All of these DIYs for Spring + Summer look like so much fun! I found some of the top warm weather DIYs to share, and did I mention colorful? Check ’em out:
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Tour this Beach Home in the Bahamas
Take a tour of India Hicks’ beach home in the Bahamas! It’s filled with history and antiques and I love it all. From the tropical greenery growing outside to the coastal fish prints inside, this home has captured my heart. Also did I mention they have a pet parrot named Jenga? You’ve got to take a look:
I’ve always thought of libraries as the heart of the home! I love the nautical touch to this one!!
Who wouldn’t want to dive into this bed?!
I’m obsessed with this distressed desk!
Because who doesn’t need an adorable playhouse for their backyard?
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Filed under Home
21 Smart Strategies To Increase Your Pinterest Followers – Part 1
I was recently asked by a colleague how I was able to gain 18k+ followers on Pinterest. After our conversation I started thinking more about how exactly I increased my Pinterest following and all the steps I took without ever realizing it at the time. These strategies are mainly geared towards business accounts, however, I still think many of these strategies would help gain followers on a personal account as well. Today I’m going to share my Pinterest strategies or hacks with you! This will get you and your business on the right path to gain the Pinterest following you want. Due to the volume of information, I’ve broken this up into a series of posts that I’ll share over the coming weeks. Make sure to click “Sign me up!” (top right corner) so you don’t miss a post! Now let’s get started:
The #1 rule with boards is to never delete a board! When you delete boards, you delete followers that are following that one specific board. If you find a board is off-brand then simply go ahead and change the board. You can change the title and start pinning content that relates to your new title. By change, what I really mean is alter slightly. You don’t want to completely do a 360′ but just alter it to be more in alignment with your brand and its culture.
Now that we have our #1 rule out of the way, let’s move on to board basics. You’ll notice that Pinterest has a variety of categories. Currently there are 32 of them, i.e. food, health, design. You’ll want to create a variety of boards to hit as many categories that are related in some way to your business. Also if your business is in the food industry, you may want to have multiple boards that are listed under the “Food” category but maybe only one that’s listed under “Sports”. To give you a better idea, I currently have 54 boards that hit 14 categories and I plan to add more boards to increase my visibility under additional categories.
Many of my boards have keywords that are associated with my brand’s identity. You don’t have to do this with all your boards but close to half is a good target.
Another important thing to keep in mind when creating boards is the title of the board itself. You want this to be a keyword that is related to your industry. When I say keyword, what I mean is a word one of your customers would google to find an answer that will be in your board. So if you’re in the fashion industry, you might want to have a board titled, “DIY Fashion”. Even if DIY isn’t your main category, you’ll want your DIY to still be related to the fashion industry and you’ll want the title of that particular board to reflect that. You’ll also want to make sure you pin accordingly.
Now that we have the basics out of the way, you’ll want to add boards that correspond directly to your business. These are the boards that you’ll pin your products or services to. I have 54 boards and 3 of them relate directly to my business. It is important not to overload your Pinterest with your “business” boards. A good ratio is 1 business board for every 7 – 8 other boards that you have OR less! With that being said, I still pin some of my products or original content to other boards BUT only if it truly relates to those boards. For example I took a picture of the ocean and shared it on Instagram, I then pinned that picture to my Ocean Pinterest board.
You can find the number of followers a board has by clicking on the board and looking in the top left under the board’s title.
So we have all our boards created but we’re not done. The next step is to map out the location of all your boards. The first step of this process is to go through and list your boards by the following count. (Don’t include your business boards just yet) You’ll want to place your boards with the highest number of followers at the top of your Pinterest page. Why? Because these are your most popular boards and when someone clicks on your Pinterest page to find out more about you, you’ll want to grab their attention with additional things they like. The more you can grab their attention and show them that your Pinterest page is filled with content that they like, the greater the chance that they’ll follow you.
Doesn’t it make sense that if we are placing our most popular boards at the top of our Pinterest page that we should also place one of our most popular pins as the cover to each and every board? I think so! If you’re running an apparel shop, you wouldn’t put a drape last season outfit in your store front would you? Of course not! You’d put the brand-new most popular outfit that everyone wants! You’ll want to do this with your business boards as well.
The main color in my logo is turquoise. You’ll notice a turquoise/blue theme throughout my Pinterest page. It’s not always the main color in every cover photo but it is always there.
