At my house, every day is an art day! My daughter’s backpack portfolio is overflowing with her work when she comes home from school, and she doesn’t miss a beat before making a beeline for her art table. As a result, I am living like a hoarder. I’ve got artwork stacked on top of the fridge, in bookshelves, under tables, in drawers — when does it end?!
Celebrity mom Kim Kardashian has a Hermes purse hand-painted by her daughter, North. And perhaps the ultimate homage to child artwork is Angelina Jolie’s wedding dress, embroidered with her children’s drawings. Now, we can’t all afford Hermes bags and Versace embroidered gowns … but there are myriad opportunities to use our children’s artwork. Keep it as art by having a painting made into a canvas, or transform it entirely, creating anything from cell phone covers to pendents. With many of these options, you’ll need to scan or photograph your kids’ original work, and Snap Happy Mom has some great tips to help you get good quality photos.
Check out this list and find the perfect way to display your child’s masterpieces without having it cover every blank space of your house.
More Kids’ Art Ideas:
21 Things You Can Do With Your Kids Artwork (That Aren't Throwing Them in the Recycling Bin)
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Design a Stuffed Toy
How cool would it be if your child's favorite stuffed animal was one they had actually designed themselves?! These hand-made softies will be treasured for years to come.
Find out more at Child's Own Studio.
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Turn It Into Vinyl Nail Wraps
Turn your child's artwork into one-of-a-kind nail wraps. You'll be the most envied mom in town!
Find out more at Jamberry,
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Make an iPhone Case
Transform those paintings into something you can use -- and, let's be honest, what do we use more than our phones?
Find out more from Kimberly Michelle.
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Transfer it to a Pillow
Turn your child's artwork into a cozy, cuddly and decorative pillow for the couch or bed. A great conversation starter that will make your child proud.
Find out more at Carley Kahn.
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Make a MoMA-Worthy Poster
Select the best of the best, and make a poster (along the lines of something you'd find in the MoMA shop) to display your child's masterpieces.
Find out more at Simply Create Kids.
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Create a Sculpture
Make a digitally crafted sculpture out of your child's cool hand-drawn creatures. These sandstone figurines look great around your home, office, or car -- and they make a cool gift!
Find out more at Crayon Creatures.
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Turn It Into a Tote Bag
If you liked what Kim Kardashian did, but can't exactly shell out $$$ for an original Hermes bag for your kid to doodle on, try scanning their artwork and having it printed onto a tote bag. Useful, and totally cute.
Find out more from Snap Totes.
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Make a T-Shirt
With a few simple materials, you can turn your child's favorite drawing into a T-shirt, pillow cover, decorative wood block, or even greeting cards.
Find out more from Lil Blue Boo.
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Create an Interactive Portfolio
Let technology help you out, and use an app to easily snap and upload all those little works of art into an interactive portfolio. Just snap a picture with your phone and you’ve added a piece to the gallery! Relatives can become "fans" and easily follow along and interact with each upload!
Find out more at Keepy.
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Create a Memory Game
Choose 12 of you child's favorite designs and put them to good use with this fun, personalized and interactive game.
Find out more at Pinhole Press.
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Publish it in a Book
If you really want to savor each piece, but eliminate the paper pile in the house, then opt for publishing it in a book! Create a beautiful scrapbook of memories along with artistic artifacts on every page.
Find out more at Paislee Press.
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Create Luminarias
Showcase your child's artwork at your next dinner party by wrapping their drawings around glass jars to make stunning,decorative table lights.
Find out more at Aunt Peaches.
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Transfer it to Canvas
Turn a treasured painting or drawing into a canvas that will last forever. A wonderful, detailed way to showcase your child's blooming talent.
Find out more at The Artful Parent.
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Make them Edible
Scan the artwork and print out on edible paper! Cookies decorated with your child's artwork will look (and taste!) very sweet.
Find out more from The Pioneer Woman
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Create Cufflinks
Scan and print your child's best drawings onto Ink Jet Shrink Film and transform their cool artwork into the coolest cufflinks in town! A great gift idea for Father's Day.
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Display it in a Digital Frame
With 8GB of potable memory storage included, this digital frame is probably the most compact way to display dozens upon dozens of your child's masterpieces.
Find out more on Amazon.
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Make Fabric
Upload your child's artwork and have it turned into one-of-a-kind fabric! My daughter and I have just started sewing together and making a dress out of her own material is next on the list.
Find out more at ,.
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Add it to a Gallery Frame
I have two of these, and rotate the contents every few days. Gallery frames are a great way to store and display your prolific artist's work.
Find out more on Amazon.
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Create Garland
Transform all those paintings into a lovely garland to hang up around the holidays. The kids will love this craft project, too.
Find out more at Bare Feet on the Dashboard.
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Turn It Into Jewelry
Keep your child's artwork close to your heart by having it turned into an heirloom made of sterling silver.
Find out more at Totally Out of Hand.
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Create Magnets
Instead of scrounging for magnets to pin your child's drawings to the fridge, turn the drawings into magnets! A great way to give artwork a practical use (and makes a great gift add-on, too).
Find out more at Original Works e-Store
