Photo Tags

Awhile ago I decided to get organized. So I bought a bunch of bins and baskets to corral all our stuff. I sorted, cleaned, and pared down all our stuff for several days, then put it all away in the bins and baskets. Ta-DAAA! I was now organized. . . for about 12 hours anyway. Then. . . my kids woke up and took everything out of the bins and baskets over the course of the next 12 hours. That night I looked around at all my "organized" stuff all over the floor and decided I needed a better system.

I loved the hidden-in-plain-viewness (that's a new word) of the baskets and bins, but that same feature also made it hard to tell what stuff went in which basket or bin. I decided that this confusion was the reason for the blank glazed-eye looks I got from my boys when it was time to put their toys away. (wishful thinking, I know) I also decided that if the bins and baskets were clearly labeled everyone in the house (including my husband) would know were and how to put their OWN stuff away.

Because my boys weren't reading yet, normal written labels weren't going to work. I also wanted them to be simple and attractive because seriously, I didn't spend a small fortune and many hours scouring every store in town for functional yet attractive bins and baskets just to slap an ugly label on them. My solution was to make some laminated photo tags and attach them to the bins with coordinated gross-grain ribbon. Here's what I did:




First I decided on a black and white picture of each person in the family for all the personal bins and snapped a picture of the toys that were to go in each toy bin. Then I got them made into wallet-size prints( I love Costco's 1 Hour Photo for this because they have the best matte-finish quality for the best price).





Second I took my wallet sized prints to FedEx Kinkos and used their laminating machine. At the self-service laminating machine you can choose from several sizes of laminating plastic sleeves. I found that with just a slight trim to my prints they fit perfectly in the Luggage Label Sleeve. An added bonus of the luggage label was that it came with a hole in the top that I could thread the ribbon through later. I decided to also write the name of the person or item on the back of the picture, just in case the pictures weren't enough. *wink*



Third I threaded the ribbon of my choice through that handy little hole and tied it to the appropriate bin. By the front door I have bins on a shelf for hats, gloves, ect, one for each person in our family and one for guests. I also made tags for the laundry sorter in the boys' room, one for each boy and one for the light clothes.

They are functional, simple, and attractive, perfect for all your labeling needs. These wondrous little tags have also significantly reduced the blank glazed-eye looks I get when it's time to clean up or put things away. They have not eliminated them, but then again, I'm not asking for perfection here just improvement. *wink, wink*



I'd love to know what other labeling ideas any of you might have. What works? What doesn't? Don't be shy . . . I'm always looking for good ideas.