That’s right, ya’ll! Check it out. I pinned then I did it! What.
*drops mic*
….
*picks mic back up
again because I'm not done telling you about this!*
I found this idea on Pinterest a while ago, and I’ve been dying to create a wall just
like it for Q’s art projects. Now that he’s in preschool, the kiddo brings home about seven projects a day. I mean,
what the heck am I going to do with all this painted construction paper? I can
only send so much to Grandma’s house!
Plus, we had an enormous, empty wall space in the family room that has been driving me crazy for the five and half years we’ve lived in this house. We have a slanted ceiling in that room, so one side of the wall is ~10’ high. I’ve tried a few art pieces in that space over the years, but always ended up returning them. Nothing felt right. So when I saw this idea for displaying kids’ art, I knew I had to try it.
Plus, we had an enormous, empty wall space in the family room that has been driving me crazy for the five and half years we’ve lived in this house. We have a slanted ceiling in that room, so one side of the wall is ~10’ high. I’ve tried a few art pieces in that space over the years, but always ended up returning them. Nothing felt right. So when I saw this idea for displaying kids’ art, I knew I had to try it.
My free time is pretty limited, so this project has been in the works for months. But when I
had two whole days in the house all by
myself (which I will totally explain later), I decided it was the perfect
time to finish a few projects (including Q’s train wall decal).
I had a lot of fun creating this. Baby Reid and I scoured
numerous Goodwill stores looking for interesting frames while Q was at school.
Once I found several that I liked, I removed the backing and the glass and
sanded them down just a little. Then I painted them white and two shades of
blue-gray. (And you know how much I love painting stuff!) I precisely arranged the empty frames on the wall
exactly how I wanted them, and then I hung binder clips from nails within each
frame. This way I can easily swap out the artwork.
(PS: Please don’t tell Hubs how many holes I hammered into
the wall. Although, he’s probably already counted and is too smart nice
to say anything. He knows I tend to get a little craft-project-crazy when he travels, so maybe he’s used to my shenanigans.)
The only two exceptions to the hanging binder clip thing are
the corkboard and chalkboard frames. On one if my thrift store hunts, I found
this mega ugly framed corkboard. So I painted the frame and covered the hideous
corkboard with pretty scrapbook paper. Now I can pin Q’s artwork in this frame
with thumb tacks just to mix up the display a little.
I also loved that the inspirational photo on Pinterest had a framed chalk sign that read “Home is Where the
Art Is.” So I painted a piece of chipboard
(which is thin particle board used to make the backs of picture frames) with
chalkboard paint and wrote “Exhibit Q” in white chalk. See what I did there?
The hardest part was arranging the frames on the wall. I
positioned them on the floor, and then repositioned them, and repositioned them
some more. Then I measured the wall space, and then I measured the exact inches
between each frame… Eventually, I drew up a whole schematic on scratch paper
and then recreated it in Power Point. Then I used measuring tape, a level and a
pencil so make sure I hung the frames exactly like my drawing. The whole
display is approximately 50 inches high and 54 inches wide and required a lot
of brain-exhausting math with fractions.
There’s a chance I’m a bit of a perfectionist.
Anyway, when Quinn came home and saw the frames, he was SO
EXCITED! He remembered when he created every piece and how he did it.*** He
explained each one to me in great detail, like a true artist. Then he said, “I
have more pictures, Mommy. Why didn’t you hang up more frames?”
Because then we would need to buy a much bigger house, son.
***Check out these fun
craft ideas for wee ones! The middle frame in the top row has one of Q’s favorite
projects. Have your child take a car or truck – anything with wheels – and dip
it in paint, and then roll it across the paper. Q chose orange paint because
the dump truck he used was orange. In
the middle frame on the bottom row – the corkboard frame – Q dipped a potato
masher and a circular whisk in blue paint and stamped them on paper. I didn’t
come up with these ideas. That’s why I send Q to preschool.
