My name is Jodi Levine, and I am a crafter-author. I am so excited to be contributing to Handmade Charlotte, one of my favorite online publications! I will be sharing a peek inside my family’s home in Brooklyn, New York. We love living with art and hang as much as we can fit all over the walls. The apartment has a quirky layout with a lot of molding on the walls and an unused painted-closed door in the living room. We kind of ignored all that and hung art everywhere!

Our favorite is the work of our two sons. We display their drawings, notes, photos, sculptures and crafts wherever we can. I especially love the notes. When my 11-year-old son was little, he liked to leave us notes and lists telling us how he’d like his day to unfold. “Drink, Movie, Draw, Park, Snack, Game”… not a bad plan! His “I want to go to Target to buy a movie” note is a mix of handwritten and office-supply sticker letters.

We have a few items that are special to us on the mantle in our boy’s room. My mom made the embroidered alphabet sampler for me when I was little. The truck is vintage Creative Playthings, given to us by my husband’s sister and brother-in-law. My younger son’s name is Lionel, which inspired a friend to buy us the groovy 1965 “Lionel” toy catalog. We purchased the little monkey squeaker toy in Spain when I was pregnant with our firstborn.

Our boys go through different phases of interest, and one of my favorites was their origami phase. We have amassed baskets and baskets of their folded creations. I can’t part with any of it, so I strung them as a garland, clothespin-ing them to twine, under the mantle and at the entrance to the kitchen. I attached them to a string of lights that hangs around our windows. The white curtains in our living room have become a seasonally rotating gallery with bright folded paper shapes pinned all over them.

Thanks for taking a peek into my home. I’m excited to share some projects with you here soon!

Takeaway tips

• Take your child’s art beyond the refrigerator door! Ditch the store-bought prints and fill the walls of your home with an ever-changing anthology of their work.
• Easy-to-find & inexpensive acrylic box frames make it effortless to swap in your newest favorite kid art.
• If you live in an older space, embrace the funky aspects and unusual trim/molding to frame your child’s art.
• String your living spaces and entryways with handmade garlands featuring your child’s folded and cut paper creations!
• Tell a story with your mantle centerpiece using treasured family artifacts and hand-me-downs.