The following is a guest post from momAgendaCOMM blogger Lisa Frame.
As the school year comes to a close, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork and artwork your child brings home, not including what you’ve collected throughout the year. No matter how much you’d like to keep all of these treasured mementos, by the time they graduate from high school, you’d have an entire room of paper.
Streamlining the paperwork that has inundated you all year doesn’t have to be a scary proposition. What it does take is a little time and an organizational method that works for your family and space. Here are five ideas for you to use to help you corral your paperwork and reclaim your space.
1. Don’t keep every piece of artwork your child creates, no matter how tempted you are. While art shows their true personality, it’s best to save the pieces that really sparkle. Sit down and sort through them to select the pieces you truly love. It’s a difficult job, but one that is a worthwhile endeavor.
2. If you’re having a hard time picking through your kids’ artwork, or want to get rid of paper clutter entirely, make use of a scanner and scan them into a folder on your computer. You can burn the images to a DVD-ROM, thumb-drive, or back them up to one of the great products shared here by Leticia Barr for momAgenda.
3. Create photobooks which is a great way of developing printed scrapbooks of artwork and special recognitions for your kids. There are great companies producing easy to make photobooks, such as Picaboo and Shutterfly. With the click of a mouse, you can make books for the entire family, or per school year, to highlight accomplishments.
4. Frame really special pieces of artwork. Create a display of abstract pieces and hang them in a beautiful display. You can also follow this Pinterest example and use wooden pant hangers to hang pieces you love, rotating them through the year:
Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Sarah on Pinterest
5. Use momAgenda’s School Years organizer which is one of my personal favorites. There is a folder for each year of your child’s time in school that holds a report card, class picture, as well as writing and art samples. It’s the perfect organizational piece that easily slips into your bookcase, or can stay on the coffee table as a display piece.
Lisa Frame is an over-achieving Southern gal, freelance writer and community manager. A self-proclaimed arbiter of good taste, Lisa blogs at A Daily Pinch and specializes in social media marketing analysis. Connect with Lisa on Twitter and Facebook.