Anyone who knows me can testify that I am obsessed with Pinterest. I was taking a look at my Pinterest account today and I got a little embarrassed for myself. We are talking…BRACE YOURSELF… 44 Pinterest boards, 5,304 pins, and 1, 450 likes. [Insert shocked face here.]
It all started in graduate school at Texas Tech University. Miss Mattie Claire, a sweet girl in one of my graduate classes, told me about this website called Pinterest. I guess we can agree that she created a monster, BECAUSE I LOVE PINTEREST. But let’s get real…during that time in my life, I needed an outlet and Pinterest was just that. (By the way check out her blog here at Fit is Chic | by Mattie Claire…this girl is ROCKIN!)
I have Pinterest boards dedicated to so many different topics…from a “90s Kid” board to bring me through memory lane, an all things “wine” board (because this girl loves her wine), “recipes,” “sweets,” “holidays,” and I even have a board dedicated to my niece and nephew where I pin crafts that would be fun to do with them.
Anyway, while I will be the first to admit that my pinning can be excessive; I do want to defend my case. There are certainly some things on my Pinterest boards that I will NEVER experience, try, or have. But if you follow me on Pinterest you will notice that I have a “things I have done” board. This is where I pin anything and everything that I have tried from Pinterest. So while it is easy to just keep pinning and pinning projects, ideas, etc. I try to at least try some of the things I come across that can be useful to me or just something fun or yummy to try.
So, this will be my first post of many, sharing with you a Pinterest project I have tried.
This project I call my “Time Out Jar.” Others may refer to it as a “Calm-Down Jar” or a “Mind Jar.”
Basically this idea comes from putting a kid in time out. The child may get worked up or really upset and pester mom and dad asking if time is up yet and the parents get tired of answering that question. Well you give them a time out jar and tell them they have to sit there until all the glitter reaches the bottom of the jar. This gives them something more to look at than the corner of the wall and may have some calming effects on the child while they wait for the time to be up.
You may be asking yourself…”But you don’t have kids yet so why on earth did you make this?”
The answer is that I made it for myself. Yep you heard correctly. When I was in graduate school, most of my time was spent at a desk, looking at my laptop or reading a book. My mom was always reminding me that it was OK to take breaks, to give my mind a “time out,” and then come back to my work a little more refreshed.
So I went out to get the materials for this project. Which all you need is: glitter glue, hot water, food coloring, a jar, and of course more glitter. SO SIMPLE!
It was perfect when I needed to step away from my laptop and books, I would shake my jar and go do something else. In about 5 minutes the glitter would settle and I would get back to work. Plus it was just fun and pretty to look at.
Now that my graduate school days are over, this jar was just sitting in our house collecting dust. I have since brought it to my office. And in case you did not know, I am an Academic Advisor for the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. So I work with college kids every day. My reason for bringing this to my office is that sometimes students just need to fidget with something while they sit in an office, especially an office where they may be nervous talking about their future.
If nothing else it is a GREAT conversation starter! Let me just tell you. So many students come into my office for appointments and cannot leave until they know what this jar with pink water is on my desk. And it is always fun telling them the story behind it. They typically get a good chuckle or smile out of it and I think it helps bring a sense of peace over them and humanization to me.
Check out my picture below and let me know what you think.
What do you do when you need to take a “Time Out” from a daunting task?
Running Life's Race: Start To Finish 