My dd is quite the little artist, she creates "arts and crafts" multiple times a day and wants them all displayed. I have gotten it down to where she knows only so many things can be hung up and if she wants to add something new something else has to be taken down. My problem is...once we take them down what do you do with them. I can't throw them out because she asks about them and wants to see them again. I have pile upon pile of art stacked up and have no clue what to do with them. Any suggestions?

There were 4 of us kids growing up and my mom bought a clear rubbermaid container that was a little bigger than a larger shoe box and we each got one. She would put things in there and when it got full she would go threw them and get rid of the ones that she didn't think were funny or the best. Ones that she knew we would want as adults. She also kept our writing folders from school it is funny to go back and read what I wrote about it is a good laugh at times.

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You know, I did the same thing with my 4 kids. I bought each of them a Rubbermaid tub and this is where I store everything. After the item has been proudly displayed for a short time it is either stored in there or hits the trash. I use to send things out to the grandparents, but found that came back to haunt me as they would only send it back to me some time later to put away for when the child grows up. The hardest part is deciding what to keep and what to throw, but that gets easier with practice.

An idea might be to store everything for a year and then sit down with dd and let her decide what she wants to keep and wants to get rid of.

A friend of mine with 8 kids takes each childs art work for a month and puts it all together and then takes a picture of it all. The art work then hits the trash but there is a picture of everything done. She has a photo album for each child she stores the pics in with all their ceritficates and awards etc. She even has it sectioned off for each year. She is into scrap booking and so she has made it look really neat. And the kids don't seem to be too upset over the thrown out master pieces as they still have pictures of them.

i also use a rubbermaid tote my son brings home 4-5 papers a day(in kindergarten) and i put them all in there and then at the end of everymonth we go thru and keep the items that are most special to us and put them in plastic sleeves in a binder we will do this for each year. we did it for preschool last year and it turned out very well. i also have a bulletin board and they are allowed to hang up on it so we rotate pictures on that he knows only what fits on the board can be displayed.

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'The will of God will never take you where the
Grace of God will not protect you.'

Personally, I throw mine out. The really good ones, I keep in a box in my room or take a picture of it.

I do like the idea of taking pictures of them and making a nice photo album so the kids can look at them anytime they like without all the clutter.

I also throw a lot of it out. Both of my sons have large bulletin boards in the bedrooms, so sometimes, if they really like something, they'll display it there for a few weeks. They usually toss it on their own. If it's a 'keeper' we put it in their portfolios. When they were in preschool I bought large portfolios for them (from art supply store) to keep artwork in. It works great for me, it's large but flat and I can store a lot of stuff in it (many years worth).

I use an expanding file for ours. It it's too big, I'll find a way to hang it in their room so they can keep it and admire it until they're tired of it. After that, they get thrown out. My mom saved a couple of pieces I did when I was little, but I never wonder why she didn't keep everything I ever made. The 2 or 3 she did keep are enough for me.

That is exactly what we do here! I could have written this post. How funny.

LOL

I have a file box where I put dd's artwork and school work. I have a hanging file for each year she's been in school. I will periodically go through the previous year's work and toss what I no longer want.

I was reading a decorating magazine about kids' rooms and I saw where someone had hung a rope across a long wall and used clothespins to attach artwork. We did that in my dd's room. There are 15 pieces of artwork hanging up on the rope right now. It keeps my fridge cleared off.

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When the sun came up this morning I took the time to watch it rise,
as its beauty struck the darkness from the skies.
I thought how small and unimportant all my troubles seem to be,
and how lucky another day belongs to me. ~ Jerry Reed