De-Clutter Challenge: What to Do with Kids' Artwork

Kids have a tendency to generate a lot of artwork. If they are in school or if you have multiple kids, the problem of what to do with your kids' artwork is even more complicated. Over the years, it is really easy for childhood artwork to stack up.

The solution we have come to in Casa Green Living is to photograph the drawing or art project, keep it for as long as it is being enjoyed and then for all but a few of my personal favorites (those get framed), recycle them.

At the end of the year they get turned into a high quality photo journal. This not only reduces the bulk and clutter of all the art work but provides a book that my son can enjoy looking back through to remember what art and craft projects he made in the last year.

Supplies

• Child artwork
• Digital camera (I usually just use the one on my phone!)
• Computer

Directions

It's so simple:

All you have to do is take a picture of the art of craft project. I usually use my phone so I don't forget! Taking the photos as close to the time of creation as possible keeps the pictures in chronological order and makes life easier when it is time to make your book

Save all your child art photos in one central location like Dropbox or a folder on your desktop. 

At the end of the year (or whenever you have a lot accumulated), make a photo book. To save money, I am signed up for accounts for Snapfish.com, Shutterfly.com as well as Walgreens.com. They send out emails when they have special offers like free or half price photobooks - which usually happens about 4 times a year for each company.

To save even more money on top of that, I have an account with Rakuten (formerly Ebates).

I LOVE Rakuten. I have had an account with them since they were called Ebates. Anytime I want to buy something online, I go to Rakuten first, click over to the vendor site (like Snapfish) through them and once a quarter, I get a check in the mail for money back on my purchases! 

Sign up for Rakuten (formerly Ebates) for free here. 

(please note, I get a bonus from Rakuten if you sign up for their free service. I have been a very happy Rakuten/Ebates customer for years and would not recommend them to you if I didn't think you'd love them, too)

All that to say: between special offers, Rakuten and shipping, I usually pay $6-$8 for each of these instead of the full price of $24+. 

Here are some examples of the most recent book we made:

My son loves looking through his art journal and I love that I don't have a stack of artwork that I'm charged with saving forever and ever!

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