photography lovers ++

these fun little mini calendars would be perfect on an office desk or hanging from some string as seen above. they're simple, but so adorable!!


this vintage tripod with leather case would just be gorgeous sitting in a corner. i just love it!


this cute picture of a polaroid camera would be a fun, unique gift! and it's under $10!!


i fell in love with these adorable polaroid inspired coasters! perfect for the kitchen table, or the coffee table. these are a must have for that photography lover who also likes to keep their tables kept pristine!


this is a very unique mixed media piece of art which incorporates the rugged with the classic.


this little beauty is an old polaroid case which was transformed into a little lamp! perfect for any desk!

In An Instant...

(click to see them larger)

Mike and I have been taking a few Instax photos of each other when we take outfit shots. It's always trial and error with the sun. Even if we over or underexpose the image, we roll with it anyway. It kind of makes our collection more fun! Here are three from recent outfit adventures!

The top one is my all time favorite, and the picture is currently my desktop background. He's so cute!

Feeling really inspired lately! Can't wait to share goals, dreams, and current happenings with you all soon! Stay tuned for an official launch date for my e-book! And drop back by in a few hours to check out our first sponsor giveaway for November!

Is an Instax Mini or Wide on your wishlist this holiday season? Check out my 210 vs. Mini 7s review here! Maybe it'll help shed some insight on which to buy!

Instant Decoration...

Chances are highly likely that a vast majority of you either have an Instagram account or own an Instax/Polaroid instant camera of some type. They're definitely hot currently and they produce awesome small images that are fun to share with family and friends. I have over 700 photos in my Instagram, 6,500 in my camera roll on my iPhone 4 (yikes!), and several hundred Instax and Polaroids just sitting in a box on my vanity. I want to display them so badly, but we're limited on wall space. 2 of our walls in our loft are solid brick (so that's a no go!), one wall is cabinetry and my Etsy packing station (another no-go), so that only leaves the large wall behind our bed/loft (which is fully taken), and a smal area off to the side above a dresser. Phew! I've seen so many people do so many rad things with their pictures, so I'm here to ask YOU for your opinions!

For starters, here are a few fun places where you can get the most out of your Instagram photos:

PostalPix - PostalPix is a fun app you can download to your iPhone (or Droid?) to choose the Instagram photos you'd like to send off (or any photos from your Camera Roll!) and have printed! They come back in sizes 4" x 4", 4" x 6", 5" x 5", 5" x 7", and 8" x 10". I have more than my fair share of 4" x 4" (they're a really great size!) But no idea of how to showcase them! Elsie has chosen a really fun way to showcase hers, but I don't think we have the wall space to do it sadly. Still, I keep mine in a nice little box until I find a way! Even if we end up just lining them on the wall like E, perhaps I can break them up into smaller sections and spread them around the house...

Blurb Instagram Books-  If you like the idea of making them into a coffee table type book, Blurb might be the answer for you! I love this idea and it's a great idea for a special gift, but I like the option of constantly adding new ones. With this you sort of have to make a decision on where it will end (unless you buy more in the future!). Super cute, but again, not exactly perfect for us!

StickyGram - You can turn some of your Instagram photos into magnets for your fridge! I love this idea and I'd love to order a few for ours (Does anyone have an invite they'd send my way for StickyGram?!). It's a bummer that you need an invite to join but hopefully they'll open up to the public soon! Cute and functional!

What are some other Instagram tools you know of? Feel free to share below!

Now for my giant box of Instax and Polaroid photos! Yeeeesh! I don't even know where to get started with those! They're so very very special to me and I'd love to have them out on display as decoration in our home, but as usual, I'm at a loss for inspiration! I know many people do awesome Polaroid walls or hearts, and they're so super cute (and may be what we end up with), but I want to make sure I exhaust all the other options first! Rachel thrifted the perfect photo album for her Instax pictures! If only we could all be so lucky! But it's good to know I'm not the only one with this problem :) I've strung them up on twine with clothespins. I've stuck them to the wall. I've got a handful in a little wire photo holder, etc. And I still have hundreds I'd love to share! THIS is proof enough that a billion different versions exist of the Polaroid wall! 

How do you showcase your Instax/Polaroid pictures? What are some of your favorite ways you've seen it done? Bonus points if it includes pictures/links of examples!

PS; This is in no way sponsored by or affiliated with anything discussed above! I'm generally just a gal in need of some storage/organization tips for display and wanted to share any resources I currently had! And it's sad that I have to even disclose that... 

In an Insta(x)nt.

We've taken many many many instant photos in the past two weeks, and I'm going to share a couple with you! We still have oh so many to scan in and share, so don't worry, there are plenty more where these came from! (I've even been doing my 365 project in Instax Mini photos since January 1st, but I'm started to lose interest! Plus, it's so expensive! We snagged 100 new exposures for the Mini so even if I drop the 365 project, we'll be using them!)

