DIY Collage Using Toddler Art

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I wasn’t sure what to call this project. I probably changed the name a few times from what you see on this post.

What I am sure of is that this is DANG CUTE!

Our amazing nanny helps Mary make some kind of art every day - it’s part of their routine. I absolutely love it; we have so much of Mary’s creativity to remember. I also feel a ridiculous amount of guilt over throwing any of it away, so of course it’s in a pile on our kitchen counter, staring me in the face, asking me what in the world I’m gonna do with it all.

Well yesterday, I figured it out (at least for some of it): a gift for Grandma B! My mom’s birthday is on Friday, and I always make her something every year. This year, she gets Mary art…art! After running my idea past my husband for validation that it was going to be as cute as I pictured in my head (he confirmed), I got to work on putting it together.

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Supplies:

  • Toddler art - most of Mary’s is on just regular printer paper, which was perfect, but it could really be on any type of paper. Our nanny uses washable toddler paint.

  • I found an 11x14 hanging photo display frame on Amazon for only $19! It was just what I was looking for.

  • I used a Cricut, but it’s not necessary.

  • Scissors

  • A pen

  • A cloth tape measure

The Method:

  • First I got together all the art I wanted to use and laid it all out

 
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  • Next I used my Grandma Birthday Cricut Design Space file to get ready for the cuts and pick specific places on the art that I wanted to cut out. Once that was chosen, I moved the letter on the cut canvas so it would line up with the part of the art I wanted.

    • For cut settings, I used Light Cardstock, but I could’ve just used Cardstock and avoided some of the tearing and repairing I had to do. Getting the blade through the toddler paint is the hard part here.

 
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  • Once the letter was cut out, I put the name and the month/year she made the art on the back.

  • Once all the letters were cut, I carefully (with gloves on to avoid fingerprints all over the glass) opened the frame and started placing the letters

 
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  • Once the letters were placed, I closed the frame, and called it a way!

It’s everything I thought it would be - it can even be hung in a window like stained glass, and would have the light shine through!