Creative Labeling Ideas

September 10, 2010

creative labeling
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    From a child’s room to a home library, you can add a touch of fun, whimsical organization to just about anything with letters and numbers. Bring order to your own home with them—we’ve got plenty of great ideas to inspire you!

Letters 
From cursive fonts with fancy flourishes to bold block typefaces, letters are a playful way to label everything from magnet boards to bookshelves.

  • Bring order to your books with an organized home library. Label bookshelves with the letters A to Z, then alphabetize books by author or title. For a decorative touch, incorporate a few letter-shaped bookends.
  • Make a magnetic chalkboard for each person in your household, then let them paint, draw or stencil the first initial of their name on it. As an added touch, use bright colorful magnets to hang important papers and to-do lists, or make your own by hot gluing store-bought magnets to stray letter pieces from board games.
  • Manage your recipe collection with a handmade cookbook. Put recipes in alphabetical order, or group them by course or ingredient, then decorate tabbed divider pages with corresponding letter art—for example, A for appetizers or D for desserts. Use pages from a child’s once-loved alphabet book, or design your own. Choose a decorative typeface from your computer’s font collection, then print large-scale versions of letters on individual pages.
Tip: For ideas of what you can do with a little imagination, download and print the A through Z letters that we've created.

Numbers 
Numbers order our steps and help us break big tasks into manageable chunks. Simplify your life by labeling everyday objects with them:

  • Label your school folders and binders with numbers that correspond to class periods—simply glue them to the folders with rubber cement. And since they’re not class-specific, you can use them year after year!
Tip: To jump-start your creativity, download and print the 1 through 12 numbers we've designed.

  • Help a child learn their dressing routine by labeling dresser drawers with numbers so they always know what to put on first, second and so on. Use stencils or stamps to paint them or decorate number tags to hang from the knobs. Let the kids pick out which drawers hold what so they’ll be more likely to stick to the system.
  • Organize your favorite magazines by month, then decorate colorful cardboard holders with numbers 1 through 12. Try designing your own—browse through scrapbooking paper for numbers or tear pages from used coffee table books or old magazines to create your own stencils. Next time you need a Halloween costume idea or Valentine’s Day recipe, you’ll know just where to look.
Words & Phrases 
Incorporate them into your own space in these fresh new ways:

  • Stay productive by decorating your home with uplifting words and phrases. Spell out “Love” or “Dream” with fabric or metal letters above your bed. To nurture creativity, hang “Imagine” in your office or above a child’s desk. Or place a pretty print by the front door that reads “Live what you love,” “Follow your bliss,” or your favorite phrase.
  • Add a touch of class to your kitchen by decorating ordinary salt and pepper shakers with their French names, le sel for salt and le poivre for pepper. Or add authentic charm to your coffee corner by labeling coffee, cream and sugar by their Italian names—Il caffé, la crema, and lo zucchero.
  • Keep a magnetic grocery list on the fridge! On cardstock, print the words for items you buy often, like bread, butter, eggs and milk. Make a larger label that reads “Grocery List,” too, so when someone finishes the last of something, they can add it to your shopping list in an instant.

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