children's artwork collection

Not sure if this the right board but...

Most of the regulars will know I am the ruler of the kingdoms of Hoarders and Procrastinators. So I have a wee bit of a problem. My wee boy is a budding artist. He loves to draw. All my kids loved to draw but this one can sit and draw 20 pictures without batting an eye. Some are quite detailed, some are awesome, some are 'rough drafts'. Some are trains and cities, space craft, jets. Some pencil, some are pens, some are arty-farty with paste, wool, shapes, etc etc. If he can fit Indiana Jones in a race car with a jet on an intergalactic star wars spacecraft with Data or Spock at the helm, he will. Like I say some are very detailed and most details are now quite identifiable without explanation. But every single drawing comes complete with a detailed explanation by the artist himself. Every single one. This can be so so drawn out (no pun intended) but this ain't the problem. Like all good parents, ya listen and ya look and ya interact and know these days will be over before ya know it.

The problem is as a hoarder extraordinaire, I have never thrown out these collections. As a procrastinator extraordinaire, I have never got around to sorting these collections. OK a few pieces that get crumpled or really not good get tossed. Every so often during a clear out (ha more like reorganise) the current sets get put in a carrier bag and put in hoarder heaven aka spare room (actually it ain't really a spare but that's whole nother story).

I plan on doing something with the collections in the heaven. Really don't want to say how many bags there are but let's say if you said 20, I'd say higher and we'll just leave it at that, ok? He's been drawing since about 2 and he is 6 so that's a lot of stuff. My crap, old toys and other stuff I can deal with. If, just if, I can get in there. When I start this (whoa, that's sounds a tad optimistic bob) I will look through those carrier bags and bin really nondescript drawings. I am aiming at ending up with a few carrier bags worth.

What do ya'll do? Is the aim of having 2 - 4 carrier bags full of drawings OTT? Does anyone else save things like this? I am actually thinking of getting one of these fold up office boxes (the size for like A4 suspension files but no files - even I think to file them in any semblance of chronological order would be a bit much). I'd be interested to hear your tips, experiences and ideas. Thanks

Just in case anyone is wondering about paper costs. I get/got the paper from work, reams and reams that would have been recycled. Think engineering office and multimillion pounds contracts and CAD drawings. That uses a whole forest of paper which I'd say at least 25% is wasted. So I have reams of A4, A3, A2 and A1. He just draws on the back. Sometimes he incorporates the CAD drawing into his because some of the CAD drawings are of ships, oil rigs,satellites, antennae, etc.

What my mom did was to get a huge 3 ring binder, like 5 inches thick.  She would keep my drawings for the year of my age and, on or near my birthday, we would go through the previous year's drawings together, keeping the best and favorites.  Usually she would say like 20 per year.  So in the binder they went by age.  It is my favorite momento to this day (and I am not particularly sentimental).

That's a sweet idea. DSS's drawings (when I could get him to do it) were all reminiscent of a chimp's so only a couple were kept (he threw them, not me). The few I could salvage are tucked away in my dresser for safe keeping LOL

I love the binder idea 

My mom also did the binder idea.

If you really want to get high tech, you could scan the ones you don't have room to save, which would then allow you to part with the physical copies.  You could even have a little book printed of what you scan in-- there are loads of companies that can do that fairly inexpensively. 

What my mom did was to get a huge 3 ring binder, like 5 inches thick.  She would keep my drawings for the year of my age and, on or near my birthday, we would go through the previous year's drawings together, keeping the best and favorites.  Usually she would say like 20 per year.  So in the binder they went by age.  It is my favorite momento to this day (and I am not particularly sentimental).

Thanks! I really like that. I hadn't thought of a binder. At least then they could be viewed easier.

I'm glad to hear that is your favourite memento. Makes it all worthwhile.

Tried once sorting with him and he is worse than I am for not wanting throw his drawings. He's an artist. 

My mom also did the binder idea.

If you really want to get high tech, you could scan the ones you don't have room to save, which would then allow you to part with the physical copies.  You could even have a little book printed of what you scan in-- there are loads of companies that can do that fairly inexpensively. 

Good idea on the scanning too. May just do that for the better and A4 size ones and then grandma back in the US could see too. Thanks!

Feel kinda dumb now cuz I've got binders and a scanner.

Tried once sorting with him and he is worse than I am for not wanting throw his drawings. He's an artist. 

That is why my mom did a limit. It made me really think about what was important.  She did this when she had yard sales too, with my stuffed animals.

That is why my mom did a limit. It made me really think about what was important.  She did this when she had yard sales too, with my stuffed animals.

limits.  ooo that's a hard concept to grasp. LOL

Oh! I love that he draws so much! He sounds like my son.

I am a HUGE throw-it-away type of person, and I can't stand clutter. So, I take a digital photo of his artwork, and then he gets to hang it on his (tiny) bulletin board until there's no space left. Then he can either bin it or file it in a magazine file that sits on his desk. Once that magazine file starts to overflow, he chooses what stays and what goes.

Once I have taken a digital photo of his artwork, I save it on my desktop in a folder with his name on it. He can look at it whenever he wants - which, to be honest, isn't very often!

Is your issue with yourself not wanting to throw stuff away, or with your son not wanting you to throw it away?



 

Oh! I love that he draws so much! He sounds like my son.

I am a HUGE throw-it-away type of person, and I can't stand clutter. So, I take a digital photo of his artwork, and then he gets to hang it on his (tiny) bulletin board until there's no space left. Then he can either bin it or file it in a magazine file that sits on his desk. Once that magazine file starts to overflow, he chooses what stays and what goes.

Once I have taken a digital photo of his artwork, I save it on my desktop in a folder with his name on it. He can look at it whenever he wants - which, to be honest, isn't very often!

Is your issue with yourself not wanting to throw stuff away, or with your son not wanting you to throw it away?
 

Now that's a good point, scanning for the A4, photo for the bigger ones. Cool! Thanks
Odd because I do scan MY documents and keep them on disk. My brain isn't really working because so far I have all these things everyone has mentioned, just never thought about using them.

No, the issue is more with me. Not knowing what he will want to keep for when he is old.
Also because I have nothing, absolutely nada of mine as it all got stolen. Our stuff was in storage while in Germany and when we came back, the freight hauler was delivering our stuff and the truck was stolen. Everything we had from childhood (mine, sister and dads stuff) was gone. They never did find it. My other 2 sisters who didn't come to Germany still have all (well a lot) of their stuff. Mom and Grandma were the queens of hoarding.