be easy.  This will download a little but powerful applet (called the pinmarklet) that will reside in your browser’s bar.  Once it’s installed, whenever you come across something great to pin, simply click the “Pin It” button in your bookmarks bar and you will be redirected to a small Pinterest applet that will allow you to pin to any of your boards. (See the image below for a sample)

 

Pinterest Netiquette or What Makes A Good Pin?

Use relevant keywords in your descriptions.

Once you get familiar with Pinterest, you will notice that a lot of pinners often leave their positive expressions or opinions of their pin ( for example, things like “So Great!, I’m loving this! This is so cute! and other exclamations on their pins).  However, your pin will more likely be found if you remember to provide keyword-rich descriptions.

Many pinners are using the  hashtag “#”symbol, similar to what is used on Twitter in order to make their pins easily searchable .  However, keep in mind some pinners are overusing these keywords.  I would recommend that you do not use too many keywords, just make sure you use the broadest or most specific keywords that would make your pin easy to find and relevant to your readers.  To find vintage items, use one or more keywords such as #vintage, #antique, #collectibles, #repurpose, #diy .

Write your own summary description.

Don’t copy and paste all the blog post’s content, the whole recipe or all the instructions from the original post directly into your pin. (There is a 500 character limit on the description)  Not only does it clutter the images with unnecessary text it’s not good Pinterest netiquette.  Plus, blog posts are copyrighted so pasting them in their entirety violates copyright infringement laws.

 

Pin from the individual post, not the home page.

When you decide to pin an image, make sure that you are pinning from the actual, individual post, and not from the home page. (To get to the individual post, click on the blog post’s title. If you can see a comments section at the bottom, it’s a clear indication that you’re on the individual post.)

This helps you direct those looking at the pin you have posted to go to the actual instructions or content of the page and not send you off into no man’s land.    You will find that there’s nothing more frustrating than clicking through a pin, only to realize the post with the original image (and related content)  is not available any longer.

 

Select the most visually interesting image from the individual post.  Pinterest is a visually oriented website and you will find that the most attractive and well laid out photos usually get the most repins and likes.  It seems that more and more, website owners and bloggers are taking Pinterest into account, enough to include images in their blog posts that would be popular for Pinterest users and “pinners”.

Don’t just be a repinner.

When you first start using Pinterest, you will probably be repinning pins that others have posted or pinned.  As you search on the web, always be on the lookout for new and original pins. If you are on Pinterest often, you will likely recognize frequent repins so original and fresh content is always welcome.  However, these boards are for your use, so don’t feel quilty if you are repinning something of specific interest to you or new to you.

Make sure you play by the rules and posted guidelines.

In case you get stumped, you can always refer to Pinterest’s netiquette rules.  Know and understand the friendly guidelines Pinterest has put in place for its site.  In order to enhance their user’s web experience, (and keep you coming back of course) Pinterest discourages spamming and other unwanted practices on their website.

Organizing Your Pinterest Boards and Pins

Organize your boards well. As in many things in life it pays to be organized, the more relevant and organized your boards are the more likely you and your followers will be likely to find your pins. Unclear board titles aren’t so helpful either.

Pinterest allows you to write a short description for your board.  I would suggest you stick to accurate and helpful keywords in your description specific to what you’re pinning.

Take the extra time to see if a pin is a good one. Have you ever clicked through a pin only to discover that it leads nowhere or to unrelated content? So, before you repin, make sure you check the related pin first. It might take a little bit longer but it will help you and your followers to connect with relevant information.

Just a tip, when I find a pin that has all the info in the image I need but no corresponding content, I make a note of it in my summary description. It will serve as a reminder to me and others in the future, when I go back to that particular pin in the future.

Follow individual boards for a topic you are interested in. One of the nice things about Pinterest is that you can follow a person’s individual boards. You don’t have to follow a person and therefore, all of their boards (although you can do that too if all of their boards are of interest to you).

To subscribe to individual boards, simply click on the name of any Pinterest user and you’ll see all their boards.  If you follow the person, you’ll follow all their boards.  Otherwise, just pick and choose the boards you want.

Automatically include text from the original site in your pin description. If you’re on a site and you want to pin something, you can highlight a portion of text before clicking the “Pin It” bookmarklet. The text you highlight will automatically include this text in your description.

I like to add quotation marks when I quote directly and I suggest that you include a tiny snippet of text or phrase. You always want people to be directed back to the original site for the main content. I include my comments or notes in brackets; however, that is not general practice.

Extra Tips for Pinterest Users

Tag people in pins.

