Disney+ star and YayDay Paper Co. founder, Amber Kemp-Gerstel on How to Save Kids Art Work!
We love our kids’ artwork, but let’s be honest, the school folders start to get out of hand by this time of the year. What should we keep, toss, and for those treasured pieces we want to showcase, what are the best ways to showcase our little ones’ talents. Bt what to do with it? We touched base with Disney+ star and YayDay Paper Co. founder Amber Kemp-Gerstel. Amber loves DIY; just check out her IG; it is full of crafty creative projects, from sewing up a designer-inspired bag to partnering with family-favorite juice brand Juicy Juice to share some easy and fun crafts to get kids excited for the season.
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Kids have been back at school for four months now, and so are the work pages and artwork. Most parents, including myself, hate to throw out kids some of their schoolwork and artwork. How do you decide what to keep? What are some crafty tips on saving the work that makes the parent edit?
- When your kiddos come home from school with handmade projects, it can be tough to toss them into the trash. Afterall, they made it with their own little hands! Eventually, you end up with a drawer filled with projects and there just isn’t enough room to keep everything. Thankfully, there are some creative ways to preserve those creative memories and conquer the pressure to save every single thing.
- Ask for your child’s input! You’ll be surprised how many projects they’re happy to discard. They don’t always have a strong emotional attachment to those projects and they can easily let you know which ones they can say goodbye to. Additionally, you’ll learn a lot through this process about which projects do have a special place in your child’s heart, and those creations will, in turn, become even more special to you!
- Make a memory book! Once you’ve decided which projects are special and worth keeping, use a large 3-ring binder to save them. In our home, we like to use a binder for each school year. Inside the binder, I insert a bunch of page protector pockets, then slide each project into the pocket. When you’re done, you have a fun way to flip through all those projects.
- Outsource it! Life gets busy and it’s okay to enlist a little help sometimes. There are several apps and websites that offer services to memorialize your child’s artwork into a professional book. Services like Artkive or Plum Print are awesome resources for saving those special handmade creations.
Can you share creative tips to showcase kids’ artwork?
I think the easiest way to do that is to provide seasonal or themed craft ideas that can be repurposed as holiday décor. For example, decorated pinecones could be strung into a festive holiday garland that becomes a staple in your holiday decoration collection. For example, this Lucky Leprechaun Trap or this Valentine’s Day Kaleidoscope could become staples for the upcoming winter/spring holidays. Some of my favorite holiday decorations that we use year after year were handmade by my son. It’s also a fun way to get into the holiday spirit, whichever holiday that may be, and spend some quality time with your little one.
Is it okay to recycle your kid’s artwork? Are there ways to creatively do this?
Artwork itself may be difficult to recycle, but you can certainly create more sustainable artwork by using upcycled items from around your house. My son loves Juicy Juice, so we always have extra bottles and juice boxes around the house, so we use those, along with other items we already have around home, for crafts! It’s as simple as putting some paint, construction paper and/or googly eyes on an item to give it new life. Some of our favorites are these Tissue Box Dinosaur Feet, this Bottle Bird Feeder and Bottle Planter.
