So...this is fun. It is Backwards Day at Works-For-Me Wednesday hosted by Rocks in My Dryer. Wow...that's a mouthful. Great, great idea - Rocks in My Dryer!!
My question is this..What to do with all that art work? My GIRL started preschool almost a month ago and we currently have enough paintings to paper over all the food stains flung on the dining room walls. Yes, there are many. Food stains. And paintings. She quite possibly could be a budding artiste extraordinaire. However, extraordinary or not, we're running out of room. And I even let some of them go...Bad Mommy. Bad, BAD Mommy... But, the few that are let go seem to bring on 10 more. And I love them all!! But... So, please tell me, what do you do with all that art work?
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My nieces draw for us all the time. After you've displayed her handiwork for a while, or when you need the space, file the wonderful creations in a 3 ring binder in plastic sheet protectors. Keeps the guilt away because you're saving her artwork.
ReplyDeleteScan them or take digital photographs - even better, take a picture of her holding her artwork. You then have a record of the masterpiece as well as how old she was at the time, but digital photographs are much easier to store than actual artwork. Once you have recorded the art, send it to relatives or friends as a gift (heh) or, for larger drawings or paintings, use it as gift wrap.
ReplyDeleteHi there
ReplyDeleteI blogged about this before - here you go:
http://organisingtips.blogspot.com/2007/08/ask-organiser-7-ideas-to-organise-art.html
Organising queen and
Marcia's take charge blog
We have six kids and are absolutely flooded with school and art work. I agree with jen m...scan the favorites, frame a masterpiece, the rest....? It isn't easy, but get rid of them. Recycle them if appropriate.
ReplyDeleteYou are NOT a bad mommy for tossing out her work. It only gets worse, and unless you want to end up on Oprah as one of those people who horde junk, you must must must regularly purge the deluge of worksheets and masterpieces.
Scan the artwork and save the digital images to disk. Then toss the hard copy. You can also set up some images as screen savers, kids get a kick out of seeing their artwork on the screen. You can also laminate some of them and use them as placemats for kids meals.
ReplyDeleteWe have a small art gallery. I bought very inexpensive frames at K-mart. They are made of a glass front and cardboard back held together with metal clips. We have a little art gallery in the front hall. Each child can display their favorite (or my favorite) work here. It makes them feel accomplished, they look great and people actually take time to look admire. Then I don't feel so bad about throwing out the other
ReplyDeleteI started storing my children's artwork/school work in 13 x 13 craft boxes. (Found at Wal-mart in the Scrapbooking storage section for $4.97). They are easy to organize & stack too...plus they are perfect for the oversized pages they bring home from school.
ReplyDeleteI saw someone the other day recommend take-out pizza boxes for art storage boxes - seemed like a pretty good idea!
ReplyDeleteYou are NOT a bad mommy - paper is just paper; memories last forever. I keep a large keepsake box and put my favorites in there but then at the end of the year I clean it out and end up with only a few (dozen) pics to keep. Also, Make a book by laminating your favorites.
ReplyDeleteI alway told my son that we could only keep 10 pcs of art - he got to choose if I didn't want to.
ReplyDeleteAnother great idea if you have relatives that live a distance away is to use the back of art work to write letters to them on. You get to share the wealth :)
We have two quilt hangers (from pottry barn, they come in a set of three) attached to the wall in a little hallway, and clothesline draped between them. We clothespin artwork when it comes home. When we run out of room, something has to come down in order for something new to go up. It works well for the non-framables, and is actually pretty cute...
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is a little pricey, we have an archival picture frame. It opens from the front and is spring-loaded to hold up to 50 sheets of paper. It looks classy and clean with its black frame and white matte board. Just wall-mount, and change "pictures" every time something is brought home.
ReplyDeleteI throw most of it away. Some we keep on a giant bulletin board. Real special ones I put in a keepsake box, maybe 2-3 pieces a season. I hate clutter.
ReplyDeletethese are such awesome ideas! i have created a "gallery" in the stairway going down to the basement playroom/laundry room. I just tape 'em up. Someday I have the dream of painting frames on the wall to make it all funky and cute. but for now, masking tape it is. then i pull them down to make room for new ones...
ReplyDeleteGive them to Aunts, Uncle, Babysitters, etc. I absolutely love when one of my little friends sends me some art work. I hang it on my fridge and then I store it in a accordian folder to show their prospective spouses when they get older....
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous question! I have two boxes loaded with stuff. I was recently in a paperie and noticed a wire that ran about 4 feet long and was mounted 2-3 inches away from the wall. Clipped to the wire were letterpressed cards and invitations that were on display. When I saw it I immediately thought of re-creating it in my home for a place to hang our children's masterpieces, 4 or 5 at a time. The rest will get tossed from now on. I don't know if I'll ever get around to doing it, but I think it's a good idea.
ReplyDelete