Multi-saving, savings.

Time saving,

Tree saving,

Money saving,

Space saving,

Landfill saving,

and the occasional little smile while attending to jobs.

We have gone through all the school books and craft that have come home for the year. Oh my gosh, my two have a rather large collection of books, journals, and artwork. It's difficult for me to part with it, but I just cannot keep it all. I have resume binders that I keep special pieces of artwork, we use some for wrapping paper, we use some to post away. I have decided to keep their kindy books, but from then on we just keep their journals and story books. I so love to read back over their writing and see where their imagination takes them or how they retell a book studied in class in their own words/pictures. Each year I do try to cull a bit from the previous year, and this seems to work - sort of - just a little bit. (not really Joyce!)

Anyways, some of their books that we have decided to part with still had some unused pages in the back and so I have made notepads, phone message pads, to do lists, and shopping lists.

They are a little crude looking, but they will still provide rather useful. Some of the fronts are covered with some artwork, others with writing, and through each of them there are bits of handwriting from pages not quite filled up, so that while I am checking my shopping list at the markets, I can savour a little of my boys writing or a cute little maths equation written in their little hand. (I am not a fan of doing groceries and being out and about doing 'chores' so this will totally brighten my jobs list.) Can you see the cover to the bottom right? This was done by my youngest in a little exercise book I gave him when his big brother started school. He used to so seriously hold his little pencil and 'write' letters to people. When I found this book I just had to use one of these pages as a cover. I don't mind using these pages, because they are all well over a year old, and now I have room to store 2010's 'great works'.

Those poor trees worked very hard to become paper for school books, there was a lot of energy involved in making them school books. We did pay for the books through the school fees after all, and my wastepaper shopping lists from last year are running very low of stock.

What do you do with your childrens school books/artworks and journals? Can you bring yourself to part with them? Do you recycle unused pages, do you make coasters or laminate pretty artworks for placemats? I would love to know how you do end of year school bits.

Have a lovely day at your place.