The person who introduced me to Pinterest needs to be slapped. And you know who you are. A new and improved way to support my obsession with collecting random facts and items. It’s just about the very last thing I need to be doing with my life.

Image via allthingshendrick.blogspot.com

Yet, a part of me can’t help but wonder. Would my house and garage be the way it is if I had used Pinterest all along? Perhaps I would not have multiple years of Traditional Home and various other magazines in my office closet. Perhaps I wouldn’t have three file cabinets full of papers that I never access. Perhaps I would not have binders full of photos of table settings, flower arrangements, recipes, and decorating ideas to which I rarely refer (and I just realized that the Grammar Police Lady needs to comment on the lack of a comma in this otherwise cute graphic).

For the uninitiated among you, Pinterest is an online bulletin board. Once I installed the “Pin It” bookmark, I could “pin” a web site to my personal bulletin board. I’ve only been doing this for about two weeks, but have already had to change my titles in order to better organize the boards. I’ve been “repinned” by people who have thousands of pins on their boards. Surely this is the digital version of hoarding.

And that brings us to Christmas obsessions. My brother posted a photo on Facebook of my sister-in-law putting lighted garland on their mantel, which is alongside an already erected and lit-up Christmas tree. I was so jealous of this that I immediately decided to figure out something my husband could tolerate so that I could get started on my Christmas decorating. We didn’t decorate last year because we were out-of-town for Christmas and barely were finished with our construction, so there is quite a lot of pent-up Christmas obsession in my veins right now.

Image via Pinterest; original source unknown

I decided to use Pinterest to catalog my collection of Department 56 Christmas village houses and accessories. That was fun! Then I started looking for sites that gave ideas for displaying the houses. That was even funner! Then someone else repinned one of my pins, and I was off on a journey through her thousands of pins. It was there I found this gorgeous centerpiece.

Image via willowhouse.com

Ever since I saw The Break-Up with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn I have always wanted a lemon centerpiece. It just sounded easy and lovely, even though Vince Vaughn’s character didn’t quite get it. Last year I bought the container from Willow House, a large vase I lovingly refer to as The Big Gulp, which is a wine-drinking reference from Courtney Cox’s television show, Cougar Town.

But I digress. Last week, while shopping at the dollar store, I saw that they had full size plastic lemons and limes for, of course, a dollar. I’ve been looking for them online, but the ones I found at obvious places like Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn were ridiculously expensive. Today after church, armed with my Pinterest photo, I went back to the dollar store and bought eight lemons and eight limes. I know I already have fake evergreen sprays in the Christmas boxes and all I need is fake cranberries and I have my centerpiece that will last through many Christmases, even those spent in San Francisco and Seattle!

Sadly, the search for artificial cranberries has resulted in fiscal disappointment. The best ones range from seventeen to nineteen dollars for 72 little cranberries. There has to be another source. They do look pretty real, though. I’m tempted.

Image via http://www.furnituregourmet.com/aab029?gclid=CI_GjuzzoqwCFYLsKgodCDu01w

But when I look carefully at the centerpiece photo, it seems as though the red berries might be currants. Or holly. Or something that I can buy in a big sprig at Joann’s for a lot less. Lest you concern yourselves unduly, gentle readers, let it be known that I will investigate and report back. Just in case you still are with me on this story and have not given up reading the ramblings of the obsessed-with-Christmas-and-Pinterest crazy lady.

P.S. I should really categorize this as the first of my 25 Days of Christmas posts; that will save me some time later. 🙂