Organizing your family’s artwork

Kids produce a lot of paper during their school careers. As spring rolls in, you know that the end of school is just around the corner. What will you do with all of your kids’ stellar artwork and school projects? Birthday gifts, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day add even more homemade gifts and cards to the project piles.

When your child brings home artsy projects, you can put them in a place of glory for a period of time. A bulletin board in the den or kitchen, or prime real estate on the refrigerator are great options. Admire it until the next project comes along. Use a storage box for keeping the artwork until you accumulate a year’s worth.

Three-ring binders or large photo albums can make nice project books if you intend to keep the majority of the projects. This way they are not all over the house, but in one location. A collection of art is more visually interesting than a single item. A scrapbook of these gems will be sure to wow the grandparents.

Another way to appreciate your child’s art is to set up a “gallery area” either in the family room, den, your child’s room or hallway. This art gallery has a rotating exhibit of your child’s artwork. Once full, it is appreciated for a few weeks and then removed and a new exhibit begins with more artwork. The old exhibit is packed away.

A popular method of saving artwork is to create a collage. One large poster board can hold a lot of art if it is used effectively. The downside of this method is that there is a serious danger that the poster board or collection of boards can become clutter themselves and add to paper piles.

If your kids are prolific artists, a better idea is to save, maybe frame, a few favorite items and take photos of the rest. Immortalize the artwork by taking digital photos and saving them into digital photo albums. Montage is a website that will take your digital photos and turn them into a literal book in addition to saving them digitally.  A book of artwork can be a unique gift for Grandma.

What if your child is the next Picasso? Take the drawings and turn them into something really spectacular. Spoonflower is a website where you can create wallpaper, wrapping paper or even fabric using digital artwork.

As you get organized, you will reduce the amount of paper clutter in your home. Whatever way you choose to eliminate the clutter of your kids’ artwork, make sure that you talk to your child about how much you appreciate their efforts.