How to Create a Personalized Artwork Album of Your Kids Creations
(originally published April 2020)
We’ve all been there: artwork from school, and now homeschool, slowly piles up into a mountain, but every time you go to throw pieces away, you just can’t bring yourself to do it. Or if you are anything like me, you slip it into the trash when they are sleeping :)
But I’ve learned you shouldn’t have to choose to keep or toss! Simply choose your favorite pieces, and take a photo of it, or better yet, take a photo of your proud kiddo holding their artwork. It's easy to take the photos and then you can either save it or throw it away without feeling guilty.
This is especially relevant during the current social distancing situation, as many parents are using art projects to keep children learning and active and busy. Some of these projects are bulky, and let’s be honest: it’s just not possible to hang and keep all of them. But we still love their personalized pieces, and we want to preserve them.
Artwork the kids are creating at home should be documented, too. Now is a great time to get it all organized!
Document your child’s artwork using your phone camera:
1. Lay the artwork flat on a solid-colored surface – a piece of poster board or plain paper underneath works well. And if you don’t have anything big enough, just use the floor or table top.
2. Place it by a window so you have natural light falling across it with no harsh lighting or shadows. Make sure to remove any clutter.
3. Photograph it directly from above with your phone. Make sure your cell phone is not casting a shadow over the image!
4. Crop as needed. You can choose to keep a small border of solid color behind the artwork or crop all the way to the edges.
5. Edit as needed using the basic brightening and contrast settings in your phone.
Artwork by my daughter, age 4.
Create A Personalized Album with Your Child’s Artwork:
After you have all of the images documented for safe keeping, you can put them in an album when you are ready. It’s really neat to see how their skills have progressed over time and art photos make the cutest albums to preserve their unique creativity to look back on!
A great way to compile the images together into an album is with Chatbooks. I personally love the 6x6 or larger sizes they offer. It’s perfect for a project like this because you can do the entire thing from your phone! You can also choose to add text to document any special notes like the age or year it was created. You’ll have a wonderful book of your kid’s artwork to look back on and share with others. It can be done monthly (if they create a lot of art!), annually, or with multiple school years grouped together.
Sign up for my quick tutorial How to Create a Chatbooks album HERE. Use code Danielle094 and receive $10 off your first order.
This concept is so easy to maintain. When that special art arrives home, you can quickly take the photo and know that it is preserved for the future.
My friend and master of all things efficient, Marianna from @efficientedition, shared her own kid’s photo artwork books that she created! This is the ultimate in efficiency to get a handle on your kid’s creations!
Share your finished photos and albums by tagging @daniellesaraphotography on Facebook and Instagram! I’d love to see what you create!