I am a mom of two little boys who both love creating and if yours is anything like our home your kids come home with 5 billion pieces of paper and or paper plates that they have cut, colored, glued and smashed. Of course, each one is a masterpiece to them and they just cannot wait for you to display their work all over your home! Let's be honest a fridge can only hold so much. 

Don’t get me wrong. I Ooh and Aah over each one and then I secretly sneak it into the trash after they have gone to bed and hope they don’t ask for that particular paper plate craft again. I kept up these game until I created a designated space just for all their work.

This space has been a game changer! I now hang any and all items they want up on the wall until it is too full and then I just slowly start pulling the “art” that is towards the back and throwing it away.

I came up with this concept when I wanted to have an advent calendar for the kiddos as well. So I strategically placed 24 hooks on three different boards. Super simple!

Y’all this is an easy-peasy weekend project that is a game changer for your home.

Supply list:

3 boards (size to fit your space. My boards are 6 feet long by 7 inches tall.)

Stain (I used Jacobean) You could totally paint too if you want them to blend in more with your wall or even pop with a bright color.

24 clips (I got a huge roll from Michaels on clearance)

option 1, option 2, 

Some kind of glue

A few random screws

Please keep in mind you can literally use and change any of these directions to make something that best fits your space.

I went and bought three boards knowing I wanted to fill a huge chunk of our hallway. I then used stain I already had to stain the sides and front of each board.

After they dry for 24 hours I measured out where I wanted each of the clips to be. Because I wanted 24 for my advent calendar that meant I needed eight on each board. If you don’t necessarily want it to be an advent calendar you could put as few or as many clips as you like.

I initially used hot glue to put each clip in place but they have slowly fallen off over time and I have since used gorilla glue to keep each clip in place. You could also run a little screw or nail through your clips depending on how they are shaped.

Lastly, I measured my wall space, centered the boards on the space I wanted them and then just drilled straight into the wall. Please keep in mind I don’t plan anything so I didn’t find studs or anchor them in any way. I am sure you perfectionist, math minds are screaming right now but it works for me. Imagine an ashamed face emoji here. Ha.  It has stayed fine in the wall. If you think your kids will pull on it find the studs but neither of my kids mess with the boards at all. They literally come home and either hang their creations themselves or ask me to put their artwork up for them.

There you have it! For 11 months out of the year these boards are bursting with paintings, plates, glitter, and crayons and then in December I put it all of that in the trash, ha, or save some of their favorites for next year.

I got my advent bags at the dollar spot two years ago but there are some other great options online. You can determine the size you need. We do very small items, candy, and letters so mine didn’t need to be big at all. This year I actually did more notes than anything so I could have gone even smaller on the bags. Another change we made this year is that I actually had the boys open the last bag on Christmas morning and it had the baby Jesus that goes in our nativity set. So we started the day by putting Jesus in the manger and talking about His birth. It was a very sweet time that I look forward to next year.

I know twenty years from now I will miss all the many many children’s crafts that line these walls, my floor and countertops but for now I keep them as contained as possible so that I am truly able to enjoy them rather than loathing when they walk in the door with yet another ten pieces of paper with one line of marker on each, claiming that they are of course all their favorites and said line on the paper is actually a beautiful drawing of our family. 

If you don't have a space this large but still want a way to display your child's artwork I have a few other options in the shop. They are found here and here. They are great alone or even as a part of a gallery wall. I am happy to customize with a name or quote as well. 

Do you store and keep your kids art in any special way?