Instagram

I am a huge fan of instagram and the photos that I have been able to take with it. In fact, some of my very favorite photos have been because of Instagram.  Last month, I decided that I wanted to be able to see the photos that I take every day, and not just on my phone.  That is how I came up with this idea.

The frame started out not too fancy.  I got it from Tai Pan years ago, and never really cared for the artwork inside of it.  (Here's a tip.  If you ever come across a square picture frame for really cheap, buy it. Seriously. You will thank me later.  They are pretty rare to find at a great price.)  I think I paid $15 for this frame and it is huge.  Like 3 feet square huge.

I started out by painting the frame.  I wanted the inside frames to match the outside frame and I wasn't really digging the whole gold frame look.  I used some spray paint and it was a whole new frame.

Originally, I thought that having the matting painted the same color as the frames would be a good idea.  But, once I got the photos in, I didn't like it.  To fix it, I cut some card stock paper into strips and put it into the spaces between the frames.  I love the way it helps the photos stand out.

As far as the photos go, I just uploaded them to photoshop and made them into 6 inch squares.  The photos that are my favorites, I made the full 6 inches.  The other photos that I like were made into 3 inch squares.  This made it perfect to send to costco to have it printed.  I put four squares together and printed it as a 12X12 photo.  It was inexpensive and pretty great quality too.  The photos are just connected to the frame with photo dots, so I can change them out whenever I would like to.  

Overall, I think it is a great piece for any home, and looks really great above my mantle.  It definitely is a conversation starter.