SHARE | What I Love about Snapchat

Remember a little while back when I mentioned I'd been spending a lot of time on Snapchat this Summer, (even after having avoided the app completely for years)?

And remember I said I'd come back here to share a little bit more as to WHY I love Snapchat?
Well today is your lucky day!

First of all...let me just say...
from what I understand about the original intent of the creation of the Snapchat app...
it definitely wasn't something that suited my particular needs or interests. Ha!
(for those of you who don't know...it's original purpose was to be able to send racy pictures to specific people that would "disappear" after viewing for a few seconds and could not be opened, saved or viewed again).

Anyway...Snapchat has come a LONG way.
Snapchat, for me, is a way for me to lighten up and not take myself so seriously.
It's a place for my wacky sense of humor to shine and I feel it's a #judgefreezone !

It's simply a place to be silly...quite frankly! And to keep things real + human.
It's an app you don't hide behind...unless you're like me and you like to get into character with the mix of funny lenses that distort or alter your appearance, allowing you to instantly become someone else. Ha!

More than being silly though, Snapchat is actually a brilliant and fun way to document life as it's happening; completely raw and real and unedited.

Perhaps you've assumed Snapchat to be a waste of time, just as I once did. 
I incorrectly thought your videos and photos just disappeared after 24 hours, so what's the point right? BUT NO!! You have the option to save ANY and ALL the Snaps you post to your story or save to your Snap Memories. 

I've saved a lot of my Snaps so I thought what better way to demonstrate the different things I love about Snapchat than by actually sharing with you some Snaps I've taken over the last few months...along with some TIPS + TRICKS I've learned along the way.
Let's go...

I LOVE that you have the option to 

TAKE PHOTOS OR VIDEOS 

+ instantly add words, fun stickers and filters

Post photos for up to 10 seconds long or 7-second videos.

Front porch with text and emojis added.

Video of my master bedroom with a filter added

TIP: There are some face lenses that have cool effects 

even when you switch from front-facing to rear-facing.

Herbs I photographed and added stickers and words to

TIP: Add a plethora of sticker options to your photos and videos.

You can enlarge, rotate and place them where you want.

Video I shot with one hand - not an easy task BTW

TIP: Include music in your Snap videos by 

choosing a song on your phone within iTunes 

or just have music playing in the background from a radio or other source.

I LOVE that I can

RECORD SPECIAL OCCASIONS 

and label them right on the spot.

Snapping a photo or video and then being able to add

text to it immediately is great for two reasons. 

First, if I post it, whoever sees it will know what the photo is about 

and second, I'll remember what was happening when I look back at saved Snaps.

Clara's 20th Birthday - with a crown sticker added + text

All three of my girls together for Mother's Day Brunch

Ella - in the bathroom on the night of her talent show

about to perform a gymnastics routine

Getting frozen yogurt AFTER the talent show with her bestie, Elise

POST Talent Show video

TIP: You can turn the sound off before posting videos

I LOVE that I can record

LIFE'S LITTLE MOMENTS

Ella at a doctor's appointment

TIP: Fast-forward, Slo-Mo and Reverse are available AFTER you take a video.

They are included in the filter options and I love that you can decide 

AFTERWARDS whether or not to speed it up or slow it down or play it backwards.

Ella's First Grade "Good Pie" Party

Ella + Elise having their very first sleepover

This is what the backseat looks like when riding with Ella 

and I wanted to capture it.

TIP:  Draw on your photos too! 

Snapchat has a slide bar of colors to choose from.

A quick snap of Ella in the bathtub 

with her collection of My Little Ponies.

Waiting in the car line at school...Ella really liked the

"charming" flowers in this Snap lens.

Having brunch with Clara

TIP: The funny lenses can be added to someone else by 

double-tapping the screen to flip the camera from front-facing to rear-facing

Clara and I after Ella's Talent Show

TIP: When doing a selfie with a lens,

other people in the screen can "steal" your lens...

and even better...some of the lenses have now been designed for two people.

Slow-Mo feature 

This is Clara holding her phone, creating her own Snap

while I'm over her shoulder with my phone recording her...

I LOVE that I can

JUST BE MY SILLY SELF

One of Snapchat's floral crown lens

+ The Chainsmoker's "Don't Let Me Down"

Snapchat's Marilyn Monroe lens 

+ Gwen Stefani's "Me Without You"

Snapchat's Lion lens

I LOVE that I can

DOCUMENT AN ENTIRE EVENT

from an entirely different RAW + FUN perspective

Snapchat can literally be the life of the party 

by giving everyone in attendance permission to be silly + fun!

This was the first 24 hours of my family reunion this Summer -

completely photographed and recorded using Snapchat.

Aren't they a crazy, wild bunch of lovely people!!

I still need to post all of the details about that too!

TIP: You can save all of the videos and photos you've recorded within a 24 hour period (and posted to your Snapchat Story) in ONE video - which is awesome for a quick recap of events.

I hope I've enlightened you guys today...

or at least made you laugh out loud, having exposed my sense of humor I rarely get to share here on the blog. 

If you are aren't already on Snapchat, have I at least caused you to consider looking into creating an account and trying it out?

If you still aren't convinced, stay tuned for my post about how I used the silliness of Snapchat to get me through a more serious situation over the Summer.

And if you are already a fan of Snapchat, you can find me by searching for: pnpflowers 

I'd love to find you over there!

Here's to being silly...and not so serious!

Life's too short!

xoxo,

Jess

KEEPiNG iT REAL

There's a lens I use on Snapchat quite a bit that I didn't even share today.

I'm not sure why, but every time I see the lens on my face my voice immediately changes into

a backwoods-country bumpkin character. I just can't help myself!

And what do my older girls think about me having a Snapchat account? 

Honestly, they make me feel as though I've overstepped my bounds as a parent and that I'm treading on their territory. And actually, they've stopped using it as frequently...probably because they think if I'm on there...it can't possibly be as cool anymore. (and maybe they are right). *wink*

So, yes! They think I'm a complete dork and I probably embarrass them with my posts. 

But I don't even care! *wink*