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What do you do with your children's crafts?

PLM

PLM

I know there's something in the wake of your smile
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Jun 28, 2014
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Let's share some wisdom and good tips... :yesss

I would like to know how you girls handle all the crafts of your children: the things they paint, draw, create at school and at home...
And also with some memorabel goodies like their birthday crown f.i.

Personally, I am a person who likes to keep things. When I need to throw something away, it always hurts my heart. I'm wondering if I could have done something more to fix it, if I couldn't have used it for something else, could I do someone else pleasure with it, ...

When I was pregnant with my first boy, I bought a big box which I wanted to fill with all 'memory' things. The first set he ever wore, a diaper (a new one - of course!!! :giggle ), his first pacifier, the rest of his birthdaycards, the flags I put on his party... Ditto for my second son.

But ever since he went to school, I got huge piles of little works, painting, ... In the beginning I kept them all...
Huge piles and piles... And the box was full!!
So I scanned/photographed everything and made a selection.

Unfortunatley, the box is going to be to small once again.

Could you tell me what you did / have done?
I really could use some advice!!! :flirty

Thanks girls!
 
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Sorry, but I throw away most craft-y things that DD brings home from school. She brings home at least 2-3 paintings and drawings every day from kindergarten. I keep a few really special ones like the first time she drew our whole family, etc. but otherwise, I throw all the random squiggles away when she's not looking.

If it was an actual craft, like a Christmas ornament, I would keep it.
 
I take photos of them. the ones that are important and then I scrap them like this:

Every few weeks, I take all the art from the fridges(we have 2), off my wall, out of the pile on my desk and take photos of them all. I put them in a page very much like this. I have used this kit Click Elements by OLB again and again for pages in our year books!
onelittlebird-click-elements-preview2-01.jpg

easy classy and then the art goes into the <gasp> trash
 
Well I will tell you that my Mother had saved a lot of mine from when I was little... when I moved into my first apartment, along with a card she sent me, she included some of my childhood artwork... what a surprise and a smile! Going forward.... I don't have any children, but my ex-sister in law sent me drawings my nephew did- a fed ex box and so I have his drawings from when he was 6... lots of Aliens :) anyway he is now 21 and in the service... I am just waiting for an appropriate time to send a few of his drawings to him :) If there is an over abundance I would go Anne's route as she is a good resource with her family :)
 
I scan or take pictures of all the boys art stuff and then most of it goes in the trash (or recycling) I do keep the extra special things, especially letter or cards written to Mom or Dad. But I certainly dont' want to store ALL of it and they are going to want all of it later in life either.
 
Oh yes, this is such a struggle. My daughter would hoard everything she has ever made if she could. When she was little, she even would cry if I suggested we throw out the stupid paper menus, at restaurants, that she colored!

My kids each have a bin of baby things that are special ... in storage. I limited it to one bin each.

As for crafty things ... I have a big drawer in the School Supply Armoire that stores anything we want to keep. This way everything stays nice and neat and flat ... and it is not in the dark, dusty basement storage area. My oldest is in HS, as a freshman, so it's been a long time since anything of his went into that drawer. My daughter is in 8th and loves art. She constantly wants to save every single thing she makes. It can be a challenge! She doodles all the time. I display things for awhile, but after it hasn't been looked at, talked about, etc ... I will throw it away when she isn't looking. We also keep the big art class projects, special things she makes, etc. Any doodle that she loves ... she has to store in her room. We try to go through at the end of each school year and scale back. I try to keep a few special things from each of them in that draw for each year of their life, so you can see the progression of their artwork through the years. Really need to scan/photograph and do a book for each of them!
 
My kids decide, that way I don't have to. I got caught once, and had to explain. Ever since then, they decide. It was the best answer. They learned, and they know we don't keep much, and nowadays it's me picking here and there. I have one medium/big bin for things that we have kept since they were babies. All other things get pictures taken!
 
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Isaac is only two so most of his crafts are just squiggles or something that his teacher mostly actually put together, but I've been taking photos and displaying them on the fridge.

Once the fridge is full I plan on throwing the older ones away. I think taking photos helps my guilt about it. :) Plus, they're good project life fodder.

My mom and my husband's mom kept a ton of our stuff, but at this point it's just more clutter! When he's older I may keep a few things and I think I will keep more of any personal writing he does. I've loved going back and reading my husband's thoughts as a little boy.
 
I've kept things with the intention of scanning or photographing them, but I rarely find the time to get that done, so they are accumulating.

Most of the projects and drawings go up on each child's cork board in their rooms so they can enjoy their own artwork, and we clear them out at the beginning of the school year. We also have two large 14x17" frames (one per child) holding one of their more recent art pieces just on the wall outside their bedroom doors (which is near the large front hall, so grandparents and other visitors can see and enjoy them as well). These end up being the pieces that I also keep when they get swapped out for something more current. I have a small file folder box for keeping artwork which I try to keep separated by grade which means that I don't keep anything bulky unfortunately.
 
I have a magazine rack that I keep all the current stuff in. When Brody was in preschool, I took pictures of all the cool ones & made a preschool photo book. It had the pictures of the arts & crafts & the pics the preschool had taken of all the kids. I planned to do this with more current stuff, but I think I'll be scaling back. Now I take a pic of the kid holding the art/project. The cool solar system with Styrofoam planets Brody made when he was 5 is hung on his bedroom wall. Some things are just too cool.
 
Throw them away. :)

Anything that fits in the fridge, they can hang up. But I clean off the fridge every Friday so they know it will be "filed" after that. I do keep something that feels significant in my PL folder but not a lot.
 
I'm going to read it now. Thank you girls for sharing your experiences and thoughts about it.
It's really heartwarming to see I am not the only one struggling with this... :heartlub:beat
 
I just read it HeatherPrins and my my, what a great post, really inspiring!
Thank you so much for sharing this with me!
 
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loved that article. I wish I had thought of taking photos of my boys things when they were small. I did save a few art pieces and framed them to put up in our home though.

I remember Kaye Winiecki (I think it was her) scanned or photographed them and made them into a book. I still remember that and hope to share that idea with my daughter in law when my grandkids start making art projects! Doing it into the PL books is a great idea too!
 
4noisyboys said:
I remember Kaye Winiecki (I think it was her) scanned or photographed them and made them into a book. I still remember that and hope to share that idea with my daughter in law when my grandkids start making art projects! Doing it into the PL books is a great idea too!
Click to expand...

That is a GREAT idea too!!!!!
 
I have a manila envelope for each of his school years starting in preschool. I put report cards, really special projects/pictures/papers/reports, school pics, sports pics, etc.

For more everyday, fun drawings, I take a picture and use the Keepy app.
 
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