little girl holding artwork
Are you out of display space for your children's artwork, but can’t bring yourself to toss their colorful creations into the trash? Try reusing their art with these unique projects—and reclaim your fridge in the process.
Magnets. Don’t you love those tiny people, houses, and pets they draw? Cut them out and stick them to magnets for instant toys (adhesive magnetic sheets can be purchased at large retail stores). For added protection, cover the exposed drawing with clear contact paper to protect it against spills and smudged fingers. Make sure these magnets are too big to be swallowed. Bonus: once they’ve outgrown these magnets, you’ll have nostalgic fridge art that you can actually use.
Three-Ring Binder. Send your child to school with a one-of-a-kind binder displaying one of their favorite creations. Simply purchase a binder with a see-through plastic overlay on the outside of the front cover. Their art will be on constant display, and protected too.
Placemats. Cover their art on both sides with clear contact paper. Make sure the contact paper extends about ¼-½ inch beyond the edge of the drawing and press the contact paper edges together so that water can’t seep into the drawing when the placemat is washed. For something sturdier, glue artwork to placemats bought at the store, and then cover both the artwork and the bottom of the placemat with contact paper, extending the contact paper ½ inch beyond the edge of the placemat on all sides.
Gift Cards. With minimal work, you can turn cardstock and adhesive photo corners into cheery cards that feature their paintings. After folding a piece of cardstock in half, cut artwork about ½ inch smaller on all sides than the front of the card. Place a photo corner on each corner of the painting, then stick the corners to the front of the card to complete.
Puzzles. To make good puzzles that are easy to put together, choose pictures that include large objects which your children will be able to put back together without too much trouble. Objects like houses, rockets and flowers are great because they have distinct parts that need to be put together in a certain way to make sense. Cover both sides of the chosen drawing or painting with clear contact paper, and then cut the art into large puzzle pieces. You can also take a picture of your kids’ artwork and order a puzzle of it at www.snapfish.com.
Decorate. Instead of plastering your fridge with a chaos of art, create a pretty and organized display place to enhance your home. Some ideas: hang a string of ribbon across a wall, and use colorful hair clips or clip-on birds and other animals from the floral section of the craft store to attach the art; cover a wall with framed masterpieces; or choose a wall of their bedroom and wallpaper it with paintings that have similar colors which blend together in an appealing way.
After repurposing their artwork in these fun ways, you may even find yourself asking for more “works of heart” to use and display.
Colleen Wright is the work-from-home mom of a spirited preschooler who fills her home with creativity, color and paint—sometimes minus the paper.