An easy way to print and display Instagram photos
If you’ve spent any amount of time here, you know that I’m engaged in an epic quest to organize our personal photos (and have been for almost a year). Many of you have expressed curiosity at my methodology and the processes I’m putting in place, and I’m happy to oblige – once I have everything wrapped up with a bow!
In the meantime, though, I wanted to share one aspect we’ve got down pat, especially since I’m guessing it might be a pain point for some of you: Instagram photos! The photos I share on IG are some of my very favorites, so it makes sense that they’d be a priority to get off my phone and into our home.
Each January, I order 48 to 72 of our favorite Instagram photos from the past year in the 4-inch size via Social Print Studio. (You can purchase them in sets of 24 for $12). They’re printed on velvety-matte paper, and I’ve found the quality to be good. I especially appreciate that you can upload from multiple accounts in the same order as long as you have the passwords, which is great because I choose favorites from John’s account and both my personal and public accounts.
(If we need to round up to reach a number divisible by 12, I’ll add a few more copies of a print I know a family member or friend would love, then pop them in the mail once they arrive!)
From there, I choose our favorite 24 photos from the past year, with a prejudice toward landscape- and adventure-focused shots, and pin them to a bulletin board in our kitchen. I love being reminded of so many beloved places, faces, and memories on the daily, and guests love looking at them, too!
The ones from the previous year come down and, along with the remainder from the new set, go loose-leaf style into a box on our coffee table. (I add the year and any other pertinent info on the back.) The box isn’t organized in any way, which is good because the prints are literally taken out and rifled through every. single. day. June LOVES to discuss them, and they’re a great conversation starter with guests, too!
On this particular day, each stuffie was assigned a photo :)
One last thing I like about this system: it’s a natural way to make sure we’re refreshing at least some of our wall decor on at least an annual basis. It can feel like a monumental effort to get anything on our walls – the choosing! the hanging! – and once something is up, I’m inclined to just leave it. But it’s nice to spiff things up every once in a while, and this is an easy way to do it.
I’m curious: do you have a favorite way of printing your Instagram photos? I think it would be so fun to order one of SPS’s 365 calendars one day!
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This is such a fun idea! I need to find myself a cork board! I love having printed photos hung on my walls! My husband thinks I have too many wall decorations but I love seeing memories every day!
My husband got me a 365 calendar from SPS my second mother’s day – it was the best gift! And I’ve got several of the photos from it pinned up at my cube at work now :) Highly recommend getting one!
Love this endorsement! What a great idea for a Mother’s Day gift!
I love this idea!! Question: does it bother you that some of the pics have holes in them from being pinned up? I’m always afraid to pin my pictures but I think that this is a great method. Do you notice the hole when rifling through the box of loose prints?
It doesn’t bother me! I try to place the pins right on the edge between the printed photo area and the white border, and I think that makes it less noticeable!
I love this idea! Doing it asap. :)
I love this, especially the thought of little ones rifling through photos by having them accessible and in sight. We started doing this last year and it is the most joyful piece of decor in our home! I covered an inexpensive 24×36″ corkboard in a pretty neutral linen fabric and we swap out our prints with new ones a few times a year. It’s such a great conversation starter! :)
That sounds beautiful, Kyla!
And yet another idea of yours that I might steal! I love it! I also think keeping the old pictures loosely in a box is genius! I make each of my kids one little photo book per year (each year after their birthday) and they love looking at them or showing them off to visitors :-) I think they would love a box filled with photos of our adventures (and our everyday). Thanks for sharing!
Such a cute idea – I have wanted to do this for my office pin board and in my girls rooms! x