Digitize your kid's favorite artwork to make keepsakes you'll love

We all have talented spawn, which means we all have an old box stuffed full of artwork or a tower of papers threatening to flood the closet. And, we’ve been (and still are!) big fans of services that allow you to take photos of doodles and drawings and turn them into art books. But now, we’ve found the next level of service for turning kids artwork into keepsakes you’ll love, and the best part is that you don’t have to photograph, scan, or upload anything. Just send in a box of art, and get a catalogue of masterpieces in return.

With Plum Print, the possibilities are endless and, honestly, a huge relief.

Here’s how it works:

You pay a $39.99 deposit, and Plum Print sends you a big ol’ box. You fill it with your kid’s artwork — and not just 2D. You can also send in sculptures, jewelry, popsicle stick puppets, you name it. Then they take on the task of turning the art into digital files. You receive a digital proof to flip through and approve, and then the real fun begins. Using your own online gallery, you can customize a variety of photo books of the artwork, like these shown below.

(You can, by the way, have the originals shipped back to you for a small fee, or trust Plum Print to escort all those paintings and crafts to, um, artwork heaven.)

The pricing to digitize your kid’s favorite artwork, as you might expect, is high and so you’ll want to consider costs before deciding what, exactly, will go into the box. On their Pricing page, you can use a sliding scale to see how much soft or hardcover photo books will cost based on how many pieces of art you expect to send in. For example, digitizing 10 pieces of artwork starts at $40, while 50 pieces is $70 to digitize and $121 for a softcover book of the art.

And if you want even more keepsakes than a book of art, Plum Print offers a Marketplace where kids can sell their creations and earn a percentage of the proceeds, which they can put toward a toy wish list or even donate to a favorite charity. Shoppers can see your child’s artist statement as well as their first name, age, where they’re from, and what they’re saving for or donating to, which makes the experience of shopping for throw pillows, aprons, or notecards even more special.

Like the photo books, the gifts are pricey ($48 for a throw pillow, $27 for a canvas tote bag), but most items in the marketplace give back in a big way, whether it’s helping a child save for college or aiding them in donating toward a charity of their choice. Plus, I love all the possibilities Plum Print offers for turning my kids’ art into keepsakes, especially as I begin to think about holiday gifts for the whole family.

Goodbye, leaning tower of artwork; hello, great holiday gifts for Grandma!

You can learn more at the Plum Print website. Note that the entire digitizing process takes 3–5 weeks, so you’ll want to start organizing your piles of artwork soon if you plan on ordering for the holidays.