Recently I’ve been spending a lot of free time with these…
I’m sorting my boys’ artwork and school memborilia. I love having these keepsakes… but for some reason I’m horrible at organizing and storing it.
Part of the reason is because I have a difficult time deciding on the day it’s brought home whether or not it’s a “keeper.” Of course certain special projects (like mother’s day artwork) are definite keepers. But the daily stuff that’s cute and shows their individual talent and personality, that stuff is hard to part with.
I usually make a big pile and every few months sort through it. When the stack is 8 inches it’s easier for me to part with some of their treasures. To be honest I haven’t sorted since November… but in a dyer attempt to turn my laundry from a catch-all, storage room I decided it’s time to sort!
And I do think a perfect solution would be photographing them and making them into a book… but to be honest I like keep the original… to hold something tangible.
For now I’m back to sorting, but I’d love to hear any storage/organization solutions you have for your childrens’ artwork.
Hey Brandi – read this post by Ali Edwards and the tons of comments that followed. I think you will find a lot of great ideas.
http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2009/04/hello-projects-.html
By: Jessica Turner on June 25, 2009
at 9:53 am
I have zero help because I’m in the same boat! In fact, I’m bookmarking this and coming back again and again in hopes of catching every single tip; I am probably going to need them all. I did great when I had one child, but what I did then doesn’t work now that I have three.
With her I bought a BIG scrapbook with plain pages and when she did something fantastic, I put it in there. Right away. It was a beautiful thing. Maybe I go get three and have the kids tape the stuff into their own books? IDK. I stink at this.
@Jessica I’m bookmarking your link, too.
By: Anita on June 25, 2009
at 10:45 am
What about saving their work and letting the boys choose their favorite each month to keep in the memory box? If that is keeping too much, have them choose one each grading period.
By: Jenn on June 25, 2009
at 11:39 am
HAHA! I was about to post you the same link that Jessica Turner posted from Ali’s blog. I saved that for when I have to start sorting Eden’s stuff from school. I thought it was a cute idea!
By: arauch on June 25, 2009
at 11:55 am
How about taking a picture of your boys with all their artwork & then choosing 5 or 10 of the best to keep? You can even let them choose a couple of their faves. My kids enjoy looking back at their work almost as much as I do. It’s amazing to see their progress through the years!
By: ginger on June 25, 2009
at 12:34 pm
ok, haven’t read the other comments, but here’s what came to me when you mentioned photos and a book.
why not make the tangible, authentic stuff a book. you know, for example, Jett’s stuff, all put together, or as many as possible, and then you staple them. you can write the date on the back of the art project, or the day of refference, or whatever. easy to put a kid’s art works in a folder and then thrown…aa. sorry, placed among family photo albums.
can’t get a better idea than this one, sorry.
By: i. on June 25, 2009
at 1:01 pm
I used to have that same problem but now find it alot easier. I throw most of the day-to-day artwork away the day they bring it home. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cute, but it’s just drawings and dabble and if I throw it away immediately I don’t get attached to it.
I keep all Mother’s and Father’s day projects and anything that has their handprint or footprint.
I’ve also kept several pages of them learning to write their names. It’s great to look back on those now with the oldest and see how much she has progressed.
When I cleaned out the oldest bin, I was shocked to see how much artwork I had kept and most of it ended up in the trash. But she was the first and at that time I wanted to keep everything. LOL
It takes a while to find your groove and what your comfortable with, but you will.
By: Kathy on June 25, 2009
at 1:10 pm
very similar to yours…
The important papers and such go in the filing cabinet and each child has a main file, then it’s divided by year.
The big stuff, and certificates and art and stories and such go in containers, just like yours.
~Kate
By: Katy on June 25, 2009
at 2:59 pm
Have not read what others said but this is what I do. I take pictures of all the “art”. If it has feet or hand prints then I keep it otherwise I toss it. Oh if it’s also a 1st of something. I keep as well. Like 1st handwriting, 1st real drawing etc.
By: Angela on June 25, 2009
at 7:38 pm
Hi Brandi, here is how I organize ours in our home:
http://orgjunkie.com/2009/03/memory-binders-and-totes.html
By: Org Junkie on June 25, 2009
at 7:41 pm
dire
–adjective, dir⋅er, dir⋅est.
1. causing or involving great fear or suffering; dreadful; terrible: a dire calamity.
2. indicating trouble, disaster, misfortune, or the like: dire predictions about the stock market.
3. urgent; desperate: in dire need of food.
