The Best Way to Save Your Child’s Work Without Taking up Space
If you’re anything like me, you store most of your children’s many drawings in one of three places: a large plastic basket to be organized “one day” in the future, temporarily put on display to make your child feel proud and acknowledged. , or trash. While you feel guilty every time you throw away that thunderstorm drawing that looks like 12 markers in combat, or that dramatic #2 pencil drawing of the zombie apocalypse, there just isn’t enough space to store each masterpiece. .
We’ve written about easy ways to save or use your child’s art, from displaying it on an ignored wall and repurposing it as greeting cards , to mailing selected artwork to family and creating a private Instagram account for them .
Here, inspired by this TikTok , we share another way to analyze the quantity, but still enjoy the quality of your children’s work for years to come.
How to make a “bitmap” from your child’s drawings
In her video, creator @thecolorfulmother showed the process of turning her child’s work into beautiful framed art that adds a classy and colorful accent to any room.
Here’s what you’ll need:
After choosing the artwork you want to repurpose, start stamping two inch colored circles. (It’s worth noting that watercolors are the best candidates for this project—children’s drawings, including pasta or feathers, should not be used.) Stroke to your heart’s content or until you have enough to create enough rows to fill the rug. (The number of circles is up to you and will depend on how close you want them to be together and the size of matte board you choose. @thecolorfulmother created a grid of 7 rows by 11 columns for a total of 77 circles).
Before gluing, lay out all the circles on the passe-partout in even rows. Use a ruler to measure the margins, leaving an equal amount of space at the top and bottom, and along the left and right sides of the matboard. (For more accuracy, you can measure the distance between each circle to ensure even spacing.) Apply glue to the back of each circle, stick them to the mat and frame. A beautiful new piece of art is born (at around $50 for all materials, or less depending on the most expensive material, the frame).
The trick is to make sure the young artist in question doesn’t witness the repurposing or you’re probably in for a mountain of tears. They’ll thank you later when they forget their original creations and can appreciate that they don’t have to sift through 650 toddler art pieces as a high school student to make room for your new Peloton.