kid art
Kid art is just the best.
I know it tends to pile up over time faster than dirty laundry, but choosing a few hundred of your favorite pieces to display will turn into precious art.
Kid Art Pros
- Kids will use color combinations and compositions that are bright, fearless and unique.
- Each kid-made picture holds memories of a time, place, age and idea.
- Kids have pride in their work and delight in that work being recognized by adults.
- It is cheap.
Kid Art Cons
- You don’t want your wall to look like the front of your fridge.
- It is hard to decide between the 3.2 million pieces of 11 x 13 construction paper masterpieces.
- The artistic value of a kid-produced piece might be difficult to appreciate before it is framed.
- The floating frames I use are often $20-30 each.
This is the arrangement I just added to our homeschool room. Â I picked out 6 pieces of art from my boys’ school and home projects.
The floating frames were from Target. Â They come in various sizes and both black and a walnut color. Â The frames I used were the largest available and priced at $29.99. Â They easily fit the 11 x 13 art project paper without trimming.
After I framed the kid art, I laid it out on the floor to see which arrangement looked the best and then measured the size of the entire installation.
Using a long level and a pencil, I drew 2 parallel lines on my wall – one for the top row and one for the second row.
I went back through with a ruler and added X’s where each wall anchor needed to be positioned. Â The top and bottom row positions were double checked with the level in a vertical position to assure that they were aligned perfectly on top of each other.
I am absolutely in love with the kid art installation.
The colors are so bright and cheerful. Â The boys are excited about it and show anyone who will look. Â My favorite part is that each picture is attached to memories that make me smile.
Looking for fun art projects to display? Â Here are a few of our favorites:
I have three things to say, a) your kids are artistic geniuses b) you make it look so easy 😉 and c) those frames really make the art pop, nice job!
Wow! Your art installation looks fabulous. I love it.
I would agree with comment 1… I think you have some great artists to work with. That being said, I’ve found that even my toddler/preschooler boys’ artwork looks amazing when it is properly framed. I love the frames you picked!
My kids art needs to be burned. Not framed. Yours looks great though.
It looks really great. What a fabulous idea. I have never thought about putting my daughter’s art into fancy frames. genius.
Holly, that looks awesome.
Thanks girl!
Thanks Tracie. I am always surprised at how good it looks when framed. WAY better than most the “art” you buy at the store that doesn’t have any memories attached.
ha! The other thing I am not shy about is “creative cropping” so that might be a plan for you.
Thanks Jackie! I appreciate it. It is so much fun.
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much Vanessa. I really appreciate it. I think they are too, but I might be a little biased.
The art is great! Love it! Can you share where you got the desks? I really love the simplicity of them.
Hi Rachel,
The desks are from CB2. They have quite a few really cool simple pieces and I have found the prices to be good as well.
I love kid art, but at the moment my house is a disaster area due to the massive piles of art in every room! I’m trying to come up with a better system, (and a way to score some free paper?!)
Could you email me? I’d like to ask you about doing a giveaway/review.
Thanks!
You’re a damn genius. I thought I was smart for stealing a tip I heard on Oprah about scanning kid’s artwork to put in a photo book, but you take that to a whole other level.
Yay! Thanks so much. That means a lot coming from you…and mentioning Oprah and all.
done!
I LOVE the floating frames. looks awesome! Hope to meet you in Dallas next week! 🙂
VERY cool – love this idea!
Okay, I LOVE your video. I love your honesty, and I LOVE the fact that you shot that and didn’t edit it. I would like to thank you for making that point, because I often read blogs and think, ”
What the heck is wrong with me? I never do those kinds of things with my kid”.
Great idea, Holly! My 6.5 yo daughter is an amazing artist, and I am constantly pilfering through umpteen papers to determine which drawings/paintings/creations are keepers and which ones I can guiltily discard. I will tuck your idea into my brain for future use, once I get a little more time, energy, and money. Thx! 🙂
How old your boys are? They are brilliant artists. The way you have framed their works was perfectly done. Great display! You must be a proud Mom.
I love that idea. I actually just posted about displaying artwork too. I have four kids who come home from school with all kinds of things to display, not to mention everything that they color or draw while at home. I will definitely be hanging on to this idea.
My post can be found at http://savingwithpurpose.blogspot.com/2011/09/inexpensive-way-to-display-childrens.html
The art looks fabulous! I love how the floating frames really let your kids’ art take center stage! I can tell they are a creative bunch!
that looks awesome!
I can’t wait for kid art from my son! I love the floating frames…they don’t distract from the art itself. Your kids make great stuff!
PS I have a $50 cash giveaway going on at my blog right now! Come by when you get a chance. 🙂