So…when the three of us were in grade school and prolifically producing schoolwork, my mom was always diligent about sorting and binding a “best of” for each academic year. It’s so satisfying to be able to go back and quickly get a glimpse of yourself at 8, 12 and 16 years old. However, while the uniform pages of our academic lives were conducive to a book format – the artwork produced during these years varies largely in size – and why shouldn’t it? So the question becomes, “Where will the masterpieces of childhood reside?” Under the bed? Bound up in a portfolio, never to see the light of day? In a flatfile – if you’re lucky, or if you’ve got a couple hundred extra dollars to spare and a chunk of space.
Enter: the portfolio box.
Once you’ve made one, you’ll probably want to make another, because not only do they look beautiful together, but unlike the under-bed scenario, a portfolio box, beautiful and inviting on the bookshelf in the living room cries out to you or your guests, “Open me. Discover the treasures that surely lie within!” (or something to that extent…)
It is simply a clamshell box that is large enough and flat enough to suit a substantial stack of papers. I received a professional one as part of a trade portfolio once, and modeled all the others after it. The great part is, a professional box will run from $100 up, but you can build one for about $12!
For some quick step-by-step instructions, click here.
And now you have a beautiful place to store flat artwork that also invites you to actually look at said artwork on a regular basis… Instead of a coffee table book, try a coffee table box!
Happy Sticky Fingers!
(This post is now one of the projects you can find at A Soft Place to Land’s Do It Yourself Party.)
