Have piles and piles of artwork coming home from daycare or school? We do.
Since the Kid has been in daycare since he turned one, he has been bringing home artwork from “school” for a few years now. Add to that the craft fun we have at home and it can quickly start to pile up.
As someone who has a couple of art degrees, I waited for many years to have a little one who would create his own little masterpieces. I love the unbridled creativity and seeing the evolution of his artistic ability and interest. Love it.
I want to be able to keep it all – but who has the space? So we keep the artistry without keeping the artwork.
Document it.
When we get a good pile, out comes the camera and we take pictures of everything. The files are named with the Kid’s age and backed up with all of our digital photos. (We have a Flickr site for organizing and sharing our photos, but that is a post for another day.) Now the memory is preserved.
The favourites are saved. I put many in frames and up on the walls for us to enjoy all the time. But the rest goes to get rid of the clutter..jpg)
Reuse it.
You could toss it in the recycle bin, but I like to take it one step further and reuse it. I love giving gifts with a hand-made touch and making seasonal home decorations to use year after year. Kids artwork can be great for this. I cut it into star shapes to hang on the Christmas tree and egg shapes that I dangle from the chandelier at Easter. And I have slipped them into a snowglobe (one with a photo insert) for a pretty and fun little gift.
Whether you recycle or reuse it, documenting the artistry gives you the freedom to get rid of the clutter.
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