Guest Post by Heidi of Budget Wise Home
When your child’s artwork starts overtaking the refrigerator, it’s time for a better display system. With so much artwork coming in every day, figuring out where to put it all can get overwhelming. The first thing you need to do is create a “zone” for the artwork. Decide on one place where you will set up your display that is devoted to nothing but art. It might be a wall in the kitchen or someplace in each child’s room. Creating a “zone” will keep everything from looking cluttered and messy.
Here are 5 different ideas for your art zone.
1. Frame it: Framing the artwork gives it a feeling of importance and also looks very neat. Let your child choose only his favorite pieces to frame and then swap them out each month. One of my favorite frames also doubles as storage. The Dynamic Artwork Frame opens to store up to 50 other pieces of art. When you are ready for a change in artwork, just open it up and put the new one on top. Clear acrylic frames are also great because you can easily slip artwork in and out without having to take the frame down.
2. Hang it: Set up curtain rods and hang the artwork using the clips. You could set up one long one or multiple rows if your space is more narrow. An even cheaper option is to use a clothesline and clothespins to hang everything. Just use a screw-in hook to attach the clothesline to each side of the wall.
3. Magnetic Paint: Create a special art zone by painting a large square on the wall using magnetic paint. Make sure you use some good heavy-duty magnets to make sure everything stays in place.
4. Cut it out: Use the artwork to create something new. Cut pictures into different animals using these templates and frame for a more permanent art piece. Here’s an example from Sarah Jane Studios.
5. Make a Digital Book: It is hard to save everything your kids bring home. Save the best ones and try not to be sad as you throw everything else away. Scan the artwork into your computer or take a digital picture of each one. Load the images onto a photo site such as Snapfish of Shutterfly and create book to preserve all the memories.
What are some of the ways you organize and display your child’s artwork?
Heidi is a mom of 2 and has a budget wise home! She’s the owner of Budge Wise Home, a blog dedicated to saving you money as you decorate your home. There is a new budget decorating tip M-F as well as highly discounted home décor every day. Jewelry Art is another shop featured here where you will find beautiful and unique art pieces to display and organize your jewelry.
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Love ideas three and four. Can’t wait to move into my new house and paint a magnetic paint area and make some pictures for my toddler’s room from her previous paintings.
Great ideas!
I’ve been taking photos of my daughter’s artwork, with the hope of one day creating a photo album of her artwork. It takes up much less space than keeping everything!
Well now, cutting up artwork into animal shapes is a wonderful idea! I never thought of that… I do have plenty of toddler paintings that are a bit ho-hum. This is a great way to do something creative with them, giving them a little zing. Love it. Thanks!!
Excellent! The shower rod is one I’ve been wanting to do. Now I just have to find where I’ve stored all the artwork. I’ve heard magnetic paint is rather weak. Any tips on that?
Thanks for the post, Heidi! I think the display/storage frames are brilliant! Added them to my wish list :)
One way to display your child’s artwork is online at RefrigeratorArtist.com! You can upload photos of the artwork into online galleries for free and share with friends and family online. Once you’ve uploaded art, you then have the option to create keepsakes from the art, since keeping it all forever just may not be possible. :)
I love your article of kids art… my little girl has just started drawing (tons of pictures!), and it’s inspired me to start digitalising kids art and embroidering it http://www.2greenmonkeys.co.uk/kids_art.htm.
But you can do it by hand too … I think it’s a great way of treasuring kids drawings forever.
If you like my stuff, it would be great if you could feature me in an article. I’ve only just started out and the extra publicity would be great!
Kind regards, Sarah
These are some truly awesome ideas! I really love the magnetic paint and cutting the art into animal shapes!
What great ideas. I have been looking for a way to display my girls’ artwork. I love the curtain rod idea the and have the perfect place to put it. Where do you get the little clippy things?
Oh I love the frame that stores the art!! Thanks for sharing!!
Great ideas! My son (21months) is now just starting to bring art home from the sitters and I’ve been pondering what to do with it all.
Great post! I love how you have included different options! It’s hard to always find the right option…and sometimes you need to bit a bit of each. Thanks for the link, and great to see you at ALT last weekend:)
Combining some of those ideas… why not use one of those digital frames. Load a series of pictures and watch is shuffle through. Might be fun.
Great ideas, thanks for the post! I love the curtain rod – but finding one place and doing a series is great.
Stephanie – I love this idea! That would be a perfect display. Especially for grandma who already has one of those frames! Thanks for sharing.
These are great ideas! We have a magnetic chalkboard that I should use for display (maybe there are cute magnets on Etsy?) (always looking for an excuse to buy stuff on Etsy)…love the cut-outs too. I would love ideas on what to do with the art after the display is done. I have a huge art portfolio for the best-of-the-best art for each kid, but they are, frankly, a mess. Is there a better long-term storage option?
I’m so glad you have all loved the ideas and hope you’ll be able to keep things more organized. As for long term storage, I’m a big fan of the digital books. I know it’s not the same as having the real piece to hold on to, but it takes up a lot less space and in a few years, the memory will be what matters most to you anyway. If that’s not something you want to do, then just save the very best pieces and set a limit- like no more than 10 per year. As for the magnetic paint, you do need to use a few coats for it to work well. You also need to use stronger magnets-and it should work just fine.
A few more thoughts on long-term storage: Try just a binder and clear sheet protectors, or maybe a keepsake box for each child that they can keep in their room. This may help to set a limit on how much stuff they can save. Once it’s full, that’s it type of thing.
My son is 14 and when he was about 4 he drew a picture of my ‘lipstick’. I still have it framed in the kids playroom.
This is how we display the twins art projects: http://www.tonyastaab.com/2009/11/displaying-artwork.html
All of their special artwork I plan on scanning and turning into books for each of them.
i love all of these ideas!!! thanks for the tips. we made an art gallery on my daughter’s wall this way:
http://paintcutpaste.com/art-gallery-glee/
This is full of wonderful ideas!! We have the display hangers–but used picture wire strung from 2 floating picture posts. It is a really clean, modern look. Another great display option is the Masterpiece Montage by Simply Create–this is a gallery style poster of many of your child’s artworks. Little artists are SO proud to see their work hanging in your home. A Masterpiece Montage is a beautiful & tasteful way to do it!
Simply Create MM: http://www.etsy.com/shop/simplycreate
Metal posts: http://www.lowes.com/pd_264592-37672-121062_0_?productId=3029194&Ntt=picture%20hanger&Ntk=i_products&pl=1¤tURL=/pl__0__s?Ntk=i_products$No=45$Ntt=picture%20hanger
One more fabulous idea – to help you SAVE TIME…let us do all the work! SouvenarteBooks will scan and photograph all of your child’s art work and design a beautiful book for your family to enjoy! Don’t stash your kid’s art in the basement or under the bed! Call us at 917-740-2789, email or visit our website asap! A new school year is starting soon and before you know it, you’ll have another wonderful collection of your kid’s art that you will want to save.
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