Crafty Conundrum
My kids love to draw and paint. But, they hate parting with anything their sweet little hands have made. For a long time we would put everything on the fridge. I loved the art work, but disliked how cluttered it made the kitchen look. Plus - every time you opened the refrigerator door, papers would go flying. So, we had to find a better solution.
I had originally wanted to take a piece of wood, glue clothes pins to it, spray paint it and then hang it on the wall. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if the clothes pins would stay on very well. And what would I do if one broke? I'd have to make an entire new board. I needed something a little more flexible.
I went into Lowes with Baby Girl to brainstorm. Oh how I love that store! As soon as we walked in I saw the rope and chain you can buy by the foot. The rope was cool, but I was really drawn to the chain. I went through the pros and cons, but in the end we bought nine feet of white chain. It was .40 a foot so it cost me about $3.60. I also got nine feet of black chain for the boys room at .47 a foot.
This is the white chain on the wall in Baby Girl's room. (It's hard to see... look closely...)
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Then I decided that I didn't like the way the nail heads looked, so we hot glued flowers onto them..JPG)
After that we took mini clothes pins that and hung the masterpieces from the chain....JPG)
Wah-lah! Awesome way to display the art and it's not in my kitchen any more! I put the chain in the boys room a lot higher up. Little Bug has a tendency to pull things apart. Hopefully he won't be able to reach it above the closet....JPG)
I have to climb on a chair to hang things up, but the pictures won't get destroyed, so, it works for me. Another plus with this is that the kids get to decide what goes on the chain. As soon as there is no more room they have to start making decisions on what they want to keep and what they can part with. That way I'm not the bad guy throwing things out. It will be 100% up to them what stays and what goes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will work!
What about you? How do you display your kids art work? And how do you decide what to keep and what can go?
14 comments:
Super great idea!! I might just have to use it!
BTW the snowman song is crackin me up!!
I'm with bonnie on both comments. (Not that I would use it for Kyle--at 17, he doesn't have much artwork ; ) I do think it is a fantastic idea. I always used the fridge.
That is BRILLIANT!
In the beginning I saved everything. However, after the first year I realized that wouldn't be possible. I recently came across Scanalog and I've been scanning and storing all their artwork, certificates, etc. in there. I love it!
OK, This is what I did a few years back. I got the idea from Laurie Carlyle. I got a couple packets of metal money clips from Staples, then I took one to Home Depot and found a piece of molding that the money clip fit onto, and bought a piece that fit in the hallway between my kids room doors. I painted it white to match our moldings in our house, put all the clips on it, and screwed it on the wall at chair rail height. The pictures snap under the clips and it looks great in the hallway, like something from Pottery Barn Kids, only cheap. Alysa had a narrower area in her hallway, so she made two, one higher and one lower. That looks good too. Same kind of idea you had. You are so clever.
what an excellent idea. where were you when my kids were young? =D i think it's perfect.
This really is a lovely idea, Melissa. I had to laugh at the first photo when you wrote to "look closely." Envision me squinting at my computer screen to see what you were talking about. Too funny!
Inspired way to display your children's artwork. Hello, Martha!
-Francesca
I love your idea! It turned out really cute. It's a good thing I know people like you to share you great ideas, since I can't come up with any of my own!
That is so awesome. My sister just has a bin for each kid and they have to throw some things out when it gets full. I like what you did. We love American Idol too. We will have to get out fam's together and watch it one night.
I love the idea. I am still in that "I don't know what to do with it" phase. You can only have so many things on your fridge.
I just might have to steal this idea.
Your little girl is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo PRETTY!!!! She is such a CUTIE!!!!!!
I love the chain idea!!!! Thanks!!!!! I might be using this idea for Lil Miss "H" room!!!!
=)
Thanks!!!!!!
We did the fridge thing with papers flying off! ;)
I love your idea! It looks great! :)
Now that is a great idea!
Jake isn't really much of an artist. I have to really work hard to make him do anything that requires sitting and holding still for more than 30 seconds. So I haven't had the same issue that you have had. We keep a few things on the fridge (as much as two magnets can bear) and he can put anything else on his bedroom door. (He still hasn't filled it up yet.) But thank you for indirectly letting me know that it was okay to throw some of this stuff away! That makes me feel much, much better.
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