Origin:
1560–70; < L dīrus fearful, unlucky
Related forms:
direly, adverb
direness, noun
By: Spellchecker on June 25, 2009
at 9:26 pm
Im sure it wont help but I remember being crushed when my mom would throw stuff away. my grandma on the other hand saved everything and I can say im not really looking forward to the day she brings it all down here to me. Im guessing one last look at it all and then it will hit the trash
By: Jessica on June 25, 2009
at 9:58 pm
I’m not the greatest on it. For the first child in school, I was, but now there is two and one is an aspiring artist. Lots of crafts. However, I do save mostly the holiday arts and anything else that seems memorable, throw it in a box and (I try to make sure the girls initials are at least on the back of each.) Put it all in a box with the school year labeled 08-09 and store. I am sure it will be fun to sort through at some point, but for now, I’m comfortable with knowing I’ve saved it and can get to it. By the way the box is not very big and the items tend to smush real well : ) In God’s Love, sheila
By: sheila on June 26, 2009
at 8:17 am
As a teacher, I caution you about only keeping holiday things they make at school. Many times our holiday crafts are much more rushed and less creative than what the kids typically work on during Art class.
By: Jenn on June 26, 2009
at 3:28 pm
Just found this post you might like:
http://organizewithsandy.blogspot.com/2009/06/school-papers-can-take-over.html
By: ginger on June 26, 2009
at 3:38 pm
I’d suggest getting a small filing cabinet for them. That’s what my parents did, and it’s neat to go back and sort through all the stuff my sister and i had made in school.
By: Nigel on June 26, 2009
at 3:51 pm
I have this problem too and I haven’t found anything that works, I like your 3 tubs idea,seems like it would work well, but does that mean I’m going to have 36 boxes in my attic in 12 years….ahhhh
By: Michelle kapusta on June 27, 2009
at 3:02 pm
I’m not great at it, but I did see a really good idea once. The person took a picture of each piece of artwork that was exceptional then they created a poster filled with thumbnails of those pictures.
It look really cool and artsy. I love that it kept them on display without cluttering up a bulletin board. It looked like a piece of art from the store.
By: The Secret Life of Kat on June 29, 2009
at 8:31 am
I also remember being crushed when my prized artwork hits the trash – but now that I am an adult I realize it is impossible to keep it all. Especially when they are created weekly (and x 3 for you).
But it was really sweet this past Sunday we created friend puppets (gingerbread cut outs) and made our “friends” talk to each other – and Brewer said his was his mommy cuz she was his friend
I vote keeping the really really special ones in a scrap book and “garbage filing” the rest.
By: Brittany on June 29, 2009
at 9:35 am
I am good about keeping the memorable stuff, but it is all in a pile in a cabinet, not even sorted by child. Ugh! One thing I do is to write on the back anything memorable or why I kept it. For my 3-year-old’s adorable self-portrait, I wrote that, because in thirty years I know I wouldn’t have a clue what it was. I’ll also write their own explanation, because sometimes that alone is the cutest part.
Now I just have to sort and put away. For my son’s school, they asked us to bring in a piece of posterboard, which they folded in half and stapled down just the sides. Then they kept it at school and put all his work from Art in it throughout the year. It is big enough for almost anything they can do, but yet doesn’t take up a lot of room. You would probably still want to keep this in a bin to protect it, but atleast you could have every year in one bin for each child.
By: Karen on June 29, 2009
at 2:03 pm
AHH! I do the EXACT same thing! I loved reading this because I totally relate… “whats a keeper” … “Whats not”… and I keep my stack for fear I’ll toss something that IS a keeper!! =). Great blog. Thanks for making me feel normal =)
By: Amber on June 29, 2009
at 2:30 pm
thats exactly what i need to do! good to see im not the only one who saves everything!
By: shanna on July 1, 2009
at 10:40 pm
Brandi that is my biggest regret. That I don’t have a lot of memorabalia from the kids childhood.
By: Disney Cyndi on July 2, 2009
at 11:31 am
Put the artwork up on the refrigerator or on a bulletin board in each child’s room. Leave it up for a week or so and then ask the child if it’s one of their favorites that should go in The Keepsake Box forever, or not. They can tell you. Sometimes they wish you’d pitch them, because they didn’t think it was a good drawing in the first place!
Also, keep in mind that when your kids get old enough to start winning awards for school work or athletics, or they go into the band program, you’ll quickly begin amassing lots of pieces of paper and programs for things. I’d suggest keeping a binder with those clear plastic inserts that you can slip the certificates into, just to keep them organized. And just don’t feel you have to keep every Weekly Super Achiever certificate or gold star they receive. My mom saved my report cards and the odd poem or writing that I did, and that was good enough for me in the end.
By: Jan on July 22, 2009
at 3:27 pm