Displaying Your Kid's Artwork

I love showing off my kid's artwork!  It may not look like much right now (they're only 3 and 1!), but it makes them feel so good to see it up on display for everyone to see.  And it makes me feel good too!  But how do you display it in a "nice organized aesthetically-pleasing" way??

We spent the summer in Fort Collins, CO working at a conference for Campus Crusade for Christ.  We stayed in a furnished apartment and had very little "decor."  So I took the liberty of making one of the prominent walls in the apartment - the ART WALL.  Anna and Ellie were in a childcare program run by the conference all summer and came home with LOTS of art.  I couldn't get away with something like this in my home...it's not the most classy display...but for the summer it was SO fun!



The flower pictures on the other wall came from a garage sale for less than .10 each.

 



Ellie contributed a few things to the wall too!  Such a wonderful picture of my babies...umm no!

 
Now that Anna has started preschool...I'm preparing myself for lots of great artwork!  Here's what I came up with...



I could have at least straightened up the bookshelf first...goodness gracious!



It's so easy to make! 

1. Just hang up some string or ribbon on the wall.  I used string and push pins I already had in my supply :-)
2. Find or buy some cheap wooden clothespins.  I already had them in my house from a shower I hosted a while back where we played one of those clothespins "Don't say Baby" games ;-)
3. Cut out letters out of paper.  I used scrapbook and crafting paper I already had in my supply.  Don't waste a lot of time on it (I just free handed cut them out).  I like that it looks "homemade"...it's for your little one's artwork!  It's not supposed to look sophisticated.  And you could make it spell anything really.  Or you could cut out little pictures of your kid.  Or if they are old enough, you could have them cut out letters or other shapes or whatever they want.
4. Glue the letters (or other things) onto the clothespins.
5. Hang your precious baby's art for the world to see!  It's so easy!  And for me...it was FREE (since I already had all the supplies)!

Once it fills up...I think I'll just take down my least favorite ones and keep them in a folder till the end of the school year.  Then I might try to do one of the ideas below before tossing a bunch of the art.  It hurts to throw the stuff away, but I just don't have room in this house for boxes of coloring pages half colored purple ;-)  Oh...and don't forget to write the date on the art!  You might think you'll remember what year it came from...but most likely...you won't!

Idea #1 - Ok...first great idea comes from Home by Novogratz (love them BTW). Shrink Art Collage by Jan Eleni - go here and click on "collage"



Picture from here



I think this would be pretty easy to make...time consuming...yes...but not too difficult.  You'd basically scan or just take a pic of all your kid's artwork from the year and compile them in a grid using some sort of program.  Gosh...I bet you could do this with publisher if you don't have any fancy designy programs on your computer.  Then you could just get it printed anywhere they print poster size pictures.  Looks like at most it would be $15 (+ shipping potentially) at Walgreen's.  Isn't that a great idea?!

Idea #2 - comes from an episode of Design Star - click here and go to picture 6. 

Picture from here

The designers were redoing a family's basement in this episode.  They wanted it to be a space for the kids and adults.  Designer contestant Leslie made this art collage from the kid's artwork.  I'm pretty sure she just decoupaged it on a canvas.  It's a little messy looking for me (I'm all about the symmetrical organized look of idea #1), but I'm sure you could make it look however you want it to look.  I still think it's a great way to preserve and display your kid's artwork!  Right?!

How do you display your kid's artwork?  I'm sure there are a million ideas out there!