Keepsake Cards: Repurpose Children's Art

These cards are a nice idea for family members, especially for the grandparents of little ones since they can not seem to get enough of their children's children and their tiny extremities.

As a person who values practicality, I prefer items with a clear function. However, I am conflicted with my sentimental side who treasures my two four-year-olds' colorful, abstract creations and find myself with stacks like this.

But thanks to inspiration from author and illustrator Eric Carle—who creates beautiful children's books, using a collage technique of painted papers—I can repurpose my stacks of art into crafting projects for the kids. Activities!

Happy 50th anniversary for one of my favorite Eric Carle books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar! We recently celebrated at our local library and got the special anniversary edition (their expressions are "silly," not "disgust"), April 2019.

What you'll need:

• Colorful cardstock (8.5 x 11 inches)
• Stacks on stacks of colorful children's art
• Glue stick
• Tiny hands and/or feet

What you'll do:

Fold a piece of cardstock twice to make the card small enough to fit in an envelope.

Folded cardstock 

Trace hands and/or feet on papers with colorful children's art. Carefully cut out.

Trace and cut

Glue onto card and decorate as you and the kids see fit. For instance, you could go with a simple, tasteful message.

Or you could unload the crayons and stickers (or maybe some markers and glitter), and just let the kids go nuts on it.

Success! Now we've made those stacks of art a little smaller (without the guilt of throwing any away) and given a very personalized card to a loved one. Win-win-win.

And don't forget that this can go beyond hands and feet. Cut out simple shapes to create collages of scenes or objects like the great Eric Carle.

Winry (top) and Henry (bottom) made their own caterpillars who are also very hungry, April 2019.

For more ideas...
... on turning children's art into something more functional, consider checking out some of my earlier posts:

Sensibly Saving Sentiment: Repurpose Children's Drawings

DIY Egg Shakers: A Post-Easter Shake-Up

(substitute the tissue paper with the artwork)