1.21.2011

Tidying Up

January always seems to be a month that demands organization. Maybe it's the new year. Whatever the reason, I keep finding myself organizing little nooks and crannies on painting breaks. Today I'm tackling the mountain of kid art I've saved over the years. I have a big ole trunk full of the stuff. Once upon a time it was all neatly tucked into folders, organized by kid and age, but now. . . not so much. I'm editing as I go too. Seriously, do the kids or I need to look back on every spelling test they aced in the 2nd grade? No. So I got me some plastic accordion folders and I'm only filling 2 per kid. OK,  maybe 1 for the boy kid and 3 for the girl kid. No, I don't love her best, it's just that she was more of the sit-down-and-draw type and he was more of the run-around-like-a-crazy-person type so I have more stuff with her name on it. I've barely scratched the surface so far, but here are a couple of treasures from the girl kid, age 6. 
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This haggard looking "mom mouse" cracks me up.


11 comments:

  1. LOVE kid art! Hey, there are a couple of things I did to cut down on bulk besides making it a daily habit to read and throw out all those little papers that came home that day (except something special, of course).

    Especially when kids are younger, their art projects are bigger and take up so much space! So, I had each of my son's help decide what was the most special to keep. I photographed others so there is still documentation of their creation but now they only take up a small space in my computer (for the moment) instead of a huge space.

    There's also scanning and shrinking the size of the project so they could be printed out as a 4x6 instead of letter size or even bigger.

    Flat items saved are then put in a notebook with plastic sleeves. Bulky items in an art storage box.

    There are so wonderful, very sturdy and stylist art storage boxes through Exposures. Sometimes they have great sales.

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  2. Anything that was constructed according to an adult's vision goes at my house (the kind where they glued precut shapes in a prescribed way). Drawings that show the personality of the kid stay. I have two bins where I randomly throw things that I think need saving. Every once in a while I make myself go through it. I can never ever get rid of the drying where I wrote what my boy said was in the pictures, such as

    "Wook! The apples are falling from the sky!"

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  3. Kid's art can be fun to work with.
    Mine are too old now, wish I had thought of that when they were younger.

    Debbie

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  4. Oh my gosh...these drawings are beyond adorable. Looks like she's inherited that artistic gift of yours! And...I'm doing the same thing in my place in regards to organizing! I LOVE it!

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  5. Love the first drawing with the bees and the acorns in the tree! I have framed a lot of my younger boys and have them hanging in our home, makes me smile every time I look at one :o) Nothing better than the pure creativity of a child. Michele

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  6. I love the spontaneity and sheer energy that you see in kid art. Then we all go to 'art school' where they tell us 'how' to draw, and then we spend the rest of our adulthood trying to get back what came naturally. I adore the mom mouse, and as the mom of 4, I know how she feels - haha!

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  7. Your daughter is very talented! I kept any original (i.e., not precut, pre-drawn) art and any original stories. I have a portfolio case I keep my son's art in and I've framed a few pieces. The boy took an art class in college one semester after an unusually stressful semester and much of that went into the portfolio as well (he kept some of it).

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  8. Jo, these are such precious momentos of your kids' childhoods! The mouse with identifying tag (lol) reminded me of a preschool lizard my daughter drew. Under it, she wrote, "Lizzered" and when she handed it to me she said, "Don't be 'fraid, Pia (pia means mommy in our language) 'cause it's just paper." I have a HUGE phobia of all things lizard-like! But I have that drawing still! Your post brought back nice memories. Thanks, Jo!

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  9. wow, what wonderful art. It is clear that she inherited some serious art talent. I am impressed that these were created by a 6 year old.

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  10. Cute artwork. Sometimes it's nice to organize.

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  11. greetings from http://blogspot.com

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