It’s a lot of fun to display your child’s art. But it can also be a mess. As your child creates more and more, how do you deal with the piles of artwork that can accumulate? I almost hate to admit that the majority of our art projects eventually end up in the garbage or recycle bin. We just don’t have the space for all of them, so I have to get rid of them. We do keep some projects, and here are a few ways that you can reduce the clutter and still hang onto some of your child’s artwork.
Create a Digital Version
Instead of trying to hang onto every piece of artwork your child ever creates, simply scan your favorites, save the digital version, and get rid of the original without too much guilt. Knowing there is a copy makes it a little easier to say goodbye to the originals you don’t have space for. I save my scans with the digital photos from the same time period the picture was drawn.
Most recently, my daughter drew her first drawing that actually looked like something other than just scribbles. She is not real big on drawing, so this was a big deal for her. Of course, she also drew it on the back of a letter written to grandma. There was no way I could keep it. I scanned the letter and the drawing before putting it in the envelope and now we have a copy that we can include in her scrapbook without having to ask grandma to send it back.
If you don’t have a scanner of your own ask a friend or see if your local copy shop will scan and put them onto a disc for you.
Shrink It
When I work on scrapbooks I often want to include memorabilia, but it can become really bulky and take up a lot of room. My mom found a great solution while working on a scrapbook page about my brother who would only color if it was a color-by number sheet. She took some of the pages he colored to a nearby copy shop. They made high-quality color copies and then shrunk them down so she could fit several on one page. If simply scanning or copying your artwork still takes up too much space, try shrinking some of it before mounting it onto a collage or scrapbook page.
Create a Photographic Record
Some pieces, especially school projects, are just plain too bulky to store for long or even copy. Take a photo of your child holding it instead. Then you’re saving a photo instead of something that may take up a whole box by itself. This works especially well for things that may not last, like creations made out of food.
Change the Type of Crafting You Do
Do the projects your child makes just take up space without serving any purpose other than to be looked at? Next time you sit down to craft, consider how useful the item you will be making might be. Expand your craft time to include sewing, beading, woodwork, crochet and knitting, or other handicrafts. Items like these can be made as nice gifts for other people.
When All Else Fails…
It is very likely that eventually you will come to a point where you still just have too much artwork and it’s time to get rid of some of it. When deciding what pieces to keep and what to get rid of, here are some things you can consider:
- Keep pieces that have significance to your child. Ask your child which pieces are their favorites and keep those.
- Choose pieces that are representative. You don’t need to keep every drawing of a green animal to show that your child went through a phase of using only the color green. Choose just one or two of your favorites instead.
- Show a progression. Have your child draw a picture or do some other project every year around their birthday. Keep just that one drawing or project so that you can see how their skills grow and styles change over the years.
As a last note, I want to add that I will never tell you how much artwork is good to keep. As a sentimental scrapbooker and homeschooling mom I have a feeling that I will be hanging onto quite a bit of it myself. Decide what is important to you and make sure that you have a storage method that works and keeps them safe. If you have a method for storing artwork that works for you, I would love to hear about it. Blog it and leave us a link or just leave a comment.
More From Jennifer Lavender
I love the digital idea..I had never thought of saving them that way! Thanks for the great ideas!
There are several great ways to save kids artwork, including the ones you have mentioned. You can also laminate special pieces and use them as placemats. Grandparents, aunts and uncles can also be on a rotation. The traveling artist- where your child sends a “masterpiece” to the grandparents who proudly display it for a few weeks, then it goes to Aunt Susie’s, etc than it is retired (aka pitched). One of my clients strung a clothes line in her play room and hangs the kids artwork up with clothes pins. Lots of fun things to do with art and the most important thing is to treasure those moments because they don’t last forever!
I loved all the ideas on how to save kid’s artwork but the reality is, who has time to do all that? There is a company that does all the work for you in a professional manner by transforming all the art into a hard cover book which is not achievable at home. Artimusart.com sends you a box to collect your child’s art.(paid return postage label included) Artimusart.com preserves not just a few pieces of art, but all of it. They scan, work each image to color correct, fix tears, remove smudges,etc, then they send all the art images to a web art gallery where you click and drag the images in order, and transform that box of kid art into a customized, beautiful hard cover book. You also get a private web gallery where you can send the art image as an e-card or send the entire gallery. It’s really the most revolutionary way to preserve kid art in today’s busy world.
Check it out! Artimusart.com
-Dana