Organized.Practical.Creative: Labels!!

Label, Label, label----oh how I love to label!! Labeling makes my life so much easier! It may seem silly to label as much as a I do around my house, but labeling helps hold me accountable for putting things away correctly! I may have "known" where things were supposed to go before, but I often put things away wrong, and figured I would put them back right later.....well that equals disorganized messes! So today I am going to talk about a few of my favorite ways to label.

*I attached pictures of ways other people use these different types of labels. And at the end of this entry are the links to retailers who carry the products mentioned!*

Label Maker: You can buy label makers at any office supply store like Staples, Office Max, Office Depot etc. You can also look online to try to find lower prices at sites such as Ebay or Amazon.com. I use a standard inexpensive label maker that only cost me $20 at Target. It is very basic, but for my needs it does the trick. You can also spend more money on a fancier label maker that will allow you to change font styles, label tape colors, font colors etc. Just FYI, colored label tape costs a decent amount more than standard white label tape with black lettering.

Adhesive Clear Plastic Pouch Labels: These labels are awesome! They are clear plastic label pouches that you insert a piece of card stock/decorative paper inside of with your label on it. These are fabulous because your labels don't rip, get dirty, or have those edges that start to curl up. Your labels are protected, and if you want to put new contents in the container all you have to do is take out the sheet of cardstock/paper, and put a new piece of paper inside the pocket---no need to take off the pocket! Love these!

Chalk Board Labels: Exactly like it sounds, these are labels that are made out of chalkboard like material. You use regular chalk to write your container's contents onto the label. These labels are great for containers that may have contents that are likely to change in the future, this way you don't have to replace the whole label, but rather just erase and rewrite. I use them in my kitchen primarily. I use them to label food storage containers: for my sugar, flour, cereals, granolas, dry-snacks etc.

Dry Erase Labels: Very similar to the chalkboard labels, the only difference is that these labels are made out of dry erase material, and you use a dry erase marker to write on the label. Just like the chalkboard labels, these are great for containers that may have contents that are likely to change in the future.

Dry Erase/ Dishwasher Safe Labels: My favorite labels of all time. These are just like the regualr dry-erase labels, however they are dishwasher safe which makes them great for the kitchen--especially the refrigerator. You can use any permanent marker (it comes with one, but you don't have to use just that kind---you can use any permanent marker-I use regular Sharpies) to write on the labels. The permanent marker erases uses the eraser that is provided in the starter label package.

*If you have a hard time erasing--wash the item in the dishwasher first and then erase--comes off really easily.* You can through the item with the label on it in the dishwasher and they still work perfectly! These are great reusable labels, and I love them for labeling food storage containers like Tupperware. I affixed labels on all of my storage containers when I bought the labels, and so whenever I use a container to store food I made, like leftovers I write on the label: the contents and the date it was made. This helps me keep track of things, so I don't wind up wasting food because I forgot when I made it.

Other great labels: Erasable labels--just like regular paper labels, but you can erase them when the contents of the folder/container change (no more label stacking!). Erasable Magnetic Labels--labels that have a magnetic backing, and you can erase the label when the contents of the container change! Shelf label holders are a great way to label shelves!

Below I attached a link to The Container Store where you can see these kinds of labels, and others they have that are creative and fun to use!