Back in December of last year, I stopped by Nesting Place and found a fascinating post Nester had written about Pinterest. If you aren’t familiar with Pinterest, you’ll definitely want to check it out.
Pinterest is a virtual “pin board,” a place to pin anything you see online that inspires you or that you love and think you’ll want to remember for a future project or just for fun. You can read more about what Pinterest is in this PINTEREST post I created a few months ago.
How do you join Pinterest? There are 2 ways to join:
1. One way to join is to request an invite from Pinterst. Apparently, they are way behind in sending those out because folks never seem to get their invite after waiting for months.
2. The other way you can join is by being invited by someone who is already a member. If you wish to join, drop me an email at betweennapsontheporchatgmaildotcom with the subject line “Pinterest” and be sure to include your email address. If you don’t get your invite within 24 hours, check your spam file to see if it got caught there. I’m happy to send one your way so you can become addicted have fun pinning, too.
Labeling a Picture for Pinning:
Okay, back to Nester’s post. I loved one of the suggestions Nester made in her Pinterest post. She suggested bloggers include a photo in their tutorial posts that’s labeled with what that post is about. That way, when the photo is pinned, the Pinner will have a way to remember later why they saved the pin. Brilliant!
I loved this idea but never got around to following through until recently when Kate at Centsational Girl gave a brief tutorial on how to add wording to a photo with Pixlr, without totally blocking out the photo. I followed her great directions and it was super easy to do. I didn’t include a tutorial here below…just click over to the link above to read Kate’s tutorial.
So here’s how my first try at labeling pics turned out using Pixlr. (Click any link title below for the tutorial.) I won’t be labeling every photo in a post. I’ll only label one photo in each post just in case someone does prefer pinning a photo with a description of what the post is about.
Tutorial: Make a Beach or Seaside Table Decoration from Wine Bottles
I’m going back through some of my old tutorials (it’s taking a while) and I’m creating labels like the ones you see here. Then I’m adding that labeled photo to the tutorial post. So, if you see a tutorial or something else you find helpful here at BNOTP and you wish to pin it to Pinterest to save for future reference, hopefully I’ll have a photo labeled in the post that’s just perfect for pinning. Of course, you are always welcome to pin anything you see here, but I hope these “labeled” photos will help save you some work and time as you pin. 
Découpage a Faux Pumpkin with Your Favorite Fabric or Pattern
Tutorial: Make a Blog Button with Grab Box beneath for Your Blog Sidebar
Tutorial: Pottery Barn Inspired Garland—Make Your Own for 1/3 the Cost:
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Hide Those Ugly Metal Swing Chains
Wish to pin the tutorials above?
To pin any of the tutorials I’ve referenced above, you can:
1. Pin the photo here if you like and the pin will take you back to this post which will reference the links to all the tutorials
OR
2. If you want your pin to take you back to the original tutorial post, just click on the link that’s shown above each photo in this post. That link will take you back to the original tutorial where you’ll also find the labeled photo to pin. That’s probably the better way to pin any of the tuts above because your pin will always take you straight back to the original tutorial itself.
Hope you find these “labeled” pics I’ll be including in future tutorials helpful.
For additional blogging tips, check out these posts:
14 Free Photo Editing Sites
9 Tips for Better Blog Photos
Favorite system for watermarking photos for blog
Type Accent Marks, Currency/Math Symbols & Unique Punctuation for Blog Posts
How to make a Blog Button with Grab Box Underneath
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EXCELLENT, that’s going to be a huge time savor for many – thanks for taking the time to go back and label so many awesome and incredible tutorials, etc. You are fab. Have a great weekend!
Great tips! Going to share on my Facebook! I am going to attempt to start doing this as well. Love, Me
I like the idea, however, I often save photos from blogs onto my boards simply for “eye candy” and the text would interfere with that, right? For instance, I’ve pinned your porch onto one of my boards directly from your blog but I’d be less likely to do that if there’s writing on the photo. Sooooo, I hope you’ll continue using “unmarked” photos as well for those of us who simply like to look.
I just “Followed” you.
A couple friends told me I’d get hooked when they suggested I start “Pinning” a few months ago. They were SO right. One of the ways I use it is to “Pin” a recipe I want to try later from a blog. They tended to get lost when I bookmarked them but now I have a picture to remind me in my “Food to Make” section. My daughter and I are going to cater the dessert reception for my son’s wedding in May. We’re both “Pinning” lots of great ideas for cupcakes and cakepops for the wedding. Of course, most of mine are just pictures that make me happy. Thanks for the tutorials. 
SO HELPFUL! You seem to read my mind! I just started and am still working on pinning just for my view at the moment. Pinning tutorials would be VERY HELPFUL! Susan, did I miss the post you talked about a little while ago about how you were going to do a blog post on how you write a post, watermark and save the pictures then posting from start to finish? I try to keep up but anyway but I may have missed it when I was out of town. My ears immediately perked up because I really need input on the process. I think I have done many things “the hard way” and it would be heaven to do it with the ease you seem to do it.
Very good tips. Especially with all the copyright issues!
I love your tutorials and this post. Please send an invite to pinterest to me @ http://www.charlottemcrawley.gmail.com
Thank you for sharing these great tips, xo HHL
Excellent post, Susan. And now I’m pinning……..Sarah
Thank you for presenting this..It makes total sense…I have basically pinned for my own reference so far.
Great tips, thanks.
How are you labeling your pictures?? I’ve just been invited to Pinterest and find it fascinating but looks like a lot of time. Starting seems confusing…so, I’m enjoying just looking at everyone else’s pins.
Thank you again (and again). Your posts are full of how to make things work better in blogging. I loved trying out the transparent/text on a picture. What are great way to start a tutorial post. I have appreciated, and continue to appreciate the research you do on editing/presentation/collages replacement problem (Picnik goodbye issues). I do put a link back on my posts when I discuss something you have pointed out and that I then tried out, always successfully thanks to your very clear directions. Plus, you have great tutorials on so many decorating ideas. Joy
That is a great idea. And so is that swing chain disguise! ~Bliss~
What a great idea!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, Susan.
Good tip, but the graphic designer in me wants you to use a different font for your pictures……maybe the font that matches your blog header??
oye vey yes! the labeling! it is SO crazy making to find the coolest picture…yet there is NO information! m ^..^
I kinda agree with some of the previous posters. I add pictures for inspiration. I would be less likely to pin something that has words all over it unless I was looking for it for a DIY project specifically. Awesome tips though!
It appears her blog is down this morning. Hopefully it will be back up again soon.
FYI – The link to Centsational Girl’s tutorial seems to be broken/changed. (Or, perhaps it’s just moi)