What to do with all of that precious kid “art”

When my kids first started making things at school I was so excited over their creations that I, of course, kept  it. It started out on the fridge. Then started piling up on our counter. And then I would move it to a bin. And then finally to some photo albums that I could look through later.

I thought this was a great idea since I could look at the albums down the road, and over the past year started being more selective on what I saved. But, after putting together the last album I realized even then that those things are huge and then what? Will my kids want these some day? Probably not.

But I can’t just throw it away, either.

Well. Actually. I can. In secret. Like hiding it in the trash or taking it to the outside trash on garbage day because if done any earlier SOMEHOW it is discovered in there and I shamefully point fingers elsewhere.

“Uhhhh, man. Someone must have thought that was something else! Shoooooot!”

One time, Gwyn found her work in the outside trash and ran to us crying, “MOM! How could someone throw away ART?!”

We were speechless.

But my big mama heart just can’t throw the precious stuff away. The stuff made for special occasions. Or the first time they spelled their name. Or anything with a hand print on it. I just can’t do it.

So I thought I was stuck with the photo album option until just a few days ago when I came across a GENIUS idea from someone on Facebook.

Create a separate Instagram account just for your kiddos’ art/school activities. Then, once the masterpiece arrives home, take a  photo of it, upload it to the IG account, write a little caption (or not) about it and BAM! Memory saved. Then, once you’ve acquired a good amount of photos, order a Chat Book, running about $6 (or are sometimes even free!) which makes your IG feed into a nice, small, compact, yet memorable book for you to keep and look through for years to come. Or for you to sneak into your kids’ moving boxes someday when they move out.

Via 

What do you think? I think it is GENIUS and have created one account for Gwyn and one for Cal. I already put their first day of school photo on there as well as their art/memorabilia from their first days as well.

Thanks for stopping by!