Seven Thrifty Queens to Follow on Pinterest

I have been enjoying Pinterest over the past few months. I only signed up because it was suddenly sending small waves of traffic to the blog, but this pinning lark is addictive, isn’t it? 

For the uninitiated: Pinterest is a relatively new social network, with an emphasis on nice pictures. Think of it as your own wall of virtual corkboards, divided into your chosen categories and themes.

When you come across a picture or an idea that you like, either on Pinterest itself or on another site, you “pin” it to the appropriate board. You can follow people and see what they are pinning to their boards. If you really like their pins, you can leave comments or repin their pictures to your own boards. It’s simple enough. If you are already a happy-clappy pinner, you can follow me here:

Also, to pin any of the pictures on this blog, just hover the mouse over them and the Pin It button will pop up. I’m a fastidious pinner. Some users have hundreds of boards, but right now I have only four. They are: Money-Saving Ideas, Craft Ideas, My Style and For The Home.I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that I like to pin items and ideas that are as thrifty as they are pleasing to the eye. Recent pins of mine have included: how to turn a pillowcase into an apron, how to make pot stands out of bottle corks, and how to make your own deodorant. I have been storing ideas for future blog posts there, and I also feature pictures from Miss Thrifty posts. Here are some of my top thrifty Pinterest queens: 

1. Splash Clean. Colleen Skinner runs an eco-cleaning company in Hampshire. She has some great ideas on her Recipes, Storage and Cleaning Products boards. My favourite pin: decorating cookies with rubber stamps and food colouring.

2. Boden.    Yes, that’s Boden as in the spendy clothing catalogue. Not an obvious choice! But the label’s Pinterest account features a gorgeous board called How We Make, which features some pretty DIY projects. My favourite pin: making a door wreath out of cocktail umbrellas.

3. Maggie@SquarePennies. Maggie is the author of the Square Pennies blog and is very active on Pinterest, with lots of pins and boards. There are lots of goodies here: I particularly recommend the Helpful Hints, DIY Fashion and Gift Ideas boards. My favourite pin: how to preserve avocado in the freezer.

4. Hey Nice Cardigan. Amy Warner blogs about crafts, cooking, vintage and design. Her Pinterest boards are chocka with useful tips and ideas, with categories ranging from Craft Fair Ideas to Christmas. My favourite pin: how to repair broken eyeshadow.

5. A Thrifty Mrs. This is the Pinterest annexe of the terrific frugal lifestyle blog of the same name. Incidentally, I am delighted to note that A Thrifty Mrs is up for a Cosmo Blog Award this year. Go thrifty bloggers! Anyway, back to the subject at hand… My favourite pin: homemade eye make-up remover.

6. Paula Wethington. Paula lives in Michigan and writes a money-saving blog called Monroe On A Budget. She has a board dedicated to Barbie Dolls and a board dedicated to Coffee, but the one I like best is a board called Organization Ideas. I could pore over it for hours (saddo alert). My favourite pin: Mod Podged magazine holders.

7. Hen House Crafts. This Pinterest account is filled with crafts of all descriptions, from children’s projects to felt craft and folk art. I don’t know how many of these things I’ll actually get round to making, but they are lovely to look at… and a girl can dream, can’t she? My favourite pin: memory jars.

I’ve called this post Seven Thrifty Queens because when I looked back over this list, I noticed that all the featured pinners were women. Pinterest has a reputation for being a lady magnet, but there are plenty of men on there too. I’ll have to do a follow-up post at some point, about Pinterest’s Thrifty Kings.

In the meantime, this certainly isn’t a comprehensive list. If you use Pinterest or if you have recently signed up, I’d love to find out who else you would recommend…