streamline
do less. live more.
Over the years, I've pondered numerous strategies to manage my children's artwork. I've heard lots of great suggestions, including one I've yet to try but aspire to: ArtKive. Maybe one day, I'll try this and report on it. But for the time being, I've settled on my current system: pile in on the counters in messy heaps until finally putting it all in boxes and stashing it in the top of my child's closet. If you're thinking that this system isn't particularly successful, you're right. But it's the best I can do right now. Or it was, until I had a brilliant idea...
the art of clutter
i make it look so easy
A Sketchbook
This Christmas, I bought each of my children a sketchbook. They're spiral bound so they can easily lay flat and the kids can easily flip to the next page. Best of all, the artwork is already bound. This, along with some Dot a Dot paints or a fresh box of crayons was both a gift to unwrap and an afternoon of artistry. I personalized each one, adding a photo of them, the year, and their name to the cover and covering it with contact paper. Ten years from now, I'll have a bound collection of my children's artwork from when they were toddlers, with minimal effort on my part. Teachers could consider using this in their classrooms too, giving students and/or parents a volume of the child's work at the end of the year.
the collected works
volume 1
Have you hit upon a great idea for collecting or displaying your children's artwork, or do you have some other brilliant strategy for corralling the flotsam and jetsam of childhood? Leave a comment and share!
“We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”