Kids' Art

What we're doing at my house for a couple of weeks is called decluttering. So I'm wondering: what's the opposite of decluttering? Cluttering? Acluttering?

Whatever you call it, we've apparently done an awful lot of it. 'Cause there sure is still a lot of decluttering yet to happen. We're currently in that stage of having made an even bigger mess than we had before. I keep reminding myself that this is a natural progression--that all this stuff used to be in attics and basements and closets, and right now it's all right out there where we can see it and trip over it.

It seems like the only thing in my house that isn't covered in piles of clothes or books or toys or knick-knacks is the art hanging on the walls. (And this is because most of our art has no horizontal surfaces where you could stash piles of things.) Ugh.

Anyway, I'm taking a break to show you a couple of pieces of art (well, actually just to take a break, but I'll show you these things while I'm at it). When I was a young mom, people often told me that I should frame some of my kids' artwork. It sounded like a great idea, but I never could figure out exactly how to make that work. Finally I came up with a solution, and these pieces of art still make me smile.

My solution: clip frames. I bought a few clip frames (each one is essentially just a piece of glass, a piece of backer board, and art clips) in one size. Of course, none of my artwork was actually the right size for the frames, so I just mounted the pieces on art paper in the right size. This was so much easier (and cheaper) than hunting for frames in odd sizes or having mats cut. Here's a little collection from my hallway:

Of course, an occasional piece may warrant special attention, and you may want to put a special piece of art in a proper frame. This is where it comes in handy to have collected odd frames at thrift stores. I had to trim this painting just a tad to make it fit, but I'm so glad I framed it:

Isn't that the cutest blue frog painted by a second-grader you have ever seen?

So there. You have now seen all of my house that is clean at this moment. Or at least that's how it feels. But we shall press on. And maybe soon I'll be able to show you some pictures of my nice clean kitchen!

What do you do with your kids' art?