This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and timeshel, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #timeshelprints http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
It’s hard to remember a season since parenthood began that hasn’t been insanely busy for us. And life these days seems crazier than usual–we’re selling our house which involves trying to keep the floors clean and the windows free of little jam hands while homeschooling and caring for three small humans every day.
And in the midst of the glasses of water that need filling, the diapers that need changing, the art projects that need fixing, and the LEGOs that need finding, sometimes I just completely forget the big giant truths of motherhood. This is chaos, but it is good. This noisy, messy life is full of joy and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Sometimes it takes stepping out of the current crazy moment and seeing my kids as the gifts they are–and I confess, that usually happens when they are sleeping and I check on them and they look so precious, and so quiet, and so not asking me for anything.
And I’ve said before that catching those moments are one of the reasons I love Instagram. Yes, there are plenty of crazy, difficult, soul-stretching moments in every day, but there’s also the heart-breakingly beautiful ones and those are the parts of the story I want to remember. Those are the moments I don’t want to forget.
Anyhow, I’ve been a notorious digital-only photo compiler and if my older techy brother hadn’t driven me himself to Best Buy to get an external hard drive and backed it all up for me, I would have lost EVERYTHING when our laptop crashed a year ago. The whole experience convinced me that I have to keep physical copies of the irreplaceable pictures that I would be heartbroken to lose. I need a convenient system in place so that I don’t forget to print out photos for years at a time. Enter timeshel.
It’s a subscription service app only for iOS, available from the Apple Store, that allows you to add images to your monthly “story” and then sends you high quality prints in the mail. I got to try it out and just loved it.
It took me a matter of minutes to set up the app on my iPhone and choose my photos. Easy peasy. There are two tiers of service, one starts at $5.95 per month getting you 10 prints a month in a nifty envelope, and the other is $14.95 per month and offers 30 prints a month that arrive in the “shel.”
Since we’re moving soon, I am soooo not creating elaborate displays that we’ll have to transport. Also, I have exactly zero skills in the crafty department, so we decided to set up some simple clothespin/twine displays that we could pack up easily and Daniel sweetly obliged to hang the twine. It took just a few minutes. Tada!
Nails, twine, and clothespins. And we can switch them out with our newest “story” from timeshel. I’m digging it.
Love this, but I don’t have any Apple products. I do need to get some memories printed though, thanks for the reminder!
“This is chaos, but it is good. This noisy, messy life is full of joy and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
That perfectly describes my life right now. I love your poignant, simple, honest insights.
Thanks, Amanda!
Love this idea. Such a great present too for family members that are far away. Always nice to take things offline from time to time and this is such a great way to do it.
Yes! 🙂
UMMMM, holy cow this is amazing. I too feel like I capture so much on my phone, but then it just sits in no man’s land on my computer or my Instagram account. This is so neat!
PS – I just started listening to the Fountains of Carrots podcast and I’M OBSESSED! 🙂
Me, too. I’ve actually printed photos out…..oh twice since we became parents, haha. I bet people who visit our house assume we don’t even like our kids because we never have photos up. Now we can do better!
And I’m SO glad you’re enjoying the podcast! <3
Oh yay thanks for the idea! My husband is deployed and i have been doing an AWFUL job of documenting our lives…..this looks like an easy enough way to keep him in the loop with pictures to hang in his room 🙂 im not the best at filling care packages!!!
That’s a great idea!
I used to print out hundreds of photos and stick them in albums, but then that was taking too much time and money and that was before digital really. So I catch my kids looking at one of our 45 albums almost everyday and they now go to the computer to look at photos and videos. Guilt trip here! I so need to print out photos and this looks easy enough. I have an Android phone though. Does it work with Androids too or just iPhone?
I think it’s just iPhone, Tracy 🙁
I’ve got an Android, too, and I’m considering trying the Groovebook app since it’s compatible. I saw it on Shark Tank a couple seasons ago, and it looks interesting…
http://groovebook.com/
Love this idea – I wish there was something similar available in the UK! Your pictures look so great displayed.
Thanks so much, Victoria!