6 steps to cool instagram pictures

calling all instagram addicts: i’ve been working on my first instagram book via blurb for the holidays, and noting how instagram took over in my personal-photo-memories department.  this year i took less pictures on my SLR camera then any year previously in the past decade+. and although i am trying to change this, i also realized that if i am going to remain completely and hopelessly addicted to instagram i should invest a little more time in each of those photos.

with doing so, i frequently get asked what apps i am using or how i created a certain instagram pic. for those of you who care, and want the inside information, this post is for you! the versatile apps listed below will let you customize, color-correct, crop and add rad effects to your photos before you upload them to instagram. (you might even be ready to ditch the instagram filters once you check out these apps.)

1) VSCO cam: this is my favorite! oh, i love the vsco filters. #5 is my top obsession. it is worth every penny of that ninety-nine cents. need help learning your way around vsco? watch this one-minute video.

before/after VSCO -

2) afterglow: if you want to crop your photos in an adjustable trendy shape, and who doesn’t? get this app!

3) whitagram: a white background for instagram. if you dislike cropping a picture that doesn’t work as a square, or when you post it on instagram, you get a black border… this will solve that challenge.

for example:

4) picfx: endless options, i use it for the light/bokeh filters, it really shines in that area!

5) diptic: there are a LOT of apps to create photo collages, this is one of the more popular ones. you can also add rounded corners to your frames. i don’t create collages very often, but when i do you can put together more than one picture, like this: {this is one square in instagram, kind of confusing on this post design.}

6) morebeaute: i just added this app this week, and it kind of makes me laugh. it brightens, lightens your skin tone and smoothes your skin in just 2 easy steps, voila! you can see before/after images below, i turned down all the tools, but you can go cray-cray with this… and look gorgeously flawless.

{my incision appears nasty, but in real life looks great. it will be scrubbed clean in one more week! all the dermabond/blood residue will be gone! right now: it i-t-c-h-e-s so bad.}

looking at my instagram profile makes me smile. some people don’t “get” instagram, but if you think of it as a kind of digital scrapbook, it starts to make sense. it doesn’t have to stay digital forever, either: in this post i shared numerous ways you can turn your instagram photos into books, magnets, so many different types of prints!

do you have any questions? any editing challenges when you are posting to instagram? leave them in the comments below and i will try to answer them asap. also, do you have a favorite photo app i didn’t mention? i would love to hear what they are!

cheers to great instagram pictures, friends!

p.s. does ‘elf on the shelf’ visit your home? you can follow my instagrams this month @see_jane to see mr. bean’s daily deeds. and! come back tomorrow, if you have an elf, i have a super cute (free) surprise for you! xo.

Posted in instagram | 12 Comments »

there seems to be a trend…

i am spotting a lot of black and white stripes in our life. stripes in our clothing, accessories, when we go south of the border, at our doorstep, in the kids’ toys, in our crafts. more than ever before. we’ve always been fans of stripes, but this past year the trend has erupted!

especially with miss five. she is the queen of stripes. she made herself that flag just this last weekend.

there are even more! i have pictures of us and our life in other colored stripes – red, grey, navy blue, orange… more stripes than ever before! {i am anticipating a black-and-white striped sox hat on the market this season…}

do you have a trend you see often in your life??? any fellow-stripe lovers?

{all photos by me.}

*row six: that is my booty. husband thought he was hilarious when he took that picture – ha!

Posted in family life, fashion, home decor, husband, instagram, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, sela | 3 Comments »

print your instagrams!

i am completely addicted to instagram. and, i am content with this addiction. how do you add whipped cream & a cherry on top to instagram? you turn those instagrams into lasting works of art, like this: print those grams!

how & where do you print them? here is an entire list to give you those answers…
{keep in mind: most of these sites, you sign-in with your instagram account & it uploads your photos, which is very convenient and easy.}

{my stickygrams adorn our fridge!}

• sticky gram** — you can turn your fridge or magnet board into an instant gallery. — for $15, stickygram makes a set of nine photo magnets from your favorite images. because i ordered SO MANY, i chose to not tear apart my magnets into nine smaller magnets, instead i kept them in their original sheets & displayed them in sets of 9… i am planning on ordering a set for my mom for mothers day – i’m going to take pictures of our kids with her later this month when we are in utah. she can have a little set of her & her grandkids on her fridge! {for only $15!} also, how fun would these mini magnets be for lockers at school? you could order them for teenage friends as a birthday gift!

**stickygram is offering a deal right now – for every friend/reader of see jane blog that orders a sticky gram you get $2 off!
use the promo code: see_jane123  so, hurry over & order, offers ends February 18th.

• pinhole press — pinhole press was a sponsor of alt. design summit, they let each attendee submit a photo for a magnet & we picked them up at their mini party! below you can see the pinhole press magnet vs. the sticky grams – it’s a larger photo. i love this size if you want a larger pictures or a variety of magnet sizes. with pinhole press, you can submit ANY photos for their products, it doesn’t have to be an instagram.

