Get creative with hanging kids' artwork around the house

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Forget the fridge! There are creative ways to organize kids artwork on a budget.

As the first week of school is winding down, you may already be overloaded with school papers and drawings. Thrifty mom Morgan Lasala has some great tips for displaying the important stuff and getting the kids involved.

"They are very proud of all the artwork," Lasala said of her three boys. "We wanted to make sure we has spaces throughout the house to display it and to actually look very nice in our home."

Using scrap wood, she created a unique display board. She stained it to match her home's dcor, but says you can paint it or Mod Podge it however you would like. She added three bulldog clips across the front of the wood about 10 inches apart, using screws to attach them to the board. She also used two saw-toothed hangers on the back to hang it on the wall.

"Each clip belongs to a kid, and we rotate artwork through there," Lasala said.

Another unique idea is to hang twine and clothes pins to hang pictures. She uses existing decorations on the mantel or shelf to hold the twine in place, but you could also use thumb tacks to secure it.

She also found jumbo clothes pins to display artwork around the house.

"With those you can stain them or paint them. I like the natural look," Lasala said.

You can use different sizes to add variety and stand them on a desk.

For the kids' very special pieces, Lasala dedicated four frames on the wall in her living room.

"It has a matte in it already. We can take them off and rotate artwork though out there," Lasala said.

She lets the kids choose which items get put on display.

"I like to let them choose because it's not me saying we're throwing this away. It's really important to show the kids that I treasure each and every piece that comes by," Lasala said.

For important projects that do not get put on display, she files them in folders organized by grade.