Tuesday’s Tips: What to do with all that Fridge Art
Have you ever wished you had a treasure trove of great ideas for those days when motherhood feels draining and mundane? Ever longed for just one tried and true tip that has actually been used successfully by REAL MOMS with REAL KIDS?
Me, too!
That’s why I’ve created Tuesday’s Tips– a weekly post designed to reduce frustration and multiply inspiration in the wacky and wearisome trenches of
motherhood.
Of course, a good idea is meant to be shared. So don’t keep those jewels for yourself!
If you discover something that makes motherhood a little easier, a little more exciting, or a bit more meaningful, please let me know. I’d love to feature your idea on an upcoming Tuesday. Just leave a comment after this post or email me at rbruxvoort@iowatelecom.net.
When There’s Not Enough Room For All That Fridge Art
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| This is Jamison with his special box and all his amazing school work! |
Today’s tip comes from my friend, Wendy. Wendy is a kindergarten teacher and mom of two busy kids. If you’re wrapping up the school year and trying to figure out what to do with all those amazing paper projects that came home in the kids’ backpacks this year, take a peek at Wendy’s great idea…
Each of my kids have a small tub with their name on it. When they get home from school, church, etc. we look at all the projects and papers they brought home and then everything goes in the tub.
Once a quarter, or whenever they want to look through it, we toss the things we don’t want, and they love looking through the rest. It’s always like a little walk down memory lane.
It has a place immediately when they get home; they feel like we are keeping everything that is important; and most importantly, it isn’t all over the kitchen and the floor.
We’ve learned that it’s much easier to toss some things later instead of in the moment of “Look what I made today, Mom!”
The best of the best goes on the fridge…of course.
Any other great ideas? What do you do with all of your children’s masterpieces?
I do just what your post suggests. However, I’m really bad about going through it quarterly…it’s more like yearly, if that. That might be one of our summer projects! Thanks for the tip!
Want a craft idea? We made rainbow crayons yesterday: I pulled out all of our broken crayons, divided them up between my older children (and a couple of friends) and had them take the paper off of all of the crayons. (They loved this! It took some time and was great fine motor for smaller hands and gave me a few minutes break). When all were unwrapped, we broke them into even smaller pieces then piled them into muffin tins (I used mini muffin pans and liked those, but can also use regular. Then we melted them in a warming drawer or in the oven on low heat. It only took a couple of minutes to melt. Then took them out to harden, which they harden fast. Finally we took them out and had beautiful rainbow crayons to experiment with.
There you go! I don’t know if you are looking for ideas but saw others gave you some and thought of this one.
I actually take pictures of my kids with their artwork. Each year we save one favorite and frame it for hanging in the playroom or another location in the house. By taking a picture, I can simply scrapbook the pictures of their artwork and memorialize it in a scrapbook – neat and tidy! I can’t take all the credit for this because a friend shared it with me!
Melissa
We have special boxes too!
I love the idea!
I have to say…I am way to quick to toss papers…my kids aren’t even grown…and I miss all their great work already! 🙂
Okay, I’m laughing because I’m a secret tosser, too. Problem is that I have my kids collect the garbage and haul it to the curb- that’s when my secret started getting discovered. Guess I’ll have to start hauling the trash out on my own.
Weeeelll, I used to ohh and ahhh and then secretly toss my kids’ creations (I know, I know).
However, my new thing is sending them off to relatives. It is an awesome idea because we have far too many and they love the fridge decor!
Love these tips. You should orgainze them somewhere. Hmmm, you’ve probably already done this, but I just haven’t noticed. Off to check.
Appreciate you.
I’m a tosser. So this is a gentle reminder to save, revisit, enjoy and then let go. I think I rush the process too often. Thanks for the practical tip! http://www.Tips4Mom.com
Hi Alicia,
I have a great idea for something for Moms, but I don’t know if it fits in with your Tuesday tips: Writing love letters or letters to your children. I have done it since my kids were born, but it is never too late to start writing them. What do I write? Themes such as the day you were born, milestones, most cherished memory, most beloved toy and the day you gave it up, your first sleepover, etc.
