Ideas for Storage

Hi L.,

What would you think about saving your very favorites and taking pictures of the rest? You can have them put on a CD to view when they get older. I save the stories my son writes. Art work can get damaged or fall apart with age. Digital storage will give you a closer to the original picture. Good Luck, C. M.

Hey, my friend just did the greatest thing! She took 6 large magnetic boards ( I think you can purchase them at home depot) and covered them with different colors of fabric. By pulling them tight around the back and taping or hot gluing them. Then hung them on the wall like a checkerboard. It is so cute and her girls can use magnets to hang everything up.

Hi,
I laminate the pictures that come home from school and use them for place mats at on our kitchen table. I have been doing this since my son was in Kindergarten and they are still in great condition. Office Max will do this for about $2.00 each picture.

Hi L.,
I have the same trouble with my 2 daughters artwork from preschool. I hate to throw it out but it certainly adds up. One thing I did, as I was a former teacher, was that I have made bulletin boards (just out of art paper and border) in my garage and have the school year labeled on there. I display most of their artwork there, except for the really priceless things that I keep in large manilla envelopes labeled with their age and year, and I have even started adding some things to their scrapbooks. But this way my garage looks very colorful and we get to admire their hard work everytime we come and go!

I saved my little guy's artwork and turned it into calendars. All you have to do is print out calendr pages and then take it to Kinko's and have it bound (only costs $4). The family members loved getting them as gifts!

I am a Mom of 2 boys (almost 2 and almost 4)

Our K-5 teacher suggested a Memory Book in which we keep one or two important things from each week. I usually pick out one and let my son pick out one of his favorites. It helps him feel ggod about what we're keeping and it keeps it to a manageable amount. We give some of the fun projects to the grandparents for them to enjoy and let them know there is no obligation for keeping it, we just wanted to share what he's learning. So far the question hasn't come up about what we do with the rest. I usually give them to Grandma who disposes of them. It has kept our "stuff" to a nice manageable amount. I still feel bad about not keeping everything. But, with one it's overwhelming, and we have two coming along behind. :)

Hi L.!

For some of the bulkier, hard to store projects, how about taking a picture of the project and putting the picture into your scrapbook? Then you can toss the project itself without feeling as bad about it!

Good luck!
D., the PianoMAM :)

I totally agree with taking digital photos and making an "art book" for each school year. If you ever do a project at home, take pics of your child(ren) making the project to put along side the finished product photo.

The Container Store has great bins - there is one which is about 2-3 inches deep but about 12 inches wide and 20-24 inches long. I stack them on top of one another in the guest closet and label each one with the year. That way, it's all organized by year, and there's enough room for some of the larger projects that you WANT to keep. We call them "memory boxes."

I also put photos, ticket stubs, park information, and any other momentos/keepsakes to save from trips or fun events during that same year. Someday I hope to scrapbook it all, but if I never get to it, it's still a wonderful way to preserve the year for us all to enjoy in the future.

You got a lot of great ideas in your responses!

Hi
You might consider rotating art projects, papers etc on a large bulletin board & maybe a shelf that is devoted to display as well. One item goes on the board- 1 item comes off. For long term storage keep a file for each child to capture items throughout the year- be selective! At the end of the year go through the file again & purge some more. Put items from that year in a large manila envelope, mark the year & store in a "memory box". Store the box in the child's closet if there's room. I have also stored my clients' memories in archival boxes from The Container Store. These are expensive but attractive & stack nicely on a shelf. Use art portfolios for very large items. Buy these at Hobby Lobby with a coupon- they are rather expensive.
Hope this helps! C.

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I agree that it is very important to keep school work. But you only need to keep the cute/sentamental things. Quietly slide all the rest in the trash.(After reading and Ohhing and Ahhing over it) I have a twelve year old and there is no room to keep all that stuff.Keep the stuff you would put on the frig. Keep enough so Both of you can have enough paper work to keep in a scrap book. Also, I have a tub/bin for each child. They get to take this with them when they move out. It has all their special stuff and good work at school. Make sure to keep some things for yourself and really be choosy! It pile's up so fast! Remember 12 years of school is ALOT OF PAPERS! Times THREE!~They will love the scrapebooks! Keep it up!

Take pictures of them holding their artwork and then most of it can be thrown away. I only keep my very favorites.

I tried to save EVERYTHING at first! Then I found that it became overwhelming. I purchased a plastic bin and decided I would keep the projects she made for special occasions only. Occasions such as Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Christmas, etc. Then if there's a really neat creation aside from those others I'll keep it. The rest of them I distribute to grandparents and other family members to do what they want with them. My father did the same for me and gave me the bin a few years ago. It was pretty neat to look back at my creations as a child.

One thing I've done is take a digital picture of the kid's crafts. Then they can be put into a box for storage in the attic but we can all get on the computer and look at them any time we want. It eliminates them laying around taking up space, making a mess and falling apart.

I personally just pick out something once or twice a month that they bring home, date it and put in a plastic storage tub. With two kids it would be a HUGE storage issue down the road!! :) My friend however takes a picture of the projects and started a scrapbook for each of her children with their school work.

The really cute holiday items I pack in with the holiday totes and then we hang those up each year during that holiday. I made the staircase down to the basement our art gallery and I hang up the really great drawings and pictures. I am trying to just hang up two-three a year. The rest of the items go in a storage tote. I make sure I write the child and the date on the back of each. I know that there are stores that sell large portfolios for children's work. Eventually I would like to invest in those so the kids can look at their work easily throughout the year. I think they are around $30.

I'm a preschool teacher, so this is a question that I get asked often. One idea is to get a big wallpaper sample book that is being discarded, and put an art project on each page. Another idea is to have a notebook with the clear protective sleeves and slip the papers into it. With things that are too big and bulky to fit, take a picture of your child holding it and slip that picture into the space. You'll have the photos to remind you of the projects, but you won't have to keep all the big,bulky things.

I keep the favorite ones for my daughter's file. Then I keep a separate stack for cards and correspondence. For every birthday, holiday, letter, etc. I use her artwork as the stationary.

Hey L.,
I am a mother of four, two grown, two still in school. One of the best ideas I've heard of is taking photos of your child's school work (as many at a time as you desire,) then compile the photos in a photo album, (yours, theirs, or a special album,) this allows each of you to look at the artwork at anytime.
P.S. You can always keep a few of the special pieces. Each of my kids have a "memory box," and they love going through the boxes and passing through memory lane. Enjoy!
P.

I try to keep my most favorite pieces in a plastic bin that fits under a bed, then I send some out to relatives that would appreciate it (grandparents, aunts, etc), and finally I throw some out (just never get caught in the act, my children have gotten quite upset). I've also heard wonderful ideas of taking pictures of it and storing it that way, but I wanted some of the pieces. I've even framed a few for our kids' rooms. Hope this helps!