Twofer Tuesday 2: The problem with Pinterest

Given that I probably lost any and all readers with the title alone, I feel like I need to put a disclaimer here and say that I love Pinterest. I am as addicted as any self-respecting crafter. This post is simply an example of a problem with using it…just…you’ll see.

While scouring on Pinterest a week or so ago, I stumbled across a great idea for upcycling wine bottles: take an empty bottle, paint it a fun color, paint a portion with chalkboard paint, and wrap some twine/string around the neck of the bottle. It looked really cool, and it looked easy. So I repinned it for something to do later.

I had a few bottles stacking up, so I decided to work on it this week. Since I had Monday off, it seemed like a great project to do while I watched some horror films. Easy! I grabbed a bottle, nabbed some of my favorite paint colors, and settled down at the coffee table to see what I could do.

As it turns out, acrylic paint doesn’t coat glass very well – at least not the first coat. Apparently this is common knowledge, but I had no idea because, for most of my life, I have been craft-challenged. I’ve looked it up by now, so I know that you have to prime the glass – one person suggested Mod Podge matte finish, which of course I have upstairs!

My point here is that, since I found the craft idea on Pinterest, there was not a handy how-to guide for this project. Today I tried to find the origin, but after following the path back through about 5 users, and I still couldn’t find the original source. A little bit more digging suggests that the original source was Etsy, which means that there was no guide in the first place because someone is selling them.

I also get a lot of ideas from Etsy, but I always know to look up how to do something before I start when someone is selling the product because chances are I don’t know how to do it. I don’t mind using Pinterest the same way, but I guess I got it in my head that most of the ideas on Pinterest came with a how-to guide, too. Obviously not.

Of course, a lot of this confusion would be solved if people cited their sources.

English degree strikes again!

So…what next? Good thing I’ve got that pile. I’ll start another one later this week…or next, so I can finish Joey’s bday presents in time.