I write about how I feel about them, write the story positively and in greater detail than you would say in a baby book, and then I leave a word of wisdom or something similar.
Thank you for visiting my blog today…Oh I so agree that relationships and parenting is super messy, but like you I want to love the mess too!
Dionne,
We must be soul-sisters 🙂 I, too, have written love letters to my kids since they were tucked secretly in my womb. I have filled journals full of my letters and I hope to give them to my kids one day when they’re grown. So fun to meet someone else who is penning love to her kids 🙂 I will definitely highlight that idea soon- never thought of it as a Tuesday Tip.
Keep writing!
Oh, wow! So many good ideas here today! Caroline I LOVE the idea of the ribbon in your kids’ rooms. I definitely need to string up an “art clothesline”.
And the snack idea is marvelous! I get tired of always scrambling for snacks as we’re heading out for ball games or play dates. Just having things ready in the fridge sounds wonderful. And letting the kids do all the work sounds even better 🙂
Thanks for the great ideas today.
I might have something for another Tuesday tip as well…I have really been enjoying reading ideas from other Moms.
This summer, my bigger kids (ages almost 8 and 4 1/2) have been accompanying me to the grocery store to choose healthy snacks. When we get home, they are in charge of separating whatever snacks they chose into small snack sized bags, which, I am pleased to note, are now recyclable! They often choose things like grapes, go-gurts, trail mix, air popped popcorn, raisin boxes, cheese cubes, etc. I help them cut cheese into cubes or find a measuring cup for measuring out the trail mix, but they know this is their job and they are really excited to do it! All snacks then go into a clear plastic container in the fridge, and then the kids can choose one snack in the morning and the afternoon that they’d like to eat.
I love this and it works out so well, because it frees me from having to come up with a snack idea for three kids twice a day, and it’s super easy to have them choose a snack and head to the park or wherever we’d like to go! As well, these snacks are a lot healthier than other options I see floating around the park. It gives them a sense of importance and pride as well, to be in charge of choosing what they’d like for snacks and getting it ready themselves. Maybe you’ve already thought of this and it’s just taken me awhile, but this has been working out great for our family!
I have some budding artists at my house as well, and while I love to encourage this and keep their precious artwork, I also have a very strong dislike for clutter…so, we do several things with our multitude of priceless artwork. We purchased some frames a long time ago, which hang in our hallway. The kids are in charge of choosing thier favorite pictures, and change them out routinely. This way, our young artists are in charge of choosing what artwork they’d like to display, and our best or most recent pieces are always up for family and guests to see. In both of the kids rooms, I have also nailed on one wall a long piece of thick ribbon that matches their room decor. The kids paint cheap clothespins, and hang whatever artwork they want from this, which works fantastically. It’s cheap and looks nice. Periodically we have to sort through this. I have expanding file folders for all of the kids, in which I have made a file for each year. Our favorite art is stored in this, separated by the year it was made. The others are sent to be recycled, and made into new artwork. 🙂
I love the frame and tub idea. Or I’ve heard of taking pictures of the art for a “digital album.”
I love Kristin’s idea with the frames. The art at my house is still flowing in full force- but in time, I may have to clear out those boxes and pick a few favorites.
Well, it’s a good tip but a little too late for moi 🙂 My babygirl is 16 and I still have a collection of art from years back. Pack rat that I am, I save it all, but if only I’m known about this…
Alinda is right, goes by SO fast! My boys are 19 and 24 now. When my boys were little, they were always making cards and pictures for me and their dad with hearts and hearts with faces and “I love you”s. We had them all over the place, some even taped to the back of our bedroom door so we would see them when we went to bed:) Then we made a big move to KY and I wondered what to do with all of that. I bought two BIG frames and I cut out a lot of the hearts and messages and put them in the frames. One from each son. They now hang up neatly in my bedroom and still makes me smile when I look at them.
Thank you for coming by my place. It’s so funny to hear other people’s “out there” stories. THank you for letting me know I’m not the only one 😉
I miss the days of all the art around the house and on the fridge…cherish those times while you can! It ends all too soon.