All in the Family

You make memories of your family every day - but in a decade or so, the most adorable thing your little one did today probably isn’t going to be as fresh in your mind as it is right now. Get a little creative to make permanent memories of the small moments that make a family history. Here’s how.

Spin the Clay Wheel
That handprint art that your kids bring home is a sweet reminder of growing up... But after time, that paper fades, just like your attachment to scrunchies and leg warmers. Capture the passage of time in clay. The sky, and your creativity, are the only limits. Have your kids decorate one plate each every year, to cultivate a set over time unlike anything you could buy, or have them make little hand and foot prints to hang on the wall. Claygound in East Greenwich, Mudstone Studios in Warren and Weirdgirl Creations in Barrington all offer kid-friendly clay fun.

Clayground - 5600 Post Road #109, East Greenwich. 884-4888

Create Smartphone Art
One of the best things about the proliferation of smartphones is that everyone always has a camera at the ready these days. Your artsy sunset shots might make you feel like a professional photographer, but it’s all talk until you’ve gotten those photos off your phone and onto a more permanent medium. CVS Photo makes regular old prints, but can also produce canvas prints of your work, in large-scale reproductions. Imagine impressing your guests by gesturing to a hallway-turned-art gallery and casually tossing an “oh, those? I took them in Austin last year” over your shoulder. The best part is that canvas prints of your own photos cost about half of what you paid for that generic painting of a wine bottle you got at HomeGoods.

Give your Albums a Makeover
Now that you’ve got the most important memories on the wall, get the rest of them on display with personalized photo albums. Websites like Shutterfly.com have simplified the process: just upload your favorite shots, add captions and order copies for your coffee table and all the grandmothers and aunts you’ve got.

Have a Smashing Time
You’ve seen those adorable cake smash baby photos on Pinterest, where to celebrate a milestone like a first birthday, parents put little kids in fancy outfits and let them go to town on a perfectly coordinated cake. A word to the wise: don’t try this at home. The memory of the cleanup alone will destroy any pleasure you get from the resulting pictures. Leave it to the professionals at EG Photo, which is teaming with East Greenwich’s Silver Spoon Bakery to create the cake smash of your social media dreams – and the mess happens in their studio, not your house.

EG Photo - 50 Cliff Street, East Greenwich. 884-0220

Illustrate Your Memories
If you’re not feeling the creative juices, leave it to the experts to turn your kids into art. There are lots of options on etsy.com for custom illustrations commemorating significant milestones like birth and birthdays, where you can add names, dates and custom color palettes. There are also lots of talented local artists who can do the same thing, with a lot more personalization behind it. Karli Hendrickson makes youthful illustrations of animals and nature – a custom commissioned poster celebrating a newborn’s birth is surprisingly affordable and will last for years to come. At First Pancake Studio, illustrator Jessica McGuirl turns family recipes into art, creating beautiful prints of recipes that you provide yourself.