Make + Share on Instagram // #makeit2014

Are you on Instagram yet? Well hurry up and get on already! I know you. You’re like, what, another social media thingy? But trust me, it’s bonkers how much fun and easy Instagram is. Here’s why I love it (and why you should join a.s.a.p!!):

1) How often do you have your good camera on you to take photos of everyday life happenings? Not very often, if you’re like anyone with kids. But I will bet that you do have your phone handy at all times. And you probably take photos on it but then say to yourself, well i’ll never see this photo again. You barely download those photos onto your computer (if ever). So they live in a black hole inside your phone. Am I right? Well, with Instagram you can easily share that photo of your husband vacuuming with your friends and family. It is such an enjoyable and simple way to keep up with the people you care about that are spread all over the world. I am a very visual person so I love seeing all the photos on my feed every day. And you don’t have to write anything at all, which is a beautiful thing. Just take the photo, choose a cool filter (or don’t) and hit share. It’s so easy!

2) As if there could be more to love… once you have a dozen or so photos that you have shared, you can make them into prints! Yes, I’m serious. There are several companies that do this, but I love using Printstagram. Their square photos have white borders and are printed on a really heavy, matte paper. Check out this post I did where I used my Printstagram photos and you can see how pretty they are.

3) And still more… Instagram makes you creative. For reals. If you think that you can’t take a good photo, well Instagram makes it so you can’t take a bad one. Also, once you start following others (especially certain bloggers who have beautiful streams of photos) you will learn their artsy ways. Soon, you will feel your creativity oozing out.

4) Lastly (for this post anyway), do you have tweens or teens who are on Instagram? My girls are on Instagram and it’s not only fun having them see my photos and comment on things that I did during the day that I would have only been able to tell them about — or maybe not even tell them about since hanging-out time gets shorter and shorter the older they get — but I get to see their photos, too. I know what they are doing at that sleepover, alright. It keeps me connected to them, but it also keeps my voice in their head without being too controlling. It teaches them to slow down, pause, and think (three virtually impossible things for teens). *See extra note at the bottom.

I will now hold while you grab your phone and download that free Instagram app. Here is a good beginner’s guide…

Hmm hm hm, doo da da…..humming and waiting….

Ok, are you on? Go find your friends and start following them.

Ok, so here’s the real reason for this post. The reason I want you on Instagram is because I want to encourage you to MAKE. I adapted the quote above from the screenwriter Joss Whedon (hopefully he won’t be mad that I changed a few words), who summed it up so well. There are infinite ways to create, most of them using your two hands. Whether it’s gardening, writing, cooking, building, painting, knitting…. everyone has something that they like to do that’s creative. Today I am starting a new hashtag: #makeit2014. Use this hashtag on any of your photos where you are making something. My photos above range from making art, to making forts, to making a wall gallery, to making lemonade and smoothies. All of these things require creativity and you have that! I know you do.

So start making…or continue making…and be sure to tag your photos with #makeit2014. (If you really are new to Instagram, once you tag your photo with a hashtag, it gets put in a group with all other photos with that tag. It’s pretty cool! You can just click on the hashtag and it will bring you to a stream of similarly tagged photos, and potential people to follow!).

I will collect my faves and share them with you on Fridays every few weeks. I can’t wait to see what you are making! (Oh, and you can back tag your photos from the beginning of the year).

You can find me at @artbarblog. Make sure to say hello!

xo, Bar

*{A note about teaching social media responsibility: Ideally, I don’t think children should be on Instagram before they are 13. That’s just my personal opinion. Instagram can fuel their insecurity and hurt the feelings of others. They can get too caught up in how many “likes” they get so that it becomes a popularity contest. I forbid my daughters from taking group photos of friends because someone will always feel left out if they weren’t invited and see that photo on Instagram. I encourage my girls to be “artsy” with their photos instead. I like it as a creative tool, and as a way of keeping connected.}