Kids drawings etc./keepsakes - What do you keep and how do you store it?

[cherryboomboom]

Ok, I am thinking I have way too much sentimental crap stuff and I need to downsize it or figure out a way of storing it especially before dc2 starts school in Sept and I have even more stuff!

I currently have 3 box's (mine, ds, dd) which are rammed stored in the top of my wardrobe but as they are expanding in size I am now thinking that I need to do something about them, and in reality the extra space would be great.

I want to know how do you select what is staying, and then how do you store it. I know in reality things like the drawings that the dc do will probably never get looked at again, but I just can't bring myself to chuck all of them ( and by the way, I do not keep everything I do throw quite alot away!)

I have started taking photo's of the pictures and paintings DD has done over the years (she's 10!) I've run out of room to store them all and DS is starting his own little pile now so will put the odd one up in the kitchen and photograph the rest. I've seen someone make a poster out of the images - lots of them shrunk to fit which was sweet.

When she was younger I used to use the large sugar paper ones as wrapping paper at christmas - the grandparents loved that!

This is where I saw it:

www.themodernhome.com/2010/03/modern-kids-artwork-idea.html

scrapbooks. 1 book per year. I stick best paintings in and pictures of other stuff. And the odd bit of plastacine :)

I take photos of the original ones or The first of things ie first time he painted a picture of the family etc. The photos then get stuck into a scrap book along with certificates, school reports. I also take pictures of reading diaries. The school give us their work books at the end of the year and I've kept them. I used to keep the paintings but when they start school they seem to come home with one everyday, the novelty soon where's off then.
Dh mum kept all his school books, I went thought them a few weeks ago and kept the English books but got rid of the rest. There was nothing exciting about looking at mathematical calculations by a 13 year old

I keep everything in a large art case thing - don't keep school books apart from the story writing ones because some of the stories are funny! Skiptothend that is a lovely link, oh to have a house like hers!x

Thanks for the great ideas! I had never thought about taking photo's, what a great idea! Love that link - that would be great to do something like that.

This would be a good project for me to get started on when dd does start school in Sept. Thanks everyone!