Get the Most Out of Your Instagram Account: Tips and Tricks You May Not Know

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I don’t know about you, but I’m more than a bit overwhelmed by Social Media sites.

Pinterest takes up way more of my time than I’d like to admit, but I feel like the benefits (meal and craft ideas alone) out way the bad.  Facebook is a great way for me to keep up with friends and family, especially since most of my family lives out of state – I love that they can watch Miles grow up through my Facebook posts!

But add Twitter and Instagram to the mix and I just feel guilty spending so much time online.  How do some people do it?!  I was thisclose to giving up on Instagram until I found some really great apps and printing sites to make Instagram more than worth it for me.

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Added a frame and blurred a bit = art!

In case you’ve avoided the craze (until now?), Instagram is an IOS or Android phone app that allows you to take pictures, add cool filters and/or tilt-shift and then upload to your Instagram account.

You can stay private or let your account be public for others to see the pictures you’ve uploaded.  Think FB status updates using only pictures!  You can follow friends, but (unlike FB) it’s cool to follow strangers that have the same interests as you, or great pictures, and connect with people all over the world.

One of the best things about Instagram is that it’s super easy to connect with Twitter and Facebook – making it easy to share your Instagram pictures on other social media sites.

But what has me singing praises for this phone app, are the plethora of websites dedicated to printing your Instagram pictures!   If you are anything like me, you’ve let social media and quick Facebook uploads become your child’s baby-book.  Or if you truly are too busy to find the time (or energy) to organize those thousands of digital pictures into albums, then this is the perfect solution!  All those artistic, filtered – and most importantly – already hand-picked-as-the-best photos can be quickly (and super easily) organized into photo albums, or printed in other ways…  Here are a few of my favorite sites to check out!

Instagram Printing Sites

  • Printstagram — This site was designed specifically to pick your favorite Instagram pictures and print them in a few different ways.  You can print square prints, sticker books, calendars, posters, mini-prints and more.  The stickers are inexpensive and so fun to put on your phone or notebooks.  I purchased thos and some small books for the grandparents (also, not too pricy) and they were a huge hit!  I picked the smaller option because I wanted to test out the quality, but I’ll definitely be ordering the larger option next time (the small was just a bit too small).
  • Keepsy — This site has great options for photo books from Instagram or pictures you have anywhere (Facebook, your computer, flickr).  You can create your own hard cover or soft cover album in minutes, or you can take more time to really customize it!  I had so much fun creating my album and I am dying to see it!   Friends have sworn by this site, saying the books are great quality and worth every penny! Screen Shot 2013-01-14 at 8.37.42 PM

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    $17.95 for this 20 page book seems like a steal to me!
  • Canvas Pop — It’s just what it sounds like – they take pictures, from Instagram or your computer and print them to canvas.  The reviews on Facebook all rave about the customer service and quality!   So if you are looking for some great artwork for your wall, this would be the perfect way to go.  Starting at $30 for a rolled print and going up from there, these canvas prints are definitely reasonable.
  • PostaGram — How cute is this — for just $1 you can send your Instagram pictures through the mail!  You can send any message you want and one, or up to six pictures!  And your PostaGram Cards are sealed in a window envelope for privacy and to protect them from the mailing delivery. Each card is 8 1/2 by 4 inch photo paper.
  • Stitchtagram — Maybe you don’t need any more photo albums, you are just on top of that with your scrap-booking-self!  Then what?  I suggest you take your Instagram pictures and make yourself (or your mom, or your mother-in-law) a super cute Instagram pillow!  Or tote bag!  Or clutch!  Or coin purse!!  This one’s a little bit pricier, but think Mother’s Day Gift or Anniversary and it’d be totally worth it.

And don’t forget about these awesome photo-editing apps to make your pictures even cooler!  Think multiple pictures in one, fun frames, or adding text to pictures.  These are definitely my favorite – I’ve tried each one on my old iPhone and my new Note 2 and highly recommend them!

Of course, now that you have all this great information about Instagram, be sure to follow Dallas Moms Blog @dallasmomsblog to keep up with all the fun events we host!  Or check us out on Instagram on the web!  Yup, you can now share all your Insagram pictures on a webpage — just go to instagram.com/yourusername to see and share your pics there!

Any apps or printing sites you can personally recommend, we’d love to hear in the comments!  Or feel free to leave your Instagram handle, we’d love to follow you!

****Not a sponsored post. DMB did not receive anything for the mention or reviews of anything listed.****

3 COMMENTS

  1. Great post! I can’t wait to check out Keepsy and Postagram! If you like canvaspop, you should also check out Bumblejax. I recently had them mount some of my instagram photos on acrylic and they did a very high-quality job! I think they also print on aluminum and bamboo. I recommend them to any instagram lover: http://www.bumblejax.com/

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