Another thing to keep in mind is having your overall Pinterest page look cohesive. If you have a color in your logo or on your website, have this color be in line with your Pinterest page as well. The cover photo of each board is the most noticeable, since it’s the largest picture showing for that board, make sure it’s in agreement with your color scheme. Sometimes this means picking your second or third popular pin in a particular board instead of your first and that’s okay since you’re still putting a popular pin up front.
You’ll notice that this board is titled “Coral” but even the cover photo for my Coral Pinterest Board has a hint of turquoise sky in the background.
The next step is to strategically place our business-related boards throughout your Pinterest page. You should have one main board for your business. This board goes in the top line of your Pinterest page. Then you’ll add a second business board to your second line of boards, a third business board to your third line of Pinterest boards, etc.
Your head may be spinning from all this information and that’s okay! Just go through each strategy one by one and remember you can ask questions in the comment section below. I’ll try to get back to you asap. Also keep in mind that this is only Part 1 of a series of blog posts. So you’ll want to follow along by clicking the “Sign me up!” button in the top right corner of my blog. Next time I’ll be covering strategies for pins and more! Stay tuned.
Filed under Blog Love
Summer Fashion LookBook 2017 with Joe Fresh
If you’ve never heard of Joe Fresh, it’s a Canadian brand that’s similar to a Mango or Zara. It’s available in the US online, you can find their website here. Pretty much everything is under $50 so it’s very affordable! Stay tuned because after the lookbook I’m sharing some of my favorite Summer pieces from their shop at the bottom of the post. Check it out:
via FGR
$29
$19
$19
$29
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Grapefruit Sangria Recipe
I recently rediscovered my grapefruit sangria recipe and knew I had to share! I was looking for a sangria recipe that would be perfect for Spring, something light and refreshing to serve some friends who were coming over. Since this sangria recipe uses white wine, you don’t have to let it sit for 24 hours before serving, only about 2 -3. This is great if you don’t know you’re having people over till the morning or afternoon of! I also think the white wine gives it a lighter taste compared to the boldness that red sangria recipes can have. Not to mention that I think the bits of grapefruit in this sangria remind me of pink petals floating on top of water. Which is perfect for Spring!
Ingredients:
- 2 red grapefruits
- 1 cup lemonade
- 1 nip Chambord
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 750ml bottle of dry white wine
- 750ml bottle of sparkling water or club soda
- ice cubes (optional)
Instructions:
- Slice and deseed one grapefruit and set aside for garnish. Start by peeling/slicing/deseeding the other grapefruit then with your fingers pull apart the pulp and place into your sangria pitcher.
- Add the lemonade, Chambord, and white wine.
- While stirring add the sugar and keep stirring until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Chill sangria in the fridge for 2 – 3 hours. I chilled my white wine, lemonade and sparkling water before hand so I only needed to let it sit for 2 hours. If your ingredients are at room temperature, let them chill for the full 3 hours.
- Before serving, top off each glass with some sparkling water and squeeze a slice of grapefruit into the glass. Now you’re ready to serve!
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Filed under Recipes
17 Coastal Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day
- Turquoise Ring – bring her one of her favorite stones, something she can always wear
- Tinted Lipstick – this moisturizer lipstick has just a hint of color, perfect for the mom on the go!
- Beach Bag – this fun bag is perfect for all the things mom needs to carry
- Personalized Stationary – personalize her gift so she knows it’s just for her
- Sea Shell Display Box – let her show off her favorite shell collection
- Handmade Wall Art – handmade and special, I love this wall art’s beachy vibe!
- Sea Glass Wind Chime – how sweet is this?! Every time she hears it, she’ll think of you
- Greeting Card – don’t forget to tell mom how much you love her
- Seahorse Bracelet – perfect for the beach-loving mom!
- Initial Keychain – another personalized gift and this one’s great for a small budget
- Anchor Candle Holders – these come in a set so they can be scattered around the home
- Pearl Stud Earrings – pearls are a classic mother’s day gift!
- Makeup Bag – This is something she’ll use everyday
- Sea Glass Print – this would go perfect with the sea glass wind chime
- Seahorse Wine Glasses – made from recycled glass, great for the eco-friendly mom
- Cline Viognier Wine – this has been my go-to wine this year! Don’t let the twist off cap fool you, this bad boy came rated in at 91 points
- Perfume Gift Set – pick up her favorite scent in a gift set. Bonus, it already comes beautifully wrapped!
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