You can find more of the instant photos at Mike's blog and his Flickr, too! Go give them a follow! (Psst.. that dirty bathroom is at the Goodwill Outlet in Berry Hill/Nashville! Gross, right?!)

Polaroid Decorating

i don't know anyone that doesn't just love polaroids. they are sooooo much fun. only because they're instant. if you had to wait to develope them, i'm sure they'd loose their fun...

but i happen to collect polaroid cameras. i have a whole ton of them. some of them work. others dont. but that was not going to stop me from buying them at GREAT prices at my local thrift shop. i just use the older ones as wall decor.

i need to get out and get some more film for my little guys so that i can have a world of polaroid pictures to place all around my home. i find inspiration in the following pictures:

weheartit.com

Gone Thrifting: An Exciting Find!

Mike and I went to Hohenwald the other day (as I had blogged here), and while waiting on my mom to get home from work, we decided to grab some lunch and hit up a local junk store. I say junk store because that's what it is. It's not a "thrift store"... it's a legitimate JUNK store. Well, anyway, while we were in there, Mike caught glimpse of a pretty vintage camera in a case so he asked to see it. Luckily he was smart enough to inquire if the shop keeper had any more and she said "I have a whole tub if you want to look through it. They're mostly older cameras though." Something clicked. Mike got excited. The next thing I know, he's sprawled out on the floor looking through mounds and mounds of vintage cameras and Polaroids. Rather than asking how much for each one (they weren't marked), I pushed him to ask about the entire huge Rubbermaid tub. The shop keeper gave a ridiculously decent price so we bought them there on the spot. We didn't even know what was IN the tub! We just saw Polaroids and said yes! 

After lunch we headed back to my parents' house and unloaded all of the goods. In the box were 13 Polaroid cameras, various other vintage film cameras, a projector, and a few pieces of junk. But 13 Polaroids! In total I think there were 11 instant-Polaroid cameras! Win! (Probably a total of 30 cameras or more!) Most all of them still work and some even had exposures left in them! It was our lucky lucky day!

Mike brought them home and washed them all up a bit. They could still use another scrub but I just wanted to shoot photos of a couple before I put them on our shelves. :)

What is the best thing you've ever thrifted? I still love my 2 pairs of vintage fringe cowboy boots and my Guatemalan muu-muu! It's always a hit or miss but this time I think we hit the jackpot!

xoxo

Outfit Post : Monday, August 9

Last night Mike and I ventured to Brentwood to his friend Justin's house for a vegetarian potluck with some people they both work with at REI. I was a bit out of my element as the only person I knew there was Mike and they were all super outdoorsy and bike-literate. Then here I sit... in my floral dress with a look of "HUH?" on my face. Actually, it was nothing like that. It was such a wonderful little get-together and there were so many different types of people. I had a blast. Everyone was very kind and friendly, and the food was delicious. We got home around 11pm and so we laid on the couch and watched a made-for-tv-movie (Wild Child with Emma Roberts)... and by we watched I really mean I watched as Mike slept next to me. Sleep and wake. Story of my life it seems.

Today we loaded up and went to another new photoshoot location. This time it was at a pseudo park type thing at the Spring Hill Battleground (?!) We had plans to head up to this amazing barn but we realized our high-noon timing of the sun was not friendly with that idea. We shot some photos around the bridge and pretty flowers, then headed to Goodwill (and left empty handed). Now we're at home and about to enjoy some vegan spring rolls (seriously.. the best!) and focaccia with hummus for lunch. No idea what our plans are for the rest of the day but it's not even 2pm yet so I'm sure we'll find something! We shot some disposable pictures too (and SplitCam ones!) so I'll have those posted when we get them developed!

Oh! And someone who took the survey said so many nice things, and then suggested I get a new camera for the quality of my photos have been lacking... and I know several of you (myself included) have noticed the pixelation on some of the outfit photos! I hate that something as simple as that can cause them to look so cheaply produced but I THINK I found the culprit! (Of course I thought I had before but turns out I was wrong! Eep!) It seems that photos I upload with Flickr are the only ones that pixelate, so I'm still going to upload my outfit photos onto Flickr, but I will be posting them from my photobucket account. This will hopefully alleviate any of the viewing troubles we seem to be having. It's just unfortunate that my nice Nikon DSLR camera looks like it's a point-and-shoot when Flickr messes up! But don't worry, survey-taker and readers alike, I will solve the problem! :D Thanks to everyone who has taken the survey so far! I'm working on some stuff that I think you'll be pleased with! (BTW, please let me know if they still appear to be pixelated for you!)

{Outfit Details o8.o9.1o}

{Dress: Forever 21 $25}

{Cardigan: Forever 21 $23}

{Flats: Kmart $13}

Stay tuned for the Mixtape Monday coming up shortly!

xoxo

PS; Megan helped let me in on what was causing the pixelation! Huzzah! It will be fixed from here on out and we won't have that problem anymore! (and my photos won't look crappy! woohoo!)