School is over and summer is well underway. But I bet if you are anything like our family you have kept special papers, report cards, and art projects all in some type of bin, box or folder. One of the things I have noticed about my kids is that the more I showcase their projects the more they try. That is why the magnetic wall frame I hung last week is perfect. They love seeing their special papers on display in my house. I love decorating with my kids’ art work and I find that they feel such a sense of pride when their artwork “makes it” on our walls.
However if it is bigger you will have to call in the big guns. I took my artwork to FedEx Kinkos and they will resize it perfectly to fit into the size frame you want. They charged me less than a dollar each to make a full size color copy onto cardstock. So now all their wonky sized art pieces all fit into one frame, and we still have the originals to preserve for later if we want.
Most of the color copies well. We had one piece that wasn’t able to copy as nice as I would have liked. It kept focusing on the apples Kayla painted and didn’t pick up the blue background well. But it still looks display worthy.
I have both a frame of Kayla’s artwork and Isaac’s on my studio walls as part of my gallery wall.
If you want to see how I put together a meaningful gallery wall in my studio hop on over and see.
I encourage you not to just pack away this year’s art. Get it out, resize it and put together an area in your home for your kid’s to be on display. This is another way I am building creativity into my kiddos. How do you build creativity into your kiddos?
I so needed this. I’m keeping my daughter’s artwork in a bath and body works bag right now, and there are some real gems in there that I would like to save.
Duh!! Why did I not think of that? When they were young I had a display of their artwork in frames in their toyroom. I loved it. I have even copied favorite photos from books and used as decor (Curious George, Guess How Much I Love You) in the toyroom and a nursery. (Kinkos can’t copy due to copyright laws but what we do on the color computer is our business I was told :)) I have this awesome watercolor iguana my 10 yr. old made and it is too big to frame. That is where the Duh! comes in! (I think over time we forget.) Thanks for the tip!!! Oh, and I love the way you displayed their work in the three opening frame–each flows so great.
Great tip, Beckie! Why didn’t I think of that, oh, about 25+ years ago when my kids were little?! Did they even have color copiers way back then? 😛
This is a great idea, and it would work well for grandchildren’s artwork too. By the way, I think you have some artists in your family. It must be in the genes.
We have not one, not two but five over-sized framed collages of random art work from our kids. Back when I was decorating some big empty walls it was the most cost effective art I could hang, and now I can’t stand the thought of taking it down.
Bliss
I made greeting cards from a water color my son made of our home. I left the white margin larger on the bottom so I can write “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Birthday”, or whatever the occasion. Your display of the kids’ art is so beautiful and will take your kids a long way in believing that they have something to contribute not only to your family but to the world as well.
So true, and love your greeting card idea!
Sweet! You can’t buy art like that at a store now can ya?
Hehe! Yes, they are both very creative. My son has made some awesome designs out of Legos, and my daughter is a wonder with water colors.
Ha! Maybe you could use it for the grandchildren or scrape up some of that old artwork?
Thank you, Kristin. I hope you get that iguana resized and framed! 😉
You are welcome! I’d love to see those pieces once you get them framed. 🙂
Hi Beckie,
I love Michelle’s greeting card idea too…so many gems it’s a shame to banish them to dusty drawers. We created keepy for that reason, so parents like you can easily save, share & admire their kids art & schoolwork creations in a safe, digital, clutter-free space. We’re about to launch and would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to email me directly. Thanks 🙂
So, how do you resize? Do you scan in the picture then print it? What program do you use and how do you get the picture to print the size of the frame opening and not the entire 8×11 page? Thank you for the great idea!