Pegasus Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 I am so not creative but want to support my younger DD's natural creative tendencies. She often has several different projects going on at the same time, from art projects, to story writing projects, to crafts. Between the supplies, the paper, and the partially-done projects, the clutter can get overwhelming. She'll jot sketches or ideas down on any little scrap of paper or napkin that she can find quickly so we also have these littering everywhere. I keep pushing small notebooks at her to at least record all of her ideas in one spot but that only works until the first time she can't immediately find the notebook and then she is back to using scraps of paper. I'll try to add a photo showing a sampling of her scraps that are immediately beside me as I type. Any tips for corralling the creative mess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 We have a supply of big plastic trays (kind of like cafeteria trays; the ones I have I got on clearance years ago at Target & they were for putting pet food bowls on). The trays do have an edge. I always had my dc use these esp. when using anything w/ glue, glitter, paint, clay, etc.... It helped contain the mess, as well as having it on a surface where it could be set out of the way to dry w/out needing to touch it to move it. I tried to keep some shelf space in the playroom emptied so any trays w/ stuff on them could then be put on the shelves when the project was not being worked on. For the paper stuff, you could invest in some small sets of drawers that she could keep on a shelf or desk & put the papers in. Once projects were completed, they needed to find a new home (to free up the trays for other stuff). Empty trays were stored in an easy-to-reach location & my dc knew to grab one as they were starting to get creative. LOL. (Guess what? As I sit here typing this, I looked over into the sunroom to notice that my teen dd is working on making a steampunk hat. She has a bunch of supplies out & her work area... is one of our trays. :thumbup1: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Lots of boxes. Sorry I'm no help. My DD hangs her art work on every surface of the house and my middle DS leaves his projects in the middle of the floor (and still can't find them). LOL We just kind of learned to embrace the eccentric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 :bigear: I am organizationally challenged and dd is very creative. Our combination is not working out. I don't know how to help her find places for her stuff--both completed projects and supplies. And for her, ANYTHING can be an art supply. I don't think we have enough bins/boxes or the ones we have are too big. I'm thinking small to medium bins/drawers on a rolling cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted August 25, 2013 Author Share Posted August 25, 2013 Ha! It is good to hear that we are not the only ones to struggle with this. I found myself thinking that DD really needed some shelves on which to put all her supplies and projects (finished and in progress). Then I remembered that one whole wall in her bedroom is shelves. Yeah, they are full already so no help there. Thank you, everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I can tell you what not to do. Don't take the paper clay creations from last year's art class (nothing especially creative/unique), hide them under a bunch of papers in the office trash can, then ask DS10 to empty the trash out a week later. 'Nuff said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I can tell you what not to do. Don't take the paper clay creations from last year's art class (nothing especially creative/unique), hide them under a bunch of papers in the office trash can, then ask DS10 to empty the trash out a week later. 'Nuff said. LOL Totally busted. Yes, one must be very careful when timing the removal of great works. Not that I would ever do such a thing. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 We have a box for artwork. When the box is full we go through it and get rid of some things. If it is something I want to keep forever it goes into the filing cabinet. Now, for the most part, dc use journals and sketchbooks. It's nice to have their work in one place not only because of clutter but also because we can all look back at their work more often. We did an "artist journal" class and I think this helped them pick up the habit. There are books showing examples of artist journals and also how-to/theory type books. The kids were assigned a certain number of different techniques to try in their journals and then they continued their journals with any techniques they chose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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