We can be honest here….it’s a safe space, so I’ll be the first to admit: I DONT LIKE ALL OF THE ART MY CHILDREN CREATE. Phew, it feels good getting that out in the open. Don’t get me wrong, I love that they experienced the act of creating and the joy that comes with artistic exploration, but the result? Not exactly frame worthy. On the contrary, sometimes my daughter makes a drawing or painting that makes me pause and say to myself, “that could hang in a museum of modern art.” I know, I know, I’m only slightly biased, but seriously. Sometimes they just nail it and I want to save that piece forever and ever and plaster it all over my Facebook, Instagram, refrigerator and send copies to everyone I know. Billboard on the PA turnpike? YES. LOOK, my child is BRILLIANT!

Simmer down, Sara. What to do with those mini masterpieces? Pinterest is all a flutter with suggestions of how to organize, memorialize, display, and store your baby’s precious 2D inspirations so you can treasure them for years to come (and pull out the more embarrassing renditions for his or her wedding day) but I’ve got a better idea.

Take that art, scan it yourself or get it scanned at a high dpi, visit the custom projects & design services of our site, and let us help you build a large art piece on canvas or paper that you can hang in your home as your very own original modern art. Then throw a BBQ and show all of the attendees how your child is an ROCKSTAR ARTIST, no highways needed.

Doesn’t that sound like a good idea? I thought so! Just to be sure, I tried it out myself. Here’s the method I used, step-by-step, so you can give it a try.

Step 1

Choose art. Easier said than done. I chose a piece that was rather large, but instead of using the entire image, I selected a part that I found particularly interesting. I made a viewfinder by cutting a square out of a sheet of kraft paper (I wanted the final print to be a square orientation) and then I played around with the composition until it looked good to my eye. I ended up with this:

Step 2

Scan the art. This is the most important part. Scan at least 300 dpi, preferably at the original size. If it’s bigger, you can get away with scanning lower, but still retaining the original size. Saving the file as either a tiff or jpeg file will work just fine. I scanned the section of my daughter’s art that was about 9×9″. Scanning at 300 resolution left me with a file size of about 89 MB. That was a little large…but our system can support a file size up to 100MB….so, perfecto! Also, keep in mind, I’m planning to print this BIG, at least 36 x 36”, so the more information, the better.

Step 3

Remember where you saved the file.

Step 4

Visit the Custom Projects & Design Services section of our website. Upload your file and leave us a comment describing what you are envisioning. Please include media type (canvas, paper or poster), general size and framing or finishing options you would like (check out our product guide here). Click Submit and then it’s our turn. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours with any additional questions or if you’ve described your plan fairly well, we will provide a price quote right away. Once everything is finalized and payment received, we’ll get started building your new amazing modern art. Here’s a sneak peak of how we do it:

First, we print…

& then we stretch…

Step 5

7-10 business days later, jump with joy when the UPS man delivers your custom ROCKSTAR ART.

Step 6

Hang the museum worthy modern art in a special place. Stand back and bask in the brilliant creativity of your child.

Step 7

Send us a photo! We love to see the finished products after they reach their forever homes.

I hope you’ll find this journey as fun as I did. And the look on my daughter’s face when she saw how proud we were of her creation that we blew it up HUMUNGO (her word) and hung it for all to see? Priceless.

Happy creating friends.