11.10.2009

Little hands. Lots of art work. Little space.

I have yet to have this problem, but I have seen it occur in many homes and even read about it on a friend's blog. It seems there is an increasing issue with the over abundance of art work and lack of wall space. We are not talking about just any artwork, but the creative and imaginative and sometimes hilarious things our busy children create. In some cases it isn't a matter of enough walls to hang everything on, as in the case of my blogger friend.



No, her children love to adorn their walls with fancy little drawings hung up tactfully with pieces of scotch tape just about anywhere. In her case it is a matter of creatively consolidating it and giving the children a fun spot to show case their imagination!

So, I did a bit of snooping and found some great ways to display children's art work. Some could be both fun for the parents and children.

One of the simplest and fastest ways to save kid's art work is in a 3-ring binder. Maybe most of you already do this. I can definitely  see myself doing something like this and leaving it on the coffee table for guest to view. If the art work is too small it could be matted on black paper and put into the binder. It's a great archival system/ brag book.



Or after matting the art work to the black paper, it could be hung on a designated wall in the house. A hallway is always a great spot. By mounting them to black paper it gives the art display a cohesive look and helps show off the artistic productions of our small loved ones better than just the wall itself.



I really like both of these ideas because when it comes to actually hanging the art work up, your children could do it themselves. The first example uses a magnetic system with clips while the one following is a curtain wire system. Something like this can be found at Ikea for cheap!





One last idea. Take photos of the art work and collect in a photo album.


There may never be an absoulte solution for this problem, (though it isn't the worst problem to have, right Chris?) but maybe this will help for the time being!

3 comments:

Mama Cas said...

Great cross-promotion!

I love the idea of the wire lines. Alexa would love being in control of her artwork and she could change it as often as she wants.

There was a time when seeing pieces of paper haphazardly taped to my wall would have driven me nuts. Now I understand that her little "Art Sessions" are keeping her happy and occupied while I do other essential things like cook supper or fold clothes. (I also understand that there are better things to get worked up about.)

Plus? It won't last forever. There will be a day when she's not interested in sharing her artwork any longer.

One last idea I'd heard some time ago.....take a photograph of the art piece and make a photo album of them.

Kristi Williams said...

i love the photo album idea thing and had never heard of that. of course, no kids to practice any of this, thank goodness! :)

Anonymous said...

all of those are awesome ideas!

love the momma