DIY art folder for kids – simple and cheap!

Does your child bring home approximately 25 pieces of paper a day in their backpack?

Back to school has my counter tops covered in papers every night after folders are dumped and it can definitely be overwhelming. I don’t mean I’m getting junk — it’s all warranted. But storage and sorting solutions are a must when you are juggling worksheets, artwork, flyers, spelling word lists, school newsletters, lunch menus, Scholastic book orders, picture day forms, permission slips, and so on.

I have to admit I am not overly sentimental on school papers. I know that sounds awful! I mean I do appreciate each worksheet, I look for things I need to go over, and sometimes I hang things up for a while….but I only keep probably 8% of it all.

I’m so curious to know how much you all keep!

Sometimes I leave an item up all season and still part with it. Keepers are keepers but I figure even the stuff I toss brings me joy while it has it’s moment on display (Am I awful?!).

This is a great hanging solution if the fridge is full!

Example of my purging instincts–on that whole display the only one I plan on keeping is Sam’s drawing of a robot with a “coronavirus mask.”

Anyway, back to storage solutions.

Our memory boxes have proven to be PERFECT for any keepers on letter sized paper or smaller, as well as things like newspaper clippings, awards, report cards, etc. See here for info on the box. I am so glad I made them!

But what about large scale art work?

Our kids sometimes bring home artwork that is more like small poster size or legal size and they are keepers! So far I’ve been folding up and shoving into the memory box but that overcrowds it.

I knew we needed a huge folder! (Or a folio…a portfolio? What’s the difference there?)

Growing up I had a folder for my art work and it’s actually still around. It’s 25+ years old and hanging in there.

My mom isn’t sure where she got it and despite my Googling I have no idea what early 90’s retailer was making these(and customizing them at that). I would buy three in a heartbeat.

It seems simple, but for all my searching, everything I found was SMALL.

I wanted poster size at least and it looked like DIY was our only choice. This is similar to the floppy posterboard folders we made in one of my art classes around middle school age, but sturdy! Luckily it’s also super easy and should come in under $10, depending on where you find your supplies and what you have on hand.

All you need to make these DIY art folders is:

I started by taping two pieces together with what would be the inside of the folder facing up (so no need to remove labels).

This is technically the only part you HAVE to tape but I opted to go around all the edges for a little pizzazz and protection. It’s a good idea to at least tape along the top since that’s the area we’ll make your tie/closure and you’ll need to punch a hole.

I didn’t bother to buy a hole punch as you can see. Simple and cheap, people!

Tip–if you tape the fold on the outside so that there is no “give” and it wont quite fold up, you can go back and run an X-acto knife or scissors (or steak knife) along the tape on the outside bottom seam of the fold. The inside tape will hold it together so its okay to cut the outside tape…it’s just for looks.

I just slipped a 10 or 12 inch piece of paracord into the hole on each side and tied a knot on the inside to hold it. Paracord frays really bad so you’ll need to burn off the ends if you go that route. I think a ribbon would look super cute too!

You can stop there but I think customizing it makes them a little more special for the kids. I just printed off something from Word and stuck it on with packaging tape…but it was very wonky and I couldn’t get my tape perfect.

I do think I’ll be looking into something a little nicer maybe in a large label format that I can stick over what I did 🙂

Really you could do anything from custom vinyl to a sharpie marker or even let the kids decorate their own!

These are plenty structured enough to stand up well and protect what’s inside. You could store under the bed, behind a dresser, or in a closet. The best thing is your paper clutter is one step closer to under control and you’ll have the perfect place to save each large-scale artwork “keepers.”