Parentella

If your child brings home as much artwork as mine does, then I’m sure your kitchen table, desk, coffee table or refrigerator is starting to become a little overwhelmed with finger-painted masterpieces.  I have the hardest time throwing things like these out, so  I’m always trying to create projects for these wonderful works of art.

The easiest thing to do is put some of the special pieces in a frame behind glass.  As you can see in the photo of this lovely crepe paper flower my son made, even 2-Dimensional pieces can be put on display inside shadow box frames.  I simply mounted the piece using pins.

Another easy solution for stashing artwork is to use a string and clothespins to hang artwork from a door.  This works nicely in your child’s room on a closet door.  It’s fun to watch the progression of their imaginations as you add new paintings and drawings.

If you can work up the courage to cut the artwork up, it’s fun to use them for decorating 3-ring binders.  I use 3-ring binders for everything!  (I love my 3-hole punch much more than my filing cabinet.)  So I’ll use some of the kids’ artwork for brightening up my binders.  Just cut them down to size and slide them right in.

If you want to get REALLY creative, here’s a fun idea: scan the artwork and then print it onto iron-on, T-Shirt transfer paper.  You can purchase packs of these at most office supply stores.

Once your artwork is printed (follow the manufacturer’s directions), you can either cut it into a fun shape or use a stencil to cut your child’s initial.  As the directions on the transfer paper will tell you, remember to cut any letters in the mirror image.  Once you iron them onto a t-shirt, the image will be reversed.

Another fun project for scanned images is to print them onto fabric.  This package of ink jet cotton sheets can be purchased at most sewing, notions or craft stores.  (Look in the quilting section of your fabric store.)  Once printed, the paper backing is peeled and you can do just about anything with your personalized piece of fabric.  Sew it into a pillow or quilt, applique it onto a t-shirt or bag or frame it as a piece of art.

For this piece, I used an embroidery hoop for framing this colorful sketch  created by my 6-year old.  Embroidery hoops are rather inexpensive and can be found in the threads/cross-stitching section of your fabric  or craft store.  I hope to continue to frame my son’s sketches  throughout the year, creating an entire wall full of circular artwork.

Won’t the kids be so pleased to see their artwork around the house?  I know mine always are. And with the holidays coming up, any of these ideas would make wonderful handmade gifts for your children to make and give.  You can even have children wrap the gifts with their artwork as wrapping paper.  Grandma or grandpa would love that!

Don’t put it off another minute.  Start some of these projects today and keep your pile of paintings from becoming too unruly!

Dawn Huntington is a stay-at-home mom by way of architecture school.  When she isn’t caring for her family, Dawn is either in the garden,  behind the sewing machine, engaged with her sketchbook, wielding power  tools or peeling glue off her fingertips.  Projects, stories, whimsical  designs and more can be found on her blog, Out of the Box – California.