Over the summer, my eldest son began a Mother's Day Out program and suddenly adorable crafts were coming my way twice a week. When little brother began pulling them off of the fridge, which was truly overrun with schedules, invitations, and artwork, I knew I needed a better place to display my budding artist's creations. Since I have neither the time nor money nor willingness to go store to store searching for something that would work, I got creative. Look around, see what you have to work with, and see if you could arrange something similar to fill your needs!

Here's what I used, based off of what I had on hand.

1 large square of manufactured wood I had leftover from a previous project
A small amount of white chalk paint
Clothes pins
Colorful paint (I used acrylic craft paint)
Sharpie

First, I painted the wood white. Then, I painted the clothes pins rainbow colors, because my son had been singing the rainbow song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for three days and it was, clearly, on my mind. I used a box, clamped the clothes pins around the edge, and got to painting. I painted over the springs because I'm lazy and I had no idea how you'd get pretty clothes pins without painting them.

Once all the paint was dry, I situated the clothes pins how I wanted them. I rearranged them a couple of times, and visualized where I wanted my descriptive word to go. I went with 'Gallery', but I saw dozens of cute ideas on Pinterest, from artistic quotes to Kid's Art Corner to the child's name with the word gallery following. Super cute ideas, but I figured Gallery was pretty versatile and would grow with the kids. I can also use it to display Christmas cards, party invitations, and pretty much anything.

I lightly traced a pencil line with a ruler under where my word would go, then outlined it lightly in pencil as well. I went over that with my Sharpie. If I were to do this again, I'd definitely use a paint pen instead of a Sharpie.

After labeling my board, I heated up my glue gun, situated my clothes pins, and used hot glue to glue them in place.

When everything was dry, I grabbed two screws and an electric screwdriver and hung it up!

I love that I have somewhere handy, and out of baby's reach, that I can hang up my son's artwork and projects. The seasonal creations give a festive air to the kitchen and dining area, and he feels proud to have his work displayed.

By using materials I already had, I limited waste and utilized materials that weren't being used. My handwriting isn't great, but I'm pleased overall with how it came out.

How do you display your child's artwork and crafts?