I live in 1200 square feet of space with my little family. I don’t have room for people let alone space to store the amount of artwork my Mia brings home. Everything is a masterpiece to me, and symbolizes another step in her toddler to big kid journey. The other day Mia showed me a piece of paper and said, “This is a rocket ship.” Usually I just say yes it is and move on, but let me tell you… This really was a rocket ship. My kid is drawing real stuff! Milestone moment indeed. How can I not save every single beautiful project?
If you’re drowning in a sea of kiddie arts and crafts, fear not. I’ve been asking around and have come up with some ideas to save space, save sanity and save the art!
The No Hassle Scrap Book. The word scrap book in general kinda scares me, but I’m not sure what other word to use for this. You must first find a non scrap book kind of scrap book. The kind that has plastic sleeves instead of blank pages for decorating. Utilize a book for every two year’s of your child’s life and slide artwork into the plastic sleeves. There are lots of cool scrap books out there sans tape, paste or glue. Just slide art in the sleeve and viola it’s preserved in time. I’ve found books at local Marshalls, TJ Maxx or even Target.
Family Affair. At the beginning of the month set up a letter sized envelope for each family member… Nana, Pap, Great Auntie etc., etc. Divvy up the artwork between envelopes as you bring it home from school. At the end of the month slap an address on it and send to your relatives who are surely dying for artwork or some kind of creation by your child. Be sure to set one or two masterpieces aside for your file.
Framing. Have you seen a Jackson Pollock piece? Um, yeah… Your child is creating real art that when framed correctly could look pretty cool on your wall. There are always great frames to be found at IKEA.
Go Digital. Take a photo of the artwork and toss the original. As harsh as it sounds, that jpeg is taking up far less space. If you have access to a scanner, you can always scan it straight to your desktop. I found some of my childhood projects last year and did just that.