{the front of my fridge, the polaroid collage  was recently inspired by a collage my friend becky has on her fridge.}

• persnickety prints — at persnickety, you can upload one of their FREE instagram templates and create a grid styled print in a 4×8 or 12×12! how cool is that? plus, persnickety can print them for you!
• postal pix — this is an iPhone app, so you can take your photos on instagram and order the pictures all from using your iPhone! …print four-inch squares {these are NOT magnets} for only 30 cents each. fast shipping, matte finish, professional quality resolution, and the convenience of mobile shopping make this a great stop for instagram prints. they even sell just-right square 4-inch wooden frames!
• canvas pop — your darling filtered instagram photos are worthy of an at-home gallery. create a high-resolution 12-inch square or 20-inch square stretched canvas print for the temporary price of $30 and $60, respectively. buy multiple canvases for an artful wall vignette! {i would love to do a few of these…}
• printstagram – the company offers a LOT of ways to print instagram photos, but the 20-by-40-inch posters would be fun for a teenagers bedroom wall. between 50-400 photos are arranged in a clean grid on thick, archival paper for $25. i also love those mini stickers for $10, and the mini book for $12 – that would also make a great gift for grandparents! can’t you imagine every grandma pulling that out of her purse to show-off the latest pictures of her grandkids!?!
• postagram — this could be so much fun – postagram mails a postcard with popout instagram photo and message to friends for 99 cents each. i love the idea of using these for thank-you’s after a birthday party, you could include a picture of your child with their friend/etc. – or, sending these postcards to friends after a trip when you were traveling together – what a fun souvenir!
• instagoodies — print books of one-inch stickers of your favorite instagram photos. attach stickers to the computer monitor, phone case, or wallet for a quick flash of happiness.  these could be fun for little kids, too…  imagine a teacher using stickers of her class for grading!  so cute.
• boo box — boo box offers a gorgeous contemporary frame, their bamboo shadowbox frames are beginning at $20. you must check them out!
• teenytile — as the name implies, teenytile crafts two-inch tiles from your instagram pics for sticking on your fridge (thanks to the included adhesive magnet), or whatever you choose to create with them. each tile is priced at $4.
• artflakes — images get sticky with this company that takes your regular ol’ instagram pics and whips them into vinyl four-inch stickers. buy them up in packs of 10 ($21), 25 ($42), or 50 ($63)
• casetagram — create a custom iPhone 4/4S case with this company that prints your instagram on a slim-fitting shell. You can customize how your pics are arranged, then casetagram prints them on a white or transparent case for just $35.
• blurb is not just for blog books. softcover books with 20 pages of instagram photos runs $11 and a hardcover is $22. christmas present, perhaps? attention: ALT. attendees – did you notice blurb gave everyone a $60 credit — use it for a few instagram books!
• instamaker — they create t-shirts, mugs, and more! create a mosaic of your photos and print them on a tee!

readers, what do you think? does this get your mind buzzing with ideas?

{all photos by me.} + {info via}
this is not a sponsored post.

Posted in instagram, iphone apps, photo booth love | 14 Comments »

followgram.

for the past week we have been in cabo san lucas.

if you have followed this blog for a while, you already know our family is a fan of mexico…
{see here, and here}

and, i am obsessed with instagram. an iPhone photo/social network app.

…my friend caroline from the armelle blog sent me an email a month ago sharing information about followgram. she also included a link to decor8′s post that included the following information:

“Do you use Instagram? If so, Followgram is an excellent companion. Followgram is NOT an iPhone app, but a website that gives you the unique opportunity to view your Instagram photos online. This site is great because:

1. You don’t always need your iPhone to see your Istagram photos.
2. You can share them with others, including friends who do not have an iPhone or who are not using Instagram.
3. You can also view the photos in three different ways: Diary (photos taken on specific dates), List (photos will appear one after the one, going down the page), or Grid (photos shown in blocks).
4. You can also create super duper photo albums to group your Instagram photos for quick reference or to even group them like you would on Pinterest to inspire you or to turn into a future blog post.
Here is an example of a Followgram page – this is my instagram account as seen on the Followgram website:

Another GREAT TIP is that with Followgram, you can now drag and drop your photos from Followgram directly to your desktop, open up your trusty photo editing program and create an interesting composition to save and share on your blog. Here are two examples of this:

Maybe you recently went on vacation {like us!} and took lots of your travel photos using Instagram. But you haven’t had time to connect your iPhone to your laptop to upload the images. Maybe you are using another computer. Just go to the Followgram website and drag and drop your images to the desktop on the computer that you are using and create a collage or something quickly and easily.

I love this feature. because, for the past six months i have been saving my instagram pictures on my iPhone, and then tediously emailing them to myself to open/save on my desktop. Followgram takes this huge step out of my routine!

“Also with Followgram, you can access the photos of other Instagram users and share your favorite Instagram photos on your blog in the same way as shown above – just include photo credits!”

what do you think? i love it! …it’s so easy to be creative with my instagram pics and to create collages using this site.

also, did you know you can print your instagram pics? look here and here! printstagram offers posters, stickers, mini books – i’m going to start a project with printing some of my instagram pics very soon – i’ll post about it when it’s ready! what do you think?

it’s an insta*fiesta!
xoxo.

{do you use instagram? feel free to follow me, my user name is: see_jane}

{photos/images by me, inspired by decor8}

Tags: instagram
Posted in cabo mexico, followgram, husband, instagram, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, sela, travels | 3 Comments »