Simone uses her kid's art as an ingredient in her own art project:
If you can't get yourself to toss your budding artist's projects and have run out of 8.5 X 11 wall space, turn it into decoupage.
- Select artwork for the project.
- Select surface to be covered with said artwork. Suitable surfaces include raw frames or boxes from craft stores, lunch boxes, flower pots, wooden toy chests for the ambitious — in short, anything worthy of such precious decoration.
- Use Elmer's glue, or Mod Podge to glue the artwork or a collage thereof onto your surface.
- Cover your project with glue. I paint at least 5 layers and wait about 15 to 20 minutes for each layer to dry.
- For a smooth finish you can sand the surface with extra fine sand paper and add a few more layers of glue or cover it with spray lacquer.
Voila, artwork preserved until young Maestro moves into his or her own studio!
Tags: Art projects, Parenting
This is also a great way to personalize a hard shell suitcase from a thrift shop. The suitcase can be used to store things in your child’s room.
I once knew a respite care foster mom who did this with all of her foster kids. She searched thrift shops for suitable suitcases and always kept several stored in her garage so that kids who arrived with their belongings in trashbags (a very large percentage) would have something of their own to take with them wherever they went.
Scan the art and use it for page backgrounds and themes for your child’s album. This is the perfect reason to make time to put those scrapbooks and albums together. Check out http://flickr.com/photos/61749641@N00/134683143/ and http://flickr.com/photos/61749641@N00/134683145/ for some examples.
My plan is this (when I find the time!) – scan and or take digital pictures of everything my son’s done during his school year, then incorporate into a slide show or iMovie along with pix from the year.