OK, I’m practically bursting at the seams to post this Resolution Solution! 

First, a Food for Thought confession: Daryl Williams, the organizer sharing her tip today, has spent a little time in my house and in Lisa’s (she’s going to kill me!).  But we can both proudly say we have some fantastic results to show for it. And, as it should be with a great organizer, these enclaves of organization have managed to stay intact to this day still!

Here’s Daryl’s tip for all the parents out there who struggle with the ever-growing piles of your children’s artwork:

I get asked a lot by Mom’s about what to do with all of the large pieces of artwork, book projects, ect. that really are too big to keep (like that clay pueblo that’s falling apart in the basement). Start a file …with pictures of them instead. Get a binder with plastic pages and then you can put the picture on one side and the written work that accompanied it (or a brief hand or typewritten description of what the project is all about) on the other. That way you have one binder for each school year, not a cluttered mess in the basement.
- Daryl Williams of Destination-Organization, LLC

So, now the bragging.  Yes - Daryl helped me make this transition two years ago when I literally cried at the idea of throwing away my daughter’s ground coffee bear scene and her pinecone and cottonball owl.  How could I?  And, it wasn’t just that they were important to Maeve (my then 4-year old). They were also precious to me.

Daryl and I first sorted through the giant, giant stack of art and picked out those of significance that were of a “storable” size; these I could keep. The first time she fully drew a person (yes, I was a little behind).  Her first family potrait. And, some remarkable works of art that I saved for posterity.  This pile could NOT contain any art or projects that were three dimensional, had glued on items (especially perishable ones!), were way too large to store well, or textures that were bound to be destroyed.

So, I took this cherished pile and begin to snap pictures.  At first, I took a couple of each but quickly got good at it.  Then, I had to have Daryl throw them away or recycle them - taking them FROM the house because I couldn’t bear to do it.  Now, I gotta tell you - I am an art archiving machine and fully endorse this solution for storing special artwork. I’ve now scanned and taken hundreds of pictures of the girls’ artwork, including a very cool acorn squirrel that Charlotte made at 3, Maeve’s intricate watercolor scene, and much more.

Once I started archiving that way, I found that with a little imagination and a lot of help from online photo websites, I could use the files and photos to create special personal gifts from the girls. Each year for two years now, I’ve created a calendar that features some of Maeve’s seasonal artwork. I use a photo website to upload the images of her art - and then order them for holiday presents for our family, her friends, and her teachers.  Maeve’s calendar is one of the most special things we have in our home - and it’s a permanent, tidy little archive of her important pieces of art from that year. 

This year I also made small notecards out of a series of watercolors the girls’ painted - and Charlotte gave them as holiday gifts.  Next year, I’ll probably expand to a photo book for each (those are so easy to make now as long as you have the pictures) and or something else fun!

Thanks, Daryl. 

I’m sure this will be a valuable tip for all of our readers, and I couldn’t have done it without you!