I will admit that one of the driving forces of me upgrading from my basic, 4 year old phone to an iPhone was the ever popular Instagram app. I never even bothered to use the camera on my old camera; the photos were just too bad. Instagram was the first app I downloaded and definitely the most used app I own.
While I enjoy just the photos themselves, I've been spending some time lately looking into all of the companies that have popped up as a result of Instagram. There are companies that will print your Instagrams, turn them into stickers, make them into a book, and even put them on an iPhone case for you. (More on the iPhone case later. I may have treated myself to one and can't wait for it to arrive to find out if it's as awesome as it looks online!)
PostalPix is one of these companies. PostalPix allows you to print photos directly from your phone. No need to upload your photos first. You can print any photos in several different sizes, but I was most interested in trying out the square Instagram prints. I decided to place my first order after finding a coupon code on Dear Lizzy's blog. I'm not sure if the coupon code is still valid, but it was for 3 free prints. Using the coupon code, my order of 11 square prints came out to $2.50, including shipping. Not bad at all.
The prints ship from California, so my order arrived in San Diego in no time. I think I ordered on Saturday and the prints showed up in my mailbox on Tuesday. Each square print is 4"x4" and has a matte finish. I was worried the paper might be thin and flimsy, but it's surprisingly thick. The prints weren't terribly crisp, but no fault of PostalPix. I'm still getting used to using the camera on my iPhone and took many of the photos in low light so the original photos weren't too crisp to start wtih. To be honest, I'm a pretty big fan of the soft and slightly blurry texture. I think it adds some vintage charm.
I might have to incorporate these prints into my Christmas gift wrapping this year. Here are a few made from shots from around our house tucked into an otherwise plain package. But I think it would be even better to print out photos of the gift recipient (or you with the gift recipient) and use them instead of gift tags.
Or you can just use some for cheap art for your walls. Quick warning though - washi tape cannot be removed once placed on the prints. I think it has to due with the type of paper or maybe the finish. Either way, I went to remove the tape on one of the prints and it clearly wasn't going to budge without ripping. Make sure you're ready to committ!
Any other fun companies that utilize Instagrams that you would recommend? I think I want to try the stickers next...
