We have a Guest Blogger today, it’s TMSM Member Ariel1236! Enjoy!
Good Morning Everyone.
TMSM has invited me to write articles for the website, so I figured I would start with one near and dear to me: pin trading. If you are well versed in pin trading you probably already know what I am going to say. If you are not a fan of pin trading, I hope you will read this and it may change your mind.
As a long time pin trader, ~10 years, I have gathered some insight on the ‘hobby’. Pin trading means different things to different people, and I have even seen it use as a teaching tool for children and teens. For adults it is a good way to network with other people for both trading and non-trading reasons. I have met people who met their spouses and best friends through pin trading. I personally know a family homeschooling their children and uses pin trading to help develop their social skills. Pin trading has what I call a starting script “Hi, can I look at your pins please?” it makes it easier for shy children to get a conversation started. I love the look of a child’s face when they get a pin they had never seen or the one they really wanted, their Holy Grail.
Now you may be wondering where does the ‘trading vows’ part of my title come from. Since I am a new writer for TMSM I wanted to let y’all get to know me a little. As I said I have been pin trading for many years, I met my husband about 3 years ago and he instantly got hooked. One year after we met he proposed to me on the stage at the Florida Project in 2011, the annual pin trading event at Disney World. Fourteen months later we were married at the Wedding Pavilion.
Now my advice to any new pin traders, first pick a character, movie, attraction, or general subject and stick with it. Mine are the Little Mermaid and the Haunted Mansion; my husbands are Aladdin and Sorcerer Mickey. Second, set a budget and no matter how much it hurts stick to it. Third, remember you can always trade a pin again. For example if you are not sure if you have a pin or not, always trade for it, because you can trade it away later. Fourth and the most important HAVE FUN.
There are two websites I think every pin trader should have on their bookmarks bar. www.pinpics.com, this is an amazing website that has a picture and detailed description of every pin. The second is http://eventservices.disney.go.com/pintrading/index this is the official Disney website, it gives you all the upcoming information and has a link to the official blog.
- Discovery Island and River Country - February 5, 2014
- Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus….. - October 11, 2013
- My Hollywood Studios (stress on the ‘my’) - September 27, 2013
Thank you too for offering to help out! You did a great job!! 🙂
I want to thank Cindershella for giving me the opportunity to write for TMSM.