Simply add the “@” sign to your descriptions to tag someone so they know you were referring to them.

Add a price tag to a pin.

You can do this easily by adding a “$” or a “£” in your description. This works well, let’s say, if you are pinning from an Etsy shop or other online marketplaces.

Download Pinterest apps for your Iphone or Android device for pins on the go.

There are apps available for your smartphone or iphone so that you can pin to your boards when you are on the go.  Find them on the Pinterest goodies page.

Most of all have fun pinning!  And just one more tip, make sure you keep track of your time,you will find that it will pass quickly.

 

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Cleaning Tips for Your Porcelain Figurines or Dinnerware

Vintage porcelain china and vintage porcelain figurines are beautiful and delicate decorative items and are a pleasure to own; but,  they do require delicate care and protection from harsh sunlight and the potential of being chipped, cracked or broken.  Here’s a few cleaning tips for your fine porcelain.

One of your first concerns after you acquire a few pieces of porcelain is where you are going to store all these pretty items.

Usually, you want to show off or display your porcelain figurines; however, you’ll need to find an area where little children (don’t you just love them) or pets can’t topple over your lovely collectibles and fine dinnerware.

Storing Your Porcelain

The best storage area for porcelain china or similar porcelain figurines is often referred to as a china cabinet.  This is usually a cabinet with interior shelves and glass panes so you can display your fine collectibles but protect them from household dust.

Some of these china cabinets are made with wooden details that provide small wood rails or guards that will prevent the slippage of the porcelain figurine or dinnerware.   In addition, you can also place thin non-slip pads under the item you are storing.

When it comes to  porcelain collectibles, you should make an effort to keep these figurines or china out of direct sunlight. The exposure to direct sunlight over an extended period of time can fade the coloring or design details of the figurine or dinner plates.

Cleaning Your Porcelain

As for a porcelain figurine, keep it dusted with a soft bristled (preferably natural hair) paintbrush which can remove the dust and grit from crevices in the figurine that you would not be able to reach with another tool.

Another good trick is to use a can of compressed air to blow away the dust and grit.  Hobby shops have triangular shaped q-tips that are also good for this use, they are also available on Ebay.  Try to avoid over handling the porcelain figurine so that you can reduce the risk of chipping or breaking it.

If the figurine has any spot or stain, make sure you use a soft cloth that has been submerged into a mild detergent and warm water, and dab at the stain or spot rather than using a scrubbing back and forth motion.

If you are trying to clean the stain within a teacup or saucer, I have heard that the product Efferdent (the product used to clean false teeth or dentures) will do a good job of lifting any stains within the teacup or saucer without any scrubbing action.

And it’s not surprising, since industrial porcelain is used by dentists to make false teeth.  Make sure you follow the package directions for the exact amounts you should use.

As mentioned earlier, it’s usually a good idea to keep your porcelain collectibles or china stored behind glass, this way you won’t have to dust them as often and handling them less will reduce the potential of chips or breakage on the actual figurine.

porcelain figurine, girl

Try to avoid submerging your porcelain figurine in water.  However, if you have a stain that can only be removed by placing the figurine in water, make sure that you don’t submerge it for more than a few seconds.

This works well for porcelain that has a high gloss finish, but you must be even more cautious with porcelain that has a matte finish such as bisque porcelain.  A common example of bisque porcelain figurines, are the Precious Moments figurines made by Enesco.

Of course if you are washing porcelain china, now that’s a different matter, you will have to submerge the china dinnerware in soapy water.  And hand washing is especially advisable if your porcelain china dinnerware has any delicate painted gold or silver details. In order to preserve the lovely finish, avoid harsh detergents and scratchy scrubbers for your porcelain china dishware.

Be sure that you place rubber mats in the sink or soft towels nearby to prevent any jolting movement or sudden drop of a teacup or plate and thus potential chips or knicks to your china.

Keeping these tips in mind, should give you years of enjoying fine porcelain china dinnerware or your beautiful and decorative porcelain figurines. These will be treasured porcelain items that you can pass down as a family heirloom to be loved and used by future generations.

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Wishing You A Happy New Year for 2013

 

Wishing you a Happy New Year and hopefully a very prosperous one!

The vintage postcard above reminds me of family pictures of my grandmother during the Roaring 20s. I made a few adjustments to the original as the New Year greetings were in another language.  Just wanted to take some time to wish you all a Happy New Year with vintage flair.

I’ve included the vid tut below because I thought it was a good one to create a lattice front type of card.  Perhaps it can be mixed with vintage photo postcards like the one above?  Just some inspiration to get you started on all your vintage projects for 2013.