photo by laffy4k

I have a confession. It’s my homekeeping weak spot. I can’t throw away my kids’ art projects. I save more than the typical handprint art. I cherish the stick-figure drawings the most. I have them organized in near perfect evolution. The drawings started out as crooked circle heads with dots for eyes, and, through the years, hands, ears, smiles with teeth, clothing and an entire world according to my children evolved. They capture moments that I don’t want to forget, such as when the sky was purple and fish could fly.

I’ve managed to organize them in a three-drawer plastic cart with wheels. The problem is, at the rate I’m saving them, I’ll need an entire room to store my treasures. My favorite tip is taking digital pictures of the artwork. I can have the photos laminated and spiral-bound at a local copy center or have my absolute favorites made into keepsake hardbound books. For moms like me, I hope this helps.

SCAN AND SCRAPBOOK: We scanned all of the kids’ stuff and saved it on a CD. I have a special box for each year of their lives, and I keep special pieces of artwork, report cards, maybe an outfit, etc. I am in the process of scrapbooking all that I’m able to. The rest will remain in their boxes unless I shadowbox them, which I do often. — Neeley, e-mail

FRAME IT: I have a box for each school year into which we put papers, tests, drawings, etc. I don’t save all of it, but just what I think he’ll enjoy seeing again when he’s older. I framed one of his paintings from kindergarten and hung it on our wall. The other day, someone came over and noticed it, and asked me who the artist was. Boy, did he like that! — MVS0122, Iowa

SAVE AND RE-EVALUATE: Every day, I put my daughter’s schoolwork in a tote in my closet. At the end of the year, we go through it and decide what to keep. — Julie, Florida

ROTATE DISPLAY: The coolest thing I have ever seen was in a playroom in a house we looked at. It had two rounded eyelet hooks stuck in the wall with a metal cable strung between them. The mom hung the artwork on it with little metal clips. It was so cute! — Nichole, Iowa

GIFT IT: You can use some of them to make cute place mats as gifts for grandparents. Use plastic clear contact paper or laminate and cut to size. — Barb, Pennsylvania

PRINT IT: I took digital pics and had calendars and jigsaw puzzles made as gifts. There are places like Cafe Press (www.cafepress.com) that will do mugs, mouse pads, ornaments, aprons, throw pillows, note cards, tote bags, etc. — Candace, Illinois

GET CRAFTY: I’ve heard of people scanning them and reducing them in size, then tossing the originals. They make cute magnets out of them. I save my daughter’s papers and certificates in an expanding file. I save my favorites and let her choose some favorites, and we toss the rest. — Karen, e-mail

SHOWCASE IT: I always wanted a photo-screen room divider and finally got one as a gift. I put some of their art in it. It looks better than using all photos. — Jenna, via forums

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