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Coffee Table Art Books
Rated by 5 members
"Mom, look at the flowers I made you," Trevor exclaimed, proudly showing off his latest art project, a vivid drawing of red and yellow tulips. "Can I hang it up on the refrigerator?" he asked.
The picture was lovely, and certainly worth displaying -- but it also was his third artistic creation in less than an hour. My two daughters also were budding artists with a high production rate, and I was quickly running out of refrigerator and wall space to hang their personal Picassos.
Throwing them away simply was not an option. I can still hear the screams from the last time Ally found her drawing in the garbage can.
"How could you throw this aaaawaaaay? I made it for you!" she cried, making me feel like a terrible mother.
To better preserve and display my children's artistic expressions, I made a personalized coffee table art book. First, we chose 40 or so of their best pictures and preserved them by applying a thin layer of Mod Podge, a special craft glue. While the pictures dried, we gave each page a title. I had the kids make a book cover, using sturdy cardboard stock from the scrapbook store, and took turns gluing sequins and jewels to decorate it. Once done, we dated the inside cover page and I had each child sign their name.
When finished, I took all the preserved artwork and covers to a copy shop and had the book bound with a coil binding. The final product looks professional, gives guests a chance to see lots of work while sitting on the sofa, and is easy to store when it's time to make another one.
And it's nice to be able to see the grocery list hanging on the fridge again...
Member Comments On…
Coffee Table Art Books
Wow I loved this idea. I shared it with my daughter who is an artist herself and she loved it. I have been putting some of the my grandchildrens artwork in three rind binders and page protectors or scrapbooks but like this idea too. Thanks for sharing.
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This year I scanned 30 of my son's "must keep"art projects and made coffee table books with Shutterfly.com. They came out great (are completely flat for easy storage) and made wonderful holiday presents for the grandparents and aunts and uncles! this is definitely going to be an Annual project!
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awesome idea! I have been scanning my step-daughter's artwork into the computer for months now, and I throw the originals away when she's at her mom's! She has seen her artwork on the computer, and now she produces 10 TIMES MORE than she used to ... just to see it on the screen afterward! I plan to use the best of them to print backgrounds for scrapbook pages, which will be given to her as a senior book when she graduates :)
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This is a great idea! Just the kind to use and pass on to others. I have a wonderful bunch of Grandchildren and I have used many ways to show my appreciation of their art but I do believe this one may be the best plan to date. Thank You!
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Thank you for this FABULOUS idea! I now have my first answer for my daughter's "I'm bored" complaint this summer. :o) Only a few more days to our school year, so I know it's coming!
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We have a couple of ways of handling art. We have about a 5' piece of clothesline strung on the wall that we clip w/clothespins the current art. The rest goes into a reg. 2"x8 1/2x11 binder, the kind with the window slot on the outside for a cover, art is then slid into pg. protectors, when a new piece is hung on the line an older piece must be removed and put in the book. The children also have 12x12 scrpbks so larger pieces are stored in those.
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This is a great idea. My daughter is only 2, but the refrigerator art issue has already begun! Great idea!
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