Instagram has just sent out invites to the press for an event which surprisingly was not announced via email.

The Instagram invites came on a white piece of paper containing information about the event, which is to be held on December 12, 2013 in Midtown Manhattan in New York at 10 AM.  The invite doesn’t say much except to inform recipients that “You are invited to share a moment with Kevin Systrom and the Instagram team,” as well as the time and venue.

Other than that, we’ve no information as to what the Instagram team might be sharing with us, although there’s inevitably been lots of speculation.

What’s interesting about the invite, aside from it being sent via traditional mail, is that it includes a 4×4 inch wooden frame with a thickness of 1.75 inches.  The wooden frame contains a printed Instagram photo in the front and a slot in the back so you can hang it up.

So what could Instagram be sharing with us on the 12th?

If the method of sending out invites is anything to go by, Instagram could be launching a service that allows its users to order their photos to be printed and framed, then have them delivered right to their doorstep.  Its a way of immortalizing all of our favorite filtered and edited photos.

But if it’s not a photo printing and delivery service, Instagram could be introducing new filters or features or even a messaging app as was first rumored back in November.

Then again, we could easily be reading too much into this.  It could just be a way for Instagram to intrigue people and get them talking about the service as well as to sign up more users.

Instagram may just want to turn things around after the unfortunate launch of the Windows Phone version of the app.  If you haven’t heard, the app sucks in comparison to the Android and iOS versions, as there are many missing features and the interface is quite different from what people are used to.