Capture Kids Art Without the Clutter

Looking for a way to declutter kids’ art? Save space and your sanity with these professionally-photographed books made using your kids’ artwork. They’re really neat and are a great gift to make your child feel special. Plus, they get all the art clutter out of the house! Win. Win.

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Raise your hand if you have piles of kids’ artwork stuffed into boxes or collecting dust on shelves. (Hand raised…). Admittedly, I toss most of it in the trash or the compost after enjoying it when they bring it home. I just can’t keep everything. But there is a pile of things I appreciate looking back at over time. It’s pretty neat to see their progress as they grow and their skills mature.

For the first couple of years after my boys started elementary school, I stored the artwork in a box buried in a closet.  A few things were a bit too big so I folded them in half or bent the edges to make them fit. No matter.

Then I stumbled on Artkive, a company that takes professional photographs of your kids’ artwork and then makes photo books and framed images of those pieces of art. I’d much rather have a bound book full of photos of the work than the tangible pieces crunched into a box. What a cool idea, right?

I stored away a year’s worth of artwork for the boys and just recently ordered one of the Artkive shipping kits (get $10 off the kit when you order with this link) to send their artwork off to the studio to be professionally photographed, printed, and bound. I dropped the oversized box to be shipped with the prepaid shipping label attached and went on my merry way.

They love looking back at their work, flipping through pages of drawings, illustrated stories, and even a few tests on which they did particularly well. It’s such a fun capsule of their school year.

I plan to give each of them their own book as one of their Christmas gifts this year. We do not do a ton of gifts in our house, but this will certainly be one of the gifts I think they’ll come back to time and again. (And we have plenty of toys… so we surely don’t need a ton more of those under the tree.)

If you’re on the hunt for a great, custom holiday, birthday, or graduation gift that really makes your little one feel special, head on over and check out Artkive. In addition to the photo books, they also make framed collages and images of artwork if you prefer that method of display.

Have you ever tried Artkive? I’d love to hear what you thought.