Monday, August 15, 2011

back-to-school backpack tags & toy organization tags {tutorial}

Yes, I'm still on a back-to-school kick. Only 3 more days until school starts for us! Hallelujah! Today I made backpack name tags for my boys, and the idea spread to their toy baskets in their room. A little back-to-school organization never hurt anyone, right?


I shouldn't have been surprised when my boys picked the exact same Mario Bros. backpack for school. They're obsessed. But I knew there would be fights over which backpack belonged to whom (at least until school started). I was right. I was inspired by Emily's darling beach bag tags and decided to make them name tags to tell their backpacks apart! I think this will also come in handy at school, because I'm sure there will be a few more of these backpacks in their classes.

I found these plastic badge holders while back-to-school shopping and thought they would be easier than dealing with the self-sealing laminating pouches (which are pretty easy to begin with). I found these for about $2.50 at Walmart.

You could easily cut patterned paper to the size of the badge holder, but I have been loving all the digital papers I've been finding on Jessica Sprague's site lately (she has tons of Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park!). I watch out for my favorites to go on sale on One Buck Wednesdays each week. This is Cosmo's Joy Ride collection. I used Photoshop to size the paper to fit the badge holder, then added a text layer with "this belongs to:" and their names. Easy peasy! You could also stamp the name like Emily did, or use alphabet stickers.
 
 
 
I couldn't help myself--I added a coordinating piece of paper from the set on the back! It was all I could do to stop myself from tying them on with a cute gray ribbon. I went with orange and white baker's twine instead, to preserve the boys' dignity at school.

Once I figured out how easy these were to make, I decided to make a few for the boys' baskets on their bookshelf. I recently found these drawer/box/basket things at Target (on sale!). We use them to keep stuffed animals, electronics, and random toys off the floor. Their playroom is in the basement, but a few things always seem to end up in their room anyway. I tied them on with a little ribbon and voila! No more excuses for a dirty room!
 

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4 Comments

4 Responses to “back-to-school backpack tags & toy organization tags {tutorial}”

missleyden said...

That is a great idea...but I do have one problem with it..sorry...I don't think you should put your child's name on the outside of their things so strangers can see it and call them by name. It's very dangerous these days. Experts have suggested putting a picture of your child's favorite animal or something similar.

P. said...

cute idea :)

Sewandthecity said...

I love the tags on the boxes, and the cute ribbon! Thanks for the idea!

Unknown said...

I adore your blog! So creative and fun. You kids look very nice in their school backpacks. Keep up the